A company recorded in the share register of a stock corporation as a shareholder, but which does not actually own any shares. This practice is particularly commonplace when trading US registered shares outside the USA, as each transaction must be entered in the share register, which can be a problem because of the distance. However, where a nominee is entered in the share register, it issues a stock certificate attesting to the possession of these foreign registered shares. These can be traded in Switzerland in the same way as bearer shares.