The "holder of record" is the person (an individual or entity) who is the registered owner of a security with the issuer of the security. For example, if Mary Peterson purchases shares of stock in her name and a stock certificate is issued by the company in her name, Mary is the holder of record. In the past, stocks and bonds were normally traded in the form of paper certificates, and in most cases there was registration of the owner's name with the issuer of the stock or bond. In today's modern security holding system, many securities are not registered in the name of the actual owner. Rather the security is issued in the name of a stock broker or clearing corporation who holds the security for the true owner. Moreover, no paper certificate may exist but the recording is all done on computers. Consequently, the issuer may not know the true identity of the owner of the security, but only know the name of the clearing corporation or stock broker who is registered on the issuer's computer records.