A registrar provides a service to listed companies. The core tasks of a registrar are:
- maintaining a register of holders of shares (and other registered securities)
- dealing with corporate actions such as dividend payments.
These are primarily the responsibility of a company secretary. It is usually more cost effective to outsource the work to a specialist registrar who is able to invest in the systems and staff to deal with these efficiently. This is a good example of economies of scale.
Registrars usually also offer other services such as DRIPs, treasury share holding, share dealing services, employee share ownership plans, and broader company secretarial services.
The work of a registrar mirrors that of a custodian. Both reduce a client's costs and paperwork that result from the ownership of securities. One does this for issuers, the other for large investors.