An off-market transfer is the movement of shares, bonds or other securities between two accounts where no order was matched on a stock exchange or other trading venue and no clearing house stands between the parties. Common reasons include gifts, inheritance, transfers between an investor's own accounts or to a new broker, and privately negotiated sales. The parties, or their custodians, instruct the transfer directly in the central securities depository.
Most off-market transfers are made free of payment, with any money changing hands separately, so the protection of delivery versus payment is absent unless the parties ask for it. Depositories and brokers apply extra checks, such as signed instructions and a stated reason. Tax authorities and regulators watch these transfers because they can be used to shift beneficial ownership without a visible price. Stamp duty or transfer tax may apply, and the receiving account's cost records need updating as part of share transfer processing.