---
title: Book-entry security
url: "https://www.unknowngravity.com/en/glosario/anotacion-en-cuenta"
site: Unknown Gravity
published: "2026-05-31T13:45:08+00:00"
modified: "2026-07-30T15:43:02+00:00"
language: en-US
description: A book-entry security is the form of representation of transferable securities through electronic accounting records, as opposed to representation through physical certificates.
section: "Home > Book-entry security"
---

# Book-entry security

GLOSSARY · BLOCKCHAIN & WEB3

What a book-entry security is: the system whereby a security exists as a simple electronic record in a register, with no physical paper.

WHAT IS IT? · FOR DUMMIES

In the past, owning a share or a bond meant keeping a piece of paper (a certificate) in a drawer. Today that paper has almost disappeared: what you hold is an **electronic record** in a register, just as your money at the bank is only a number on a screen. That is a **book-entry security**.

You own the security because your name appears in that register, not because you hold a piece of paper. It is the mental gateway to tokenization: if we are already used to a security being a digital record, taking the leap to having that record live on a blockchain is far more natural.

WHAT IS IT? · PRO

A **book-entry security** is the form of representation of transferable securities through electronic accounting records, as opposed to representation through physical certificates. Its regime is set out in **Law 6/2023 on Securities Markets and Investment Services (LMVSI)**, which governs the representation of securities by book entries and the legal effects of registration.

Registration in the accounting register produces constitutive and legitimizing effects: transfer operates through book-entry transfer, and the registered holder enjoys protection against third parties. The LMVSI has expressly incorporated the possibility of using **systems based on distributed ledger technology (DLT)** to maintain the accounting register of securities, which constitutes the domestic legal basis for the tokenization of financial instruments in Spain.

## 01 / Key points

- The security is an **electronic record** in a register, with no paper certificate.
- Regime in **Law 6/2023 (LMVSI)**; registration has constitutive effects.
- The LMVSI allows the register to be maintained via **DLT**, the legal basis for tokenization in Spain.
- Transfer takes place through **book-entry transfer**, not physical delivery.

This entry is informative. It is not legal, tax or investment advice. The rules cited change: check the current version on [BOE](https://www.boe.es) and [EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu).