Custodianship is a state-court process for appointing someone to revive an abandoned corporation. It has been abused to seize dormant public shells and issue stock in them, which is why the SEC scrutinises custodianship-derived listings closely.
manipulation techniques · updated 2026-10-16
Where does custodianship come up?
This term is used in the following manipulation techniques, each explained in full on
its own page.
Custodianship shell hijacking— Custodianship shell hijacking uses a state-court receivership process to seize control of an abandoned but still-quoted public company, then issues stock in it to the person who obtained the appointment.
See also
Shell company— A shell company is a corporate entity with no meaningful operations or assets. Shells are lawful and have legitimate uses, but a p…
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