Medallion signature guarantee and transfer of shares.

Hello,

My friend's dad wants to transfer him some shares who are registered in the US. (US companies, my friend's dad has them registered in his old US address).

My friend lives in the UK, his dad in Greece.

1) To get a medallion signature guarantee does my friend's dad needs to be present or this can be done by providing signatures signed copies etc by post? I know it can be done by UK companies for a fee, can it be done in a US bank in the US (or UK if possible) for free or a smaller fee if my friend provides all the documents?

2) When the shares get transferred, does my friend need to change the registered address to his UK address or keep his dad's US address as the registered address? What is more tax efficient ? Are there any tax implications for any above of addresses?

Thanks!

When I had this issue last time, I explained nicely to Vanguard that it's tough to get a medallion signature guarantee outside the US (their initial position was to tell me to go to the Embassy but I was able to point them to the page on the Embassy's website that this is not a service they provide). They were able to waive their usual requirements for stock ownership transfers and asked me a bunch of questions from my credit report to authenticate me instead. Point being, some financial institutions may be willing to work around the medallion signature guarantee if you ask respectfully but persistently. Good luck!