Allotment Letter
If you make a successful application for a new share issue, you'll receive an allotment letter telling you how many shares you've actually received (which may well be different from the number you applied for if the issue is oversubscribed).
The allotment letter, also known as a share allotment form, will be exchanged later on for a share certificate or contract note .
Before this exchange, the allotment letter itself is a bearer document, conferring ownership of the shares and, therefore, is a tradeable instrument. After a specified period of time all shareholdings on a given date are established in a share register and the allotment letter ceases to have value.