VARIOUS KINDS OF SHARE CAPITAL
VARIOUS KINDS OF SHARE CAPITAL
Share capital is the money that has been raised by a company by issuing shares to investors, which can be divided into various types—all of these will serve different purposes and will also have different characteristics:
1. Authorized Share Capital: It denotes the highest share capital that a company can issue to its shareholders based on the constitutional documents. It sets a limit after which the company cannot issue shares without amending the charter.
2. Issued Share Capital: It's that portion of authorized share capital that has actually been issued to shareholders. All those shares, which have been allotted to shareholders, whether fully paid or not, fall under this category.
3. Subscribed Share Capital: This is a part of the issued share capital that the investors have irrevocably promised to purchase and undertaken to pay for. This shows the amount of interest and demand that the investors have exhibited in the company's shares.
4. Paid-up Share Capital: This refers to the exact amount that shareholders have paid to the company against their shares. In other words, it is a subset of the subscribed share capital, and therefore, it further specifies the funds received by the company.
5. Called-up Share Capital: It is that part of the paid-up share capital on the share that the company calls upon the shareholder to pay.
6. Uncalled Share Capital: This is the value of shares on which the company has not yet called in payment. This is the amount on which the company has not yet demanded money, and so it stays a probable future fund for the company from the shareholders.
7. Equity Share Capital: These are shares indicating ownership in the company and hence offer voting rights to their owner or instrument holders, while giving a claim on its profits through dividends. In most cases, there are no fixed dividend rates attached to equity shares, and returns are solely dependent on the firm's performance.
8. Preference Share Capital: These types of shares confer their holders relative advantages over equity shareholders, mainly concerning the receipt of dividends and return on assets liquidated at winding-up. Preference shares generally enjoy a fixed rate of dividend and do not carry voting rights except in special cases.
Understanding these types of share capital is very important in understanding a company's financial structure, its strategies on raising finance, and the various rights and obligations of shareholders.
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