Chapter 11: Financing & Listing Securities Flashcards
what are the basic forms of business organization
- proprietorship
- partnership
- corporation
what is a proprietorship
- The most basic form of business ownership
- Exists for very simple, one-person businesses
- Proprietor is owner and operator of business
- The business is not a separate legal entity – therefore owner is personally liable from a legal perspective
- personal assets are used as collateral
- Difficult for owners to generate / obtain capital to grow business
what is a partnership
Similar to proprietorship except that there are 2 or more owners
what is the process if you were an employee and were asked to become a partner of the company
- need to first resign and are no longer an employee
- you would then need to buy equity in the company (since you are an owner, you need ownership in the business; partnerships are private companies)
- the company may give you a loan to purchase shares in the company if needed
since shareholders own the corporation, what can they do
they have ultimate say in how the company is run
what are the different types of partnerships
- limited partnerships
- general partnerships
what is a limited partnership
- must include one general partner who has to be involved in the business and has personal liability
- Limited partners cannot be involved in the running of business and liability is limited to their investment
- Many hedge fund are structured as limited partnerships
what is a general partnership
- Partners have unlimited liability and partners are liable for the actions of all partners
- Most partnerships have moved away from this model in recent years given the liability issues
what is a corporation
- By far, the most dominant form of organization when measured by dollars of assets or sales
- Ownership is separate from management
- Ownership is transferred by the buying and selling of shares
- Separate legal entity – therefore owners do not have legal liability for the actions of the corporation or its employees
- Much easier to corporations to access capital vs. other forms of organization
what governs the regulation of corporations
- Government act of incorporation
- The corporation’s charter (original act of incorporation setting out basic rules and regulations)
- By-laws (subsequent to charter, these are rules and regulations set by the corporation’s board of directors and approved by shareholders
Ex. compensation policies, payments of dividends, authority of senior management)
what is a proxy
allows someone else to vote on behalf of a shareholder (if that shareholder gives that person the right to do so)
what are shareholder rights like in a corporation
- Most decisions within a corporation are decided by the board of directors and / or management
- Significant events such as electing directors, selling the corporation (or even a lot of shares)
requires shareholder approval - Most decisions are passed with 50.1% approval from shareholders
who engage in proxy fights
Increasingly activist investors
what does the COB do
oversees and chairs board meetings and typically has greater influence on its actions
who elects the BOD
- shareholders
- to ensure that corporate decisions are made are done in the best interests of shareholders
what is a proxy fight
- proxy contest
- when you are a shareholder and you try to get other shareholders’ proxies
- done to influence boards or management teams
who are activist investors
- investors who are active
- actively trying to change management
what does it mean when a director is independent
directors who are not management or aligned with a very large shareholder
who is often the COB
CEO is often the chairman although some shareholders don’t like this, the BOD would be more independent when the CEO isn’t the COB