Corporate Actions

Core Concepts

1. Corporate Action Types

Corporate actions are events initiated by a company that affect its securities. They fall into four broad categories based on the level of shareholder participation required.

Mandatory Actions. These occur automatically for all holders of record and require no election. The holder receives the entitlement without taking any action.

• Cash dividends (regular, special, interim, final)
• Stock dividends (bonus shares distributed pro rata)
• Stock splits (forward splits increase share count, reduce price proportionally)
• Reverse stock splits (decrease share count, increase price proportionally)
• Mergers with fixed terms (cash-only or fixed-ratio stock consideration)
• Spin-offs (new entity shares distributed to parent company holders)
• Name changes and symbol changes (CUSIP/ISIN may change)