ABSTRACT
The ultimate ownership of a company limited by shares can be understood as being divided among its 'shareholders': literally, people who own shares. The way in which company shareholdings operate can be very simple or they can be made wilfully complicated. This chapter describes the various forms of shares, the means by which those shares are issued, and the rights that attach to those shares in the form of dividends. It begins by asking what it means to be a shareholder. There are two contexts in which a person may acquire shares: either on the basis of subscription for shares when they are offered for the first time, or by buying shares that have already been issued in the after-market. The chapter discusses the rules on the allotment of shares when they are offered for the first time and vested in subscribers and considers the transfer of shares after they have been issued by way of sale or gift.
