Shares and Share Capital

Shares and Share Capital Guides

The majority of UK companies that are registered are normal profit making companies. All of these companies must have at least one share held by at at least one shareholder. Typically the shares are held by the owners of the business but they may be issued with rights to dividends, profit distribution, voting or some other benefit. Hopefully these company shares FAQs will help you understand more about shares in companies.

Typical profit making companies are ‘limited by shares’. These UK companies must have at least one shareholder. If you need to transfer shares from Person A to Person B then a share transfer form needs to be completed. The form is often called a stock transfer form.

Read more..

Adding a new shareholder to a UK limited company can be a little confusing. You need to complete Companies House forms to increase the share capital and then submit a new statement of capital. More complicated restructuring adds to the complexity of this task.

Read more..

Historically, companies used to have an ‘authorised share capital’ and an ‘issued share capital’. This allowed companies to have un-issued shares that could be issued when required. The Companies Act 2006 now only permits shares to be issued and not waiting to be issued.

Read more..

When a limited company has profits that can be distributed, the directors can decide to issue a dividend to shareholders. The action needs to be recorded and dividend vouchers must be issued.

Read more..