Share Capital - Types of Share Capital

Types of Share Capital

  • Authorised share capital is also referred to, at times, as registered capital. It is the total of the share capital which a limited company is allowed (authorised) to issue. It presents the upper boundary for the actually issued share capital.
    • Shares authorised = Shares issued + Shares unissued
  • Issued share capital is the total of the share capital issued (allocated) to shareholders. This may be less or equal to the authorised capital.
    • Shares outstanding are those issued shares which are not treasury shares. These are all the shares held by the investors in the company.
    • Treasury shares are those issued shares which are held by the issuing company itself, the usual result of a buyback.
    • Shares issued = Shares outstanding + Treasury shares

Issued capital can be subdivided in another way, examining whether it has been paid for by investors:

  • Subscribed capital is the portion of the issued capital, which has been subscribed by all the investors including the public. This may be less than the issued share capital as there may be capital for which no applications have been received yet ("unsubscribed capital").
  • Called up share capital is the total amount of issued capital for which the shareholders are required to pay. This may be less than the subscribed capital as the company may ask shareholders to pay by instalments.
  • Paid up share capital is the amount of share capital paid by the shareholders. This may be less than the called up capital as payments may be in instalments ("calls-in-arrears") .

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