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Become a member
Like other shares, bearer shares are securities representing a fraction of the share capital in public limited companies or in the limited liability capital of a partnership limited by shares. Bearer shares are shares whose rights and obligations relate to the respective holder, i.e. owner.
Legal aspects of the bearer share
In the case of bearer shares, the regulations on bearer bonds are applicable by analogy, unless there are provisions to the contrary under stock corporation or membership law. In this case, the rights and obligations of the shareholder are so closely linked to the share certificate that the transfer of the certificate at the same time means the transfer of all rights and obligations.
The character as bearer paper improves the marketability of bearer shares, as they can be transferred informally to the new holder by mere agreement and delivery.
Bearer shares easy to manage
Bearer shares are not only very quickly transferable, they also reduce the administrative burden on the public limited company. The company does not need to know the frequently changing ones, while it is obliged to even keep a share register for registered shares and registered shares with restricted transferability.
Bearer shares favour free trade
A high degree of marketability is an essential prerequisite for stock exchange trading. This requires the securities offered on the market in mt5 download to be freely tradable. Securities are considered negotiable if they meet the requirements for admission to the stock exchange. According to § 5 para. 1 of the Stock Exchange Admission Regulation, one admission requirement for official listing is the free tradability of the securities.
Entry in the share register indispensable
In relation to the company, only the shareholder entered in the share register and thus registered is deemed to be a share holder with voting and dividend rights. Financial institutions involved in stock exchange transactions are obliged to provide the stock corporation with the information required for the share register.
Shareholders of registered shares are obliged to disclose their identity by registration in the share register. An intentional or grossly negligent violation of the notification obligations is punishable by a six-month deprivation of voting rights after the entry has been corrected.
Standardised registrations
In the standard case of the registered share, an entry with the name, date of birth, address and the number of shares held must be made in the share register in order for the holder to be able to assert all rights arising from the share. Since the registered share is legally one of the born order securities, the law assumes the existence of a positive order clause. The registered share is transferable by agreement, endorsement and surrender.
Advantages for the public limited company
Shares that are not fully paid up may only be issued as registered shares. In this way, the company can trace whether the shareholder entered in the share register has sufficient creditworthiness for his remaining payment obligation.
In addition, when the company is founded, registered shares offer the possibility to pay in only part of the share capital or to make contributions in kind to the company over a longer period of time.
With the help of the share register, the AG gains more transparency about its shareholder structure through the registered share. This facilitates contact between the company and its shareholders ("investor relations") as well as access to the international capital markets. In the case of bearer shares, this data is only available once a notification of voting rights has been made.
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