Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A proportional part of a corporation's capital represented by equal units called shares. Ownership of stock confers rights to participate in corporate management and to share in net profits or earnings.
Sources & Authorities· 33 primary sources
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Cases
Statutes
How it applies
Common Examples
6
Congressional Tax Power on Imports
Sapphire Technologies imports specialized machinery components from abroad. Congress enacts a uniform excise on those imports to fund national infrastructure. Sapphire pays the tax on each shipment and passes the cost to domestic buyers through higher prices for finished goods.
Class Gift Distribution Among Heirs
Sebastian Santos dies leaving a trust that gifts corporate stock to his descendants without specifying shares. The trustee divides the stock among living descendants according to intestate succession rules as if Sebastian had died owning the shares at distribution.
Sarah Sullivan holds stock in a company sued for misleading disclosures. She moves to intervene, asserting a defense that shares a common question of fact with the main action concerning the accuracy of the company's financial statements.
Offensive Issue Preclusion on Violation
Synergy Systems is found in an SEC action to have violated securities laws by misrepresenting stock values. A private investor later sues for damages from the same misrepresentations and uses the prior judgment to establish the violation under offensive nonmutual issue preclusion.
Equal Partnership Distributions
Silverline Industries, a partnership, makes an interim distribution of cash before dissolution. The cash is divided equally among the partners because no transfer or charging order alters the default equal-share rule.
Corporate Disclosure in Criminal Case
Starlight Media, a nongovernmental corporate defendant, files its required statement in a district court proceeding. The statement identifies its parent corporation and confirms that no publicly held corporation owns ten percent or more of its stock.
Common questions
Frequently Asked
2
What rights does ownership of stock confer on the holder?+
Ownership of stock grants the holder the right to participate in corporate management through voting and to share in the corporation's net profits or earnings through dividends or liquidation proceeds.
When must a corporate party disclose stock ownership in federal court?+
A nongovernmental corporate party must file a statement identifying any parent corporation and any publicly held corporation owning ten percent or more of its stock, or state that no such corporation exists.
576 U.S. 644 (2015)Legislation and Regulation
…best Account of,” but that, “in Society, every Man parts with a Small Share of his natural Liberty, or lodges it in the publick Stock, that he may possess the Remainder without Controul.” Boston Gazette and Country Journal, No. 58, May 10, 1756, p. 1. Similar sentiments were expressed in public speeches, sermons, and…
Secured TransactionsRights of third parties; perfected and unperfected security interests; rules of priority (§ 9-301, et seq.) · Protection of buyers of goods and chattel paper (§§ 9-320, 9-330), including protection of holders and purchasers of negotiable instruments (§ 9-331)UBEIntermediate