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Monday, 21 January 2008 09:51 |
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Loyalty dividend is the special dividend by means of which the firm wishes to reward loyal shareholders. Pursuant to the law, equal rights apply to all shares proportionate to their value, insofar as the statutes do not stipulate otherwise. In this regard it holds for the public limited company that these shareholders and certificate holders, being in the same circumstances, ought to be treated in the same way.
In March 2007, the Ondernemingskamer (Enterprise Section) ruled that introduction of loyalty dividend would be in violation of the principle of shareholder equality (DSM). The Supreme Court recently annulled the verdict referred to and stated that a regulation in the statutes, by means of which a financial payment (such as an additional dividend) is granted to registered shareholders under certain conditions, is lawful, unless the regulation is in violation of the aforementioned principle of equality. |
