What Is a Corporate Action? A corporate action is any activity that brings material change to an organization and impacts its stakeholders, including shareholders, both common and preferred, as well as bondholders. These events are generally approved by the company’s board of directors; shareholders may be permitted to vote on some events as well. Some
What Is a Corporate Agent? A corporate agent is a type of trust company that acts on behalf of corporations and some forms of governmental entities. Corporate agents provide various types of banking services for corporate clients, such as check clearing, payment of interest and dividends, and stock purchases and redemptions. They can also collect
What Is a Corporate Bond? A corporate bond is a type of debt security that is issued by a firm and sold to investors. The company gets the capital it needs and in return the investor is paid a pre-established number of interest payments at either a fixed or variable interest rate. When the bond
What Is Corporate Cannibalism? Corporate cannibalism is when a product sees a decrease in sales volume or market share due to the release of some new product that has been introduced by the same company. The new product ends up “eating” demand for the current product, therefore reducing overall sales. This downward pressure can negatively affect both
What Is Corporate Capital? Corporate capital is the mix of assets or resources a company can draw on in financing its business. Corporate capital results from debt and equity financing. In deciding on and managing their capital structure, a company’s management has important decisions to make on the relative proportions of debt and equity to
What Is Corporate Citizenship? Corporate citizenship involves the social responsibility of businesses and the extent to which they meet legal, ethical, and economic responsibilities, as established by shareholders. Corporate citizenship is growing increasingly important as both individual and institutional investors begin to seek out companies that have socially responsible orientations such as their environmental, social, and
What Is Corporate Culture? Corporate culture refers to the values, beliefs, and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact, perform, and handle business transactions. Often, corporate culture is implied, not expressly defined, and develops organically over time from the cumulative traits of the people that the company hires. A company’s culture will
What Is Corporate Debt Restructuring? Corporate debt restructuring is the reorganization of a distressed company’s outstanding obligations to restore its liquidity and keep it in business. It is often achieved by way of negotiation between distressed companies and their creditors, such as banks and other financial institutions, by reducing the total amount of debt the company
What Is Corporate Fraud? Corporate fraud refers to illegal activities undertaken by an individual or company that are done in a dishonest or unethical manner. Often, this kind of business fraud is designed to give an advantage to the perpetrating individual or company. Corporate fraud schemes go beyond the scope of an employee’s stated position
What Is Corporate Governance? Corporate governance is the system of rules, practices, and processes by which a firm is directed and controlled. Corporate governance essentially involves balancing the interests of a company’s many stakeholders, such as shareholders, senior management executives, customers, suppliers, financiers, the government, and the community. Since corporate governance provides the framework for
