Corporate Actions, start to end

Distribution of cash to equity holders out of company profits or reserves, in proportion to shareholding. The most routine, highest-volume corporate action any Ops desk processes.

Real-world exampleQuarterly dividends from NYSE, LSE and NSE blue chips are almost all plain DVCA events — the single highest-volume corporate action type any custodian handles.

Distribution of additional shares to existing holders — instead of cash (stock dividend) or free of payment on top of the existing holding (bonus/capitalisation issue) — in proportion to holding. Markets mainly distinguish the two by accounting source (retained earnings vs. share premium/reserves) and tax treatment.

Real-world exampleIndian issuers frequently issue bonus shares (e.g., ratios like 1:1); each event increases share count and reduces market price proportionally, leaving pre-market-movement holding value unchanged.

Each existing share is subdivided into a larger number of shares (e.g., 10-for-1), reducing the price per share proportionally with no change to total investment value or market cap.

Real-world exampleNvidia executed a 10-for-1 forward split effective 7 June 2024 — a holder of 100 shares became a holder of 1,000 at one-tenth the price. Amazon carried out a 20-for-1 split in June 2022.

The opposite of a forward split — existing shares are consolidated into a smaller number (e.g., 1-for-10), raising the per-share price proportionally. Often used to meet an exchange's minimum-price listing rule or reduce an unwieldy share count.

Real-world exampleGeneral Electric executed a 1-for-8 reverse split in 2021; Citigroup executed a 1-for-10 reverse split in 2011 following its post-financial-crisis share count.

Target shareholders receive a fixed cash amount per share and the target's shares cease to exist once the deal legally closes. No holder choice — a mandatory conversion of equity into cash.

Real-world examplePfizer's ~$43bn all-cash acquisition of Seagen closed in December 2023. Twitter's take-private deal (October 2022) was an all-cash merger at $54.20 per share.

Target shareholders receive newly issued acquirer shares at a fixed exchange ratio (e.g., 0.6275 acquirer shares per target share) instead of cash. Also mandatory — every eligible holder is converted at the same ratio.

Real-world exampleLarge-cap combinations are frequently structured as pure stock swaps to preserve both companies' balance sheets and give target shareholders continued upside in the combined entity.

A parent company distributes shares of a subsidiary ("spinco") pro-rata to its existing shareholders, creating a new, independently listed company. Economically similar to a stock dividend, but the distributed security is a different, newly listed entity.

Real-world exampleGeneral Electric spun off GE HealthCare in January 2023, then split its remaining businesses into GE Aerospace and GE Vernova in April 2024 — one issuer running the mechanic twice in under two years.

Delisting removes a security from an exchange (voluntarily, by regulatory action, or following a merger); a name or ticker change (CHAN) simply updates identifying information with no economic effect on the holding.

Real-world exampleA company rebranding its legal name and ticker triggers a CHAN event across every custodian's static data with zero cash or position impact — the clearest example of a purely informational corporate action.

The company is wound up — assets sold, liabilities settled, and any residual value distributed to shareholders (who rank behind creditors and preferred holders) in one or more liquidating distributions. In a full liquidation, the equity is ultimately extinguished.

Real-world exampleCommon outcome for closed-end funds and distressed/bankrupt issuers once a court-approved winding-up plan is in place; equity holders typically recover little or nothing if the company was insolvent, since creditors are paid first.

Periodic interest payment on a bond to holders of record, per the instrument's coupon rate and payment frequency. Fixed income's equivalent of a cash dividend, and similarly the highest-volume FI event.

Real-world exampleA semi-annual USD corporate bond paying a fixed coupon is one of the highest-STP events in fixed income — largely automated end to end since the entitlement is pure arithmetic on face value.

The bond reaches its stated maturity date and the issuer repays full face value to holders of record, alongside the final coupon; the security is then cancelled. Used only for redemption on the original schedule, not an early call/put option.

Real-world exampleGovernment and corporate bonds redeeming at scheduled maturity are the cleanest, most predictable fixed income event — the date and amount have been known since issuance.

The issuer exercises its right (per the call schedule/indenture) to redeem an entire outstanding issue early, usually at a pre-set call price (often par, sometimes at a small premium). Common when falling rates let the issuer refinance more cheaply.

Real-world exampleA wave of corporate bond calls typically follows a rate-cutting cycle, as issuers refinance high-coupon debt issued when rates were higher.

Only a portion of the outstanding issue is redeemed early — common for asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities (ABS/MBS) where loan prepayments flow through as principal paydowns. PCAL reduces face value per unit; PRED redeems a portion without reducing nominal value (via a lottery-style drawing instead).

Real-world exampleMortgage-backed securities pay down principal monthly as underlying homeowners prepay or refinance — the "pool factor" published each month is exactly what drives this paydown.

The issuer is contractually required to retire a portion of an issue periodically ahead of final maturity. Which specific certificates are redeemed is typically decided by a random lottery drawing among all outstanding certificates.

Real-world exampleSinking-fund drawings remain common in markets that still use physical/bearer certificates and in structured or municipal bond programmes with mandatory periodic retirement schedules.

A floating-rate note's coupon resets periodically (e.g., quarterly) to a new reference rate plus a fixed spread — historically LIBOR-based, now predominantly SOFR / €STR / SONIA-based following the post-2021 benchmark transition.

Real-world exampleThe 2021–2023 industry-wide LIBOR-to-SOFR transition required re-papering millions of legacy floating-rate instruments' reset mechanics — a landmark, industry-scale project for fixed income Ops teams.

The currency or unit denomination of a security is changed — historically most associated with legacy European currencies (franc, mark, lira) converting into the euro, or more generally when face-value denominations are updated for market convention.

Real-world exampleBonds originally issued in legacy currencies like the Deutsche Mark or French Franc were redenominated into euro as those currencies were phased out between 1999 and 2002.

The issuer fails to make a scheduled interest or principal payment, or files for bankruptcy protection, triggering a change in the security's legal and trading status. Not itself a cash/security movement, but the trigger for a cascade of subsequent events.

Real-world exampleHigh-yield issuers that miss a coupon payment typically enter a restructuring process — often resulting in an exchange offer converting bondholders into a mix of new debt and/or equity in the reorganised company.

A mutual fund, ETF, or closed-end fund distributes accumulated income (interest, dividends received by the fund) to unit/shareholders in proportion to units held, typically on a set schedule per the fund's distribution policy.

Real-world exampleDebt/income mutual funds often distribute monthly or quarterly; equity growth funds may distribute annually or not at all, retaining income within NAV instead.

Distribution of realised profits from the fund's sale of portfolio securities during the year, passed through to unit-holders — common at year-end for open-end mutual funds in jurisdictions where funds must distribute realised gains to retain pass-through tax status.

Real-world exampleUS mutual funds commonly declare capital gains distributions in November/December each year — creating a "buying a distribution" trap for investors who purchase shortly before record date and immediately owe tax on gains they didn't economically benefit from.

In an accumulation share class, income accrued during the period is retained within the fund rather than paid out — but for tax purposes in several jurisdictions (notably the UK), retained income is still treated as if distributed to investors, creating a tax liability with no matching cash payment.

Real-world exampleUK "accumulation" (Acc) share classes are the clearest case: investors must report and pay tax on income they never actually received in cash, purely because it was retained and reflected in a higher NAV.

The fund is closed and its remaining assets sold and distributed to unit-holders — used when a scheme is sub-scale, its strategy is discontinued, or (for closed-end funds/trusts) its term expires.

Real-world exampleSub-scale niche or thematic ETFs are frequently wound up by their sponsor when assets under management fall below a viable threshold, returning final NAV to holders in cash.

Additional units issued free of payment to existing unit-holders in proportion to their holding (bonus units), or existing units subdivided into a larger number at a proportionally lower NAV (unit split) — both leave total holding value unchanged, purely changing unit count and per-unit NAV.

Real-world exampleFund houses occasionally use unit splits to bring a high-NAV legacy scheme's per-unit price back down to a more retail-friendly level, without changing any investor's total holding value.