Corporate Actions
Corporate actions may require you to make important decisions, which you can easily manage through the Corporate Action Manager in the Client Portal. Examples of these actions include submitting dividend choices, participating in takeover offers, or exercising rights. To ensure your choices are processed, it’s essential to submit your elections before the specified deadline. Below, you will find instructions on how to participate in corporate actions.
Login
- Open your browser and visit the Client Portal website
- Enter your username and your password
- Authenticate yourself via two-factor authentication
Navigate to Corporate Action Manager
Click the question mark in the white circle in the top right corner of the page, then select Support Center. On the following page, choose Corporate Action Manager.
Select the upcoming action
On the Corporate Action Manager page, you can navigate between the following tabs:
- Upcoming Actions: View upcoming corporate actions.
- Choice Actions: Explore available elective actions.
- Mandatory Actions: Review mandatory corporate actions affecting your holdings.
- Conversions: Manage share conversions.
- Warrant Exercises: Execute warrant rights.
- Past Actions: Access a record of past corporate actions.
- Proxy Votes: Exercise voting rights in corporate decisions.
Corporate action information
To view details of a specific corporate action, click on the corresponding row. In this window, you will find all the information regarding the Corporate Action, including the deadline, conditions, various dates, and the account for which you want to make the choice.
For most corporate events you will be asked to allocate the number of shares or rights to a specific choice.
Let’s look at a dividend choice as an example. By default, the choice for cash dividend is selected. Additionally, in this case, you can allocate an amount of rights. If you want to receive cash dividend, enter the number of rights in the field of the first row. If you prefer stock dividend, enter the number of rights in the second row.
Confirm your choice
To finalize your selection, check the Terms and Agreement box in the lower-left corner of the pop-up window, then click Save in the lower-right corner.
A Confirmation Needed pop-up will then appear. To confirm your choice, select Yes.
Once you submit a voluntary corporate action election, a confirmation will be sent to the Message Center within 30 seconds to verify acceptance of your selection. If you do not receive it, please contact our customer service team, as elections without confirmation cannot be processed.
To access the Message Center in the Client Portal, click the question mark in the white circle in the top right corner and select Secure Message Center.
FAQ
The deadline for submitting Corporate Actions is typically set two days before the official deadline provided by the company initiating the event. This allows sufficient time to process and submit the necessary instructions on behalf of our clients.
Please note that specific deadlines may vary depending on the nature of the Corporate Action and other factors.
If you wish to track received dividends, changes in dividend accruals, and corporate actions, you can access all this information in your account statement available through the Client Portal. For step-by-step instructions on how to view your statement, please refer to this page, which also provides detailed explanations of the various sections within the statement.
To stay informed about corporate actions, we recommend using either the Corporate Action Manager tool in the Client Portal or the Corporate Action section within the Secure Message Center. Both of these options can be accessed by clicking on the Help? icon located in the top right corner of the page and selecting Support Center. For reliable and mandatory information, you can visit the company’s Investor Relations page.
The ratio of the offering indicates the proportion in which the rights are exchanged to obtain new shares. A ratio of 10:1 means that you can subscribe with 10 Subscription Rights to acquire 1 new share. Both the amount and ratio of the Subscription Rights will be listed in the Corporate Actions section of your account statement.
Submitting Subscription Rights to purchase new shares is generally a voluntary option. Sometimes, these Subscription Rights lose their value if they are not used to purchase new shares. Most of these Subscription Rights have the possibility to be traded before their expiration date.
If you take no action with these rights, these rights will become worthless. The expiration date and (if applicable) proceeds are displayed in the Corporate Actions section of your account statement.
Corporate actions are events initiated by a publicly-traded company that can bring about changes to the company’s structure or impact its shareholders. These actions are typically authorized by the company’s board of directors and may require approval from shareholders in certain cases.
The dividend is determined by the company itself. Some companies allow you to choose between cash and stock dividend. Please note that you may be exempted from corporate events such as capital increases for legal or technical reasons.
Such actions can have several implications for investors:
- Changes in Ownership or Voting Rights: Such events may lead to changes in the ownership structure of a company, potentially affecting voting rights and decision-making power.
- Impact on Share Price: Depending on the nature of the upcoming corporate event, the share price may be affected. For example, stock splits and bonus issues generally result in lower individual share prices.
- Opportunities and Risks: Corporate actions can present opportunities for investors, such as the ability to acquire additional shares at a favorable price. However, they can also carry risks, so it’s essential to evaluate the potential impact before making investment decisions.
You will typically receive emails titled Annual Meeting Notice from our partner IB to perform a proxy vote. Make sure to also check your spam
folder for these emails.
If you cannot find this email, you can access open proxy votes via the Client Portal with these steps:
- Log in to the Client Portal and click the question mark in the white circle in the top right corner of the page and select Support Center from the dropdown menu.
- In the Support Center, select Corporate Action Manager.
- On the Corporate Action Manager page, click on the Proxy Vote tab on the far right and then click on the Proxy Vote button.
- You will be directed to a website where you can view upcoming actions and decisions.
On this website, you will find the following categories:
- Upcoming Actions: Details of upcoming corporate actions or meeting announcements for which you can vote, along with the voting cut-off date.
- Decisions: Submit your voting instructions here by pressing Vote. Review the articles and indicate your vote separately per article with For, Against or Abstain. Once you’ve made your choices, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Confirm Vote. Review your selected votes on the following page, then click Submit Vote at the bottom to complete the voting process.
- Delivery Preferences: Indicate or change your preferred method of communications regarding corporate actions here.
- Communications: Access previous communications regarding corporate actions delivered to you.
After voting, you will receive a confirmation email from IB confirming your participation.