And while buy-backs may return money to those shareholders who take advantage of them, they may damage long-term investors; the peak for buy-backs was in early 2008, just when the market was about to crash.
Some companies have already acted ahead of the changes, with Costco and Las Vegas Sands leading the way in issuing special dividends before the end of the year so their shareholders can take advantage of current tax rates.
Leggett & Platt, a diversified manufacturer based in Carthage, Mo., decided to move up payment of its fourth-quarter dividend to December from January so shareholders could take advantage of the lower rate.
It is unclear exactly what the investigators are looking for, but it appears they are examining whether Markit's bank shareholders received an advantage as owners and providers of trading data for one type of derivatives known as credit-default swaps.
This muscle in wireless systems should be very much to Ericsson's shareholders' long-term advantage.
He added that the long wait for a resolution to the case of the ailing firm, which has Chinese shareholders, was an advantage to Mercedes-Benz in the battle for market share in London.
The company wants to grow its US shareholder base and take advantage of the buoyant biotech market across the Atlantic.
In a joint venture in, say, the BVI, no shareholder has a home advantage; all get a sophisticated, predictable common-law system with a small but well-regarded local commercial court and Britain's Privy Council as the ultimate arbiter.Asians are particularly fond of using BVI companies for initial public offerings and international investments.
The allocation of the tax burden onto corporate level and shareholder level causes an advantage for the corporation that can, however, be compensated by adjusting the IDR's parameters.
Their first priorities of course are profit, shareholder returns and competitive advantage.
