Earlier this month, the Canadian Coalition for Good
Governance published a Dual Class Share
Policy setting out the organization's views
on dual class share companies. Dual class share structures
exist where a company issues a class of shares carrying a disproportionate vote per
share relative to other classes of shares. Such
structures can also be referred to as having multiple voting shares
or restricted shares.
According to the policy, companies undertaking initial
public offerings should employ a single class of voting
common shares. In "exceptional circumstances" where
a dual class share structure is used, the
CCGG sets out a number of principles that should be followed,
namely in respect of director elections, the maximum voting
ratio of multiple voting shares to subordinate voting shares,
non-voting common shares, coattails, collapse of the dual class
share structure, monetization of multiple voting shares, and
payments to an owner of multiple voting shares on
