Equity Markets

1. Equity interest in a company - it represents a share of the company's assets and profits earned after other prior claims have been made.
2. Equity shareholders - the owners of the company who have purchased the equity shares (more commonly called ordinary shares) in open market or thru direct business transactions (off market).
3. The money paid by the equity shareholders becomes the capital from which the company uses to buy assets to generate profits.
4. The equity shareholders are paid dividends on the discretion of the directors of the company.
5. The directors of the company are responsible to maintain the assets such that the original investment keeps its value. This depends on how well the company is managed and how efficient the funds of the company are invested to generate return.
6. In the case of an equity shareholder to regain the money he has invested, he must find a buyer for his shares thru open market or direct business transactions (off market).
7. Selling of the equity shareholder share depends on the price that he is asking for the shares and on the marketability of the particular company's shares in the market.
8. The open market represents in the stock exchange which lists the company's quoted shares.
9. The stock exchange serves as the marketpalce to meet buyers and sellers of shares or securities in the stock market.
10. For companies, the stock exchange serves as a source fund raising instead of loan from the financial institutions such as banks, insurance company, fund managers etc.
11. The stock exchange in Malaysia is called Bursa Malaysia Berhad (better known as Bursa) which is called under the jurisdiction of finance ministry.
12. Bursa is a self-regulatory organisations that govern the conducts of its participants in shares or securities dealing. The participants are all the stock-brokers and investment bankers. Bursa operates it business from Bukit Kewangan, Kuala Lumpur.