SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING TRADEABLE FINANCIAL UNITS
First Claim
1. An article suitable for trade as a unit, comprising:
- one or more equity shares in a company which is capable of paying dividends; and
debt of the company which is interest bearing at a particular rate until a particular maturity date, said equity shares and said debt being represented by the unit in a prescribed way according to a predetermined ratio;
wherein the unit provides direct ownership of said equity shares and said debt.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An article suitable for trade as a unit in a financial offering by a company, representing in a predetermined ratio both equity and debt, while providing direct ownership of the equity and debt. The debt is interest bearing at a particular rate until a particular maturity date. An article suitable for trade as a unit in a subsequent offering further includes a second debt, which is interest bearing at the same particular rate until the same particular maturity date as the first debt. A software reference can associate the equity and debt(s) of the unit to a unique number that is suitable for facilitating the clearing and settlement of purchases and sales. The unit provides direct ownership of the equity and debt without an intervening holding entity or the need for trust certificates. Methods establishing such units and for decomposing them are described.
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Citations
74 Claims
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1. An article suitable for trade as a unit, comprising:
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one or more equity shares in a company which is capable of paying dividends; and
debt of the company which is interest bearing at a particular rate until a particular maturity date, said equity shares and said debt being represented by the unit in a prescribed way according to a predetermined ratio;
wherein the unit provides direct ownership of said equity shares and said debt. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 73, 74)
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7. An article suitable for trade as a unit in a subsequent offering, comprising:
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one or more equity shares in a company which is capable of paying dividends;
a first debt of the company which is interest bearing at a particular rate until a particular maturity date;
a second debt or the company which is interest bearing at the particular rate until the particular maturity date; and
said first and second debts and the equity shares being represented by the unit in a prescribed way according to a predetermined ratio;
wherein the unit provides direct ownership of said first and second debts and the equity shares. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An article suitable for trade as a unit, comprising:
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a quantity of equity shares in a company which is capable of paying dividends;
an amount of debt of the company which is interest bearing at a particular rate until a particular maturity date; and
a software reference associating the quantity of equity shares and the amount of debt to a single, unique number suitable for facilitating the clearing and settlement of any purchases and sales of the unit. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A method of establishing an article suitable for trade as a unit in an offering by a company, comprising the steps of:
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defining a capital structure for the unit which includes equity shares in the company and debt of the company in a predetermined ratio;
submitting a request to register the equity shares and the debt for the offering by the company;
requesting the association of the registered equity shares and the debt together in a prescribed way according to the predetermined ratio;
depositing the registered debt and equity shares together under a single, unique number suitable for facilitating the clearing and settlement of any purchases and sales of the unit; and
offering the unit for purchase and sale. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of establishing an article suitable for trade as a unit in a subsequent offering by a company, where a prior offering established a first unit representing equity shares and debt in a predetermined ratio, comprising the steps of:
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defining a capital structure for a second unit which includes additional equity shares in the company and additional debt of the company according to the predetermined ratio;
submitting a request to register the additional equity shares and the additional debt for the subsequent offering by the company;
recalling the first unit, the first unit comprising equity shares in the company and debt of the company in the predetermined ratio as its constituent components;
requesting the disassociation of the constituent components represented by the first unit;
requesting the association of the constituent components together with the registered additional equity shares and the additional debt in a prescribed way according to the predetermined ratio;
depositing the constituent components together with the registered additional equity shares and the additional debt under a single, unique second number suitable for facilitating the clearing and settlement of any purchases and sales of a second unit; and
offering the second unit for purchase and sale. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of marketing constituent components of an article that is traded as a unit, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining dominion over the unit from a holder of the unit, wherein a unique identifying reference number is associated with the unit which jointly represents equity and debt of the company as its constituent components;
separating the unit into the constituent components of equity and debt; and
effecting the transfer of ownership of at least one of the equity and debt. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. An article suitable for trade as a unit, useful in a subsequent offering by a company, comprising:
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a quantity of equity shares in the company which is capable of paying dividends;
a first amount of debt of the company which is interest bearing at a particular rate until a particular maturity date;
a second amount of debt of the company which is interest bearing at the particular rate until the particular maturity date;
said first and second debts and the equity shares being represented by the unit in a prescribed way according to a predetermined ratio; and
a software reference associating the quantity of equity shares and the amounts of first and second debt to a single, unique number suitable for facilitating the clearing and settlement of any purchases and sales of the unit. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. An article suitable for trade as a unit, comprising:
at least one computer database record representing one or more equity shares in a company which is capable of paying dividends, and debt of the company which is interest bearing at a particular rate until a particular maturity date;
said equity shares and debt being represented in a prescribed way according to a predetermined ratio, the database record including an entry identifying a registered holder of the unit.- View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An article suitable for trade as a unit in a subsequent offering, comprising:
at least one computer database record representing a first debt of the company which is interest bearing at a particular rate until a particular maturity date, a second debt of the company which is interest bearing at the particular rate until the particular maturity date, and one or more equity shares in a company which is capable of paying dividends;
the equity shares, the first debt, and the second debt being represented in a prescribed way according to a predetermined ratio, the database record including an entry identifying a registered holder of the unit.- View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. An article suitable for trade as a unit, comprising:
at least one computer database record containing a software reference associating a single, unique number suitable for facilitating the clearing and settlement of any purchases and sales of the unit with (a) a quantity of equity shares in a company which is capable of paying dividends, and (b) an amount of debt of the company which is interest bearing at a particular rate until a particular maturity date to, the database including an entry identifying a registered holder of the unit. - View Dependent Claims (49)
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50. A method of offering for trade a unit representing an ownership interest in the capital structure of a company, the method comprising the steps of:
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defining the capital structure for the unit so as to include equity shares in the company and debt of the company in a predetermined ratio;
submitting a request to separately register the equity shares, the debt and the unit for the offering by the company to the public;
requesting the association of the registered equity shares and the debt together in a prescribed way according to the predetermined ratio to form the unit under a single, unique number, which unique number is suitable for facilitating the clearing and settlement of any purchases and sales of the unit; and
offering the unit for purchase and sale. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53)
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54. A method, operable on a computer-based system, of establishing an article suitable for trade as a unit in a subsequent offering by a company, where a prior offering established a first unit representing equity shares and debt in a predetermined ratio with a single, unique first number, which unique first number is suitable for facilitating the clearing and settlement of any purchases and sales of the first unit, the method comprising the steps of:
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defining a capital structure for a second unit which includes additional equity shares in the company and additional debt of the company according to the predetermined ratio;
submitting a request to register the additional equity shares and the additional debt for the subsequent offering by the company;
recalling the first unit, the first unit comprising equity shares in the company and debt of the company in the predetermined ratio as its constituent components;
requesting the disassociation of the constituent components represented by the first unit;
requesting the association of the constituent components together with the registered additional equity shares and the additional debt in a prescribed way according to the predetermined ratio with a single, unique second number, which unique second number is suitable for facilitating the clearing and settlement of any purchases and sales of the second unit using said computer-based system; and
offering the second unit for purchase and sale. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A method, operable on a computer-based network, of marketing constituent components of an article that is traded as a unit, wherein the computer-based network includes a plurality of network-connected computers and a database, the method comprising the steps of:
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obtaining dominion over the unit from a holder of the unit, wherein a unique identifying reference number is associated with the unit in the database which jointly represents equity and debt of the company as its constituent components;
separating the unit into the constituent components of equity and debt; and
effecting the transfer of ownership of at least one of the equity and debt using at least one of said computers. - View Dependent Claims (60)
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61. An article suitable for trade as a unit, useful in a subsequent offering by a company, comprising:
at least one database record containing a software reference associating a quantity of equity shares in the company which is capable of paying dividends, a first amount of debt of the company which is interest bearing at a particular rate until a particular maturity date, and a second amount of debt of the company which is interest bearing at the particular rate until the particular maturity date;
the database record representing the associated equity shares and the first and the second debts in a predetermined ratio with a single, unique number suitable for facilitating the clearing and settlement of any purchases and sales of the unit; and
wherein the database record includes an entry identifying a registered holder of the unit.- View Dependent Claims (62)
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63. A method of offering for trade a unit representing an ownership interest in the capital structure of a company, comprising the steps of:
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creating new debt and equity in the company;
representing the debt and equity together in a prescribed way according to a predetermined ratio to form a tradeable unit; and
offering the tradeable unit for purchase and sale. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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Specification