Corporate Actions Masterclass
Course description
SPECIAL SUMMER PROMOTION – REGISTER NOW & SAVE £200!
Join this Practical 1 day Corporate Actions course conducted by a senior City expert, to gain thorough understanding of corporate actions, their impact and how to manage them.
This practical 1 day workshop gives front office, middle office, and back-office professionals a thorough and practical grounding in corporate actions, covering the full range of events encountered across equity, fixed income, and multi-asset portfolios. The course moves beyond a general familiarity with event types and provides practical frameworks for the end-to-end corporate action lifecycle, from announcement and data validation through election management, settlement, reconciliation, and accounting.
The programme provides a comprehensive overview of all major corporate action categories, including income events, capital events, corporate restructurings, redemptions, and administrative events. Each category is examined from the perspective of all three functions: the front office considerations that drive election decisions, the operational and settlement disciplines required from the middle office, and the accounting, reconciliation, and control frameworks that govern the back office.
A dedicated session covers the accounting treatment of corporate actions under IFRS 9 and IAS 39, including classification and measurement implications, event-by-event accounting entries, and the NAV impact of each major event type. The operational processing and controls session addresses the end-to-end workflow, election management, fails and claims management, and the three lines of defence framework as it applies to corporate action processing.
Sessions are built around worked examples, case studies, and practical exercises drawn from equity, fixed income, and multi-asset scenarios representative of those encountered by front office, operations, and accounting teams.
What will you learn
By the end of this session participants will:
- Explain the corporate actions lifecycle and distinguish between mandatory, voluntary, and mandatory-with-choice events, including the legal, operational, and investor implications of each.
- Interpret key corporate action dates, terms, and data to determine entitlement, election, settlement, and processing requirements, including cum/ex-date mechanics and open-trade risks.
- Calculate and validate entitlements across income events, capital reorganisations, rights issues, mergers, redemptions, conversions, and other corporate actions, including proration, fractional entitlements, cash-in-lieu, FX, and withholding tax.
- Apply appropriate accounting and NAV treatment to corporate actions under IFRS 9/IAS 39 and relevant US GAAP frameworks, including the impact on cost basis, P&L, equity, NAV, and multi-currency portfolios.
- Process corporate actions effectively within operational workflows and systems, including SWIFT messaging, election management, reference-data updates, settlement, reconciliation, claims, and exception handling.
- Identify and manage operational, financial, regulatory, and control risks, including missed elections, incorrect entitlements, settlement fails, FX exposure, data and systems errors, and client or NAV impact.
- Apply robust control and governance frameworks using three-lines-of-defence principles, KRIs, escalation procedures, audit trails, and regulatory requirements relevant to investment operations.
- Analyse complex corporate action scenarios and resolve operational issues, demonstrating the ability to assess consequences, calculate financial impacts, perform accounting entries, reconcile outcomes, and recommend appropriate corrective and preventive controls.
You may be interested in combining this programme with the following courses, especially for our edition in July in London:
- International Securities Settlements & Custodial Services
- Clearing, Settlement & Counterparty Risk
- Investment Performance Measurement
- Selection of Corporate Finance in-company programmes
Register for any 2 public courses at the same time and save extra £100 (in total, not per course).
Main topics covered during this training
- Corporate actions explained, their purpose and impacts
- Types of corporate actions including: cash dividends, stock splits, tender offers, reverse stock splits, spin offs, rights offers, mergers & acquisitions
- Types of securities affected
- Main types of participants and stakeholders
- Mandatory and voluntary corporate actions
- Life cycle of an event – what is involved, how are the events managed and the importance of critical dates
- The importance of information and reference data
- The nature of mandatory events
- Accounting and tax considerations
- The impact of accounting and methods for calculating
- Meetings of the company proxy voting – AGM and EGM
- Potential risks to the organisations
- Regulatory and compliance considerations
- Real world examples and case studies
Who should attend
The course is suitable for portfolio managers, traders, operations analysts, fund accountants, risk managers, compliance officers, and internal audit professionals at:
- Asset managers, fund administrators, and investment management firms processing corporate actions across equity and fixed income portfolios on behalf of retail, institutional, and wholesale clients
- Banks and broker-dealers with trading book and banking book exposure to corporate action events across multiple asset classes and jurisdictions
- Custodians, prime brokers, and securities services firms responsible for notifying, processing, and reconciling corporate actions on behalf of institutional clients
- Insurance companies, pension funds, and other institutional investors with direct corporate action exposure across their own-account investment portfolios
- Regulatory reporting, compliance, and internal audit teams with oversight and control responsibilities for the corporate action processing framework
Corporate Actions - A 1 Day Course
Foundations of Corporate Actions
- Corporate action definition: the legal basis, the issuer–investor–intermediary chain, and how events arise from board resolutions, regulatory filings, and exchange notifications
- Issuer-driven vs holder-driven events: the distinction, and its operational and legal implications for processing teams
- Three classification categories: Mandatory (automatic processing, no holder election required), Voluntary (election required within a deadline), and Mandatory with Choice (default applies unless an override instruction is received)
- End-to-end lifecycle: announcement, validation, notification, election and instruction, entitlement calculation, processing, settlement, reconciliation, and accounting posting
- Key dates: announcement date, ex-date, record date, payment and effective date, and election deadline — key operational triggers and who is responsible for acting on it
- Cum/ex boundary mechanics: how T+1 and T+2 settlement interacts with the ex-date; entitlement risk created by open trades and fails at record date
- SWIFT corporate action messages: MT564 (notification), MT565 (instruction), MT566 (confirmation), and MT568 (narrative) — field structure and operational workflow
- Data sources and validation hierarchy: Bloomberg CACS, Refinitiv, DTCC, Euroclear, and Clearstream; custodian notifications vs primary source cross-referencing
Income Events and Capital Reorganisations
- Cash dividends: ordinary vs special; gross vs net treatment; withholding tax (WHT) implications by jurisdiction; accrual at ex-date vs payment date
- FX conversion for foreign-currency dividends: rate selection (spot vs WM fix) and the settlement risk on the conversion leg
- Dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs): mandatory vs optional; share quantity calculation; operational processing flow
- Stock and scrip dividends: share entitlement calculation; fractional shares and cash-in-lieu (CIL) processing; cost basis impact and book-keeping entries
- Bond coupon payments: accrual mechanics; step-up coupons; payment-in-kind (PIK) instruments; accrued interest treatment on purchase and sale
- Stock splits and reverse splits: new share quantity and par value calculation; price adjustment; position reconciliation; systems update requirements
- Bonus and capitalisation issues: mechanics; cost basis redistribution; distinction from stock split for accounting purposes
- Rights issues: theoretical ex-rights price (TERP) calculation; nil-paid rights — value, trading window, and lapse date; election options — take up, sell nil-paids, let lapse; underwriting and shortfall procedures
- Open offers and placings: comparison with rights issues; non-renounceable nature; excess application procedures
- Worked examples: cash dividend with WHT and FX conversion; rights issue TERP calculation and entitlement across all three election outcomes
Corporate Restructuring, Redemptions, and Administrative Events
- Cash mergers and acquisitions: offer terms; proration mechanics; compulsory acquisition (squeeze-out) thresholds; mixed consideration offers — cash and securities components
- Share-for-share and securities offers: exchange ratio; new ISIN assignment; cost basis calculation in the new holding; partial acceptance and stub equity
- Spin-offs and demergers: cost basis allocation between parent and subsidiary — market value vs book value method; new ISIN creation and pricing at listing
- Schemes of arrangement: court-sanctioned process; timeline differences vs standard takeover offer; irrevocable and indicative undertakings
- Tender offers and Dutch auctions: proration pools; over-subscription handling
- Bond redemptions at par: final coupon plus principal; accrued interest calculation to redemption date; premium and discount amortisation under the effective interest rate method
- Partial and early calls and puts: pro-rata allocation of partial calls; call premium accounting; holder election mechanics for puttable bonds
- Convertible bond conversions: conversion ratio; election window; accounting for extinguishment of debt and recognition of equity
- Warrant exercise: exercise price; share delivery mechanics; accounting treatment
- ISIN, name, and reference data changes: update workflow; position migration; risk of duplicate positions if the old identifier is not deactivated correctly
- Capital reductions and return of capital: distinction from dividend for tax and accounting purposes; cost basis reduction mechanics
- Liquidations, delistings, and insolvency events: final distribution; write-down and impairment recognition; proof of debt processes
- Worked examples: mixed consideration M&A offer with proration; spin-off cost basis allocation using relative fair value; convertible bond conversion journal entry
Accounting Treatment and NAV Impact
- IFRS 9 and IAS 39 classification framework: FVTPL, FVOCI, and amortised cost — how classification determines the accounting treatment applied to each corporate action type
- US GAAP equivalents: ASC 320 and ASC 321 for multi-standard environments
- Event-by-event accounting entries: cash dividend receipt (gross, WHT, and net); stock dividend; rights issue take-up, nil-paid lapse, and nil-paid sale; bond redemption at par and at premium; cash merger; share-for-share merger; spin-off cost basis allocation
- NAV timing: which date drives the NAV impact for each event type — accrual date vs cash receipt date; ex-date price adjustment and NAV distortion risk
- Dilution events and per-unit NAV: how capital events affect the NAV per unit of a fund
- Provisioning for pending and unconfirmed events: policy, disclosure implications, and fair value hierarchy considerations for illiquid entitlements
- Multi-currency portfolios: FX translation of foreign-currency entitlements; impact on hedging relationships following a capital event
- WHT reclaim: receivable recognition; treaty rates vs domestic rates; documentation requirements.
- UK stamp duty reserve tax (SDRT): application to bonus issues and rights
- Return of capital vs dividend: distinction for tax and accounting purposes and the processing consequences of misclassification
- Worked examples: full debit/credit walk-through for a cash dividend with WHT, a rights issue across all three election outcomes, a bond partial call with premium under IFRS 9 amortised cost, and a spin-off cost basis allocation
Operational Processing, Systems, and Controls
- Processing responsibilities: custodian vs fund administrator; straight-through processing (STP) rates; manual exception handling and the escalation process
- Election management: deadline monitoring and escalation protocols; default option risk on missed voluntary events; obtaining and documenting investment manager instructions; bulk vs per-account election processing
- Entitlement calculation and validation: position-based calculation at record date; fractional entitlements and CIL; validation against custodian provisional and final credits
- Settlement and fails management: corporate action settlement vs standard trade settlement; impact of open fails at record date; claims management — asserting and responding; buy-in exposure on cum/ex fails
- Reconciliation framework: position reconciliation (internal books vs custodian vs sub-custodian); cash reconciliation (expected vs received entitlements); stock reconciliation; aged break escalation thresholds
- Systems and technology: corporate action modules in portfolio accounting systems (SimCorp Dimension, Charles River, Advent Geneva, Eagle); data vendor integration; golden source hierarchy; workflow tools and exception queues.
- Operational risk taxonomy: missed elections, incorrect entitlement calculation, data error, systems failure, market risk during election windows, FX risk on foreign entitlements, and counterparty risk on failed trades
- Three lines of defence: first line — dual authorisation on elections and instructions, independent entitlement check, pre-settlement reconciliation sign-off, and deadline monitoring logs; second line — independent NAV validation, control testing, missed election log review, and regulatory reporting controls; third line — periodic audit of election management, reconciliation completeness, and control override log
- Key risk indicators (KRIs): percentage of events processed STP vs manually; number and value of missed elections; aged reconciliation breaks by event type; time to resolve claims; percentage of entitlements confirmed within T+1 of payment date
- Error handling and escalation: error classification by P&L impact, regulatory breach, and client harm; escalation matrix; compensating controls; error log maintenance and root cause analysis
- Regulatory and compliance overlay: market abuse controls around voluntary events and record dates; FCA and PRA operational resilience expectations; AIFMD and UCITS depositary oversight obligations; CASS implications; audit trail requirements for elections, instructions, and entitlement calculations
Case Studies, Assessment, and CPD Resources
- Case study 1 – missed rights issue election: investment manager instruction received after the custodian’s internal deadline; consequences, claims process, NAV impact, and control failure root cause analysis
- Case study 2 – mixed M&A consideration: 70% cash, 30% share offer; entitlement calculation, proration mechanics, cost basis of the residual holding, accounting entries, and reconciliation
- Case study 3 – bond partial call with premium: pro-rata redemption calculation; call premium accrual; journal entries under IFRS 9 amortised cost accounting
- Case study 4 – spin-off and cost basis allocation: demerger into two listed entities; relative fair value split; NAV update; reference data change requirements
- Group discussion – control failure scenarios: participants identify the failed control, correct response, and proposed preventive improvement for a set of operational exceptions
- Knowledge check: ten multiple-choice questions covering all five content sections
Reference materials: SIFMA, AFME, ICMA, and DTCC operational publications; CISI Corporate Actions qualification; SWIFT MT5xx message field guides; Bloomberg CACS documentation; withholding tax rate summaries by jurisdiction.
Trainer
The training director is an industry advisor and regulatory expert with over 20 years of experience in investment banking, asset management, and Regulatory Technology (RegTech). He is a recognised subject matter expert in Financial Regulation, Fintech and Open Banking, covering key banking and finance regulations across US, EMEA, and APAC — including MiFID II, EMIR, CASS, SFTR, IFR/IFD, IFPR, IFRS9, IFRS17 and IFRS7 disclosures, SMCR, Conduct Risk, Consumer Duty/TCF, and ESG regulations such as SFDR, TCFD and Climate Reporting.
He combines deep expertise in strategic regulatory topics with hands-on experience in technology, processes, and platform management, incorporating risk and governance frameworks across the full three lines of defence.
His recent key engagements include banks such as HSBC, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, and Barclays, buy-side firms such as T. Rowe Price, Ruffer & M&G, and major Lloyds syndicates and Specialty insurers. He is also a member and advisor of industry association committees for regulatory consultations with bodies including ESMA, FCA, PRA/Bank of England, and the SEC.
FAQ
We offer banking and finance courses as well as soft skills and business management training. You can either attend an open public course in London or Dubai or arrange customised in-house training to be delivered in any of your offices worldwide.
Most of our public courses are run over 2 full days. Some programmes are offered as a 1 or 3 day training.
In-house training is tailored to client’s requirements and can be organised over 1 day, 2-3 weeks or longer.
Public courses are organised mainly in London and Dubai. Occasionally we organise courses in other centres like Paris or New York. Check our public course calendar for the current list of programmes. We use a range of training venues, all in the centre of the cities and with excellent transport links to the airports and train stations.
In London we use venues in the centre (near Oxford Circus station or in Mayfair) or in the City (near Liverpool Street or Moorgate stations).
In Dubai our courses are organised in one of 4-5* hotels in the Deira district. Once you register we will send you detailed information together with accommodation options if required.
Our in-house courses can be delivered anywhere in the world. We work with over 25 trainers worldwide. Contact us do discuss your requirements. Check our list of available programmes.
Our courses are run in central locations from 9 a.m until 5-5.30 p.m. There are 2 coffee breaks and a lunch break. Lunch is always provided in the venue.
Dress code is smart casual.
All our programmes are taught by senior specialists who have spent many years in their respective sectors, working as senior managers and head of departments, so they understand very well the market and the challenges you are facing.
The experience of our trainers allows us to create very practical programmes, focused on current market trends and challenges. You can be sure that you will gain the knowledge which can be instantly applied in your workplace after the course. You will be analysing real life case studies, take part in group exercises and discussions as well as role plays, whenever applicable.
We want our courses to be as practical and interactive as possible so we limit the number of participants in order to optimise your time with the trainer and allow you to ask questions which are important for you.
In order to understand your requirements and expectations, we will send you a pre-course questionnaire.
You will also receive post-course support so if you have any questions after you left the training, you are welcome to contact us.
There are 2 easy ways to register:
- Go to the course of your choice and click Register Now button to fill the registration page
- Email us to enquiry@eurekafinancial.com
After you register, we will send you registration confirmation and an invoice so you can arrange the payment. Please note that your place is not confirmed until we receive it.
If you register within Early Bird discount period, there’s limited time to arrange the payment in order to be eligible for the discount. You will find all the details on the invoice.
We don’t advise to make any travel and hotel arrangements until you receive full course confirmation from us.
We will send you venue and course details as soon as possible but most likely about 3-4 weeks prior to the course commencement.
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- Making a bank transfer
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Just mark preferred paying option on the registration form. Whichever form of payment you choose we will always send you an invoice.
If you pay by card, a 2.2% processing fee will be added. We will send you authorisation form so you can give us your card details.
Included in the price of a public course are:
- Course tutorial
- Take away course materials
- Course Certificate
- Lunch on the days of the training as well as drinks and snacks throughout the course
The price doesn’t include accommodation, flights, transfers and any additional costs outside of the training venue.
Yes, we always offer Early Bird discount, so the sooner you register the more savings you can make. We also offer group discounts and if you register for 2 or more programmes at the same time.
If you are a full time student or unemployed, we offer a 25% discount of the full price of the training. Student ID or unemployment status confirmation is required to claim this discount.
If you attend one of our courses you will be entitled to a special discount for a year after the last course you attend with us. Also, if you have attended and recommended us to a friend, both you and your friend will receive a special discount. You will receive more information about it after you attend the course.
See our Customer Loyalty Discounts page for more details.
All our courses based in the UK are subject to the VAT charge of 20%. This fee is irrespective of the country of residence of the delegates.
You can, however, claim the VAT back by contacting UK tax office - HMRC, and filling the relevant form, as long as you comply with the following rules:
For Delegates coming from the EU countries
If you represent a registered business in another EU country, you can use the Refund Scheme to reclaim VAT you pay in the UK as long as all of the following apply:
- You're not registered for VAT in the UK and don't have to, or can't be, registered here
- You don't have a place of business or a residence in the UK
- You don't make any supplies in the UK
You can find some more information here. In order to claim the VAT you have to fill Form 65.
For the Delegates from Non EU countries
If you represent a registered business in a non-EU country, you can use the Refund Scheme to reclaim VAT you pay in the UK as long as all of the following apply:
- You're not registered for VAT in the UK and don't have to, or can't be, registered here
- You don't have a place of business or a residence in the EU
- You can only use the Refund Scheme if your own country operates a similar scheme and makes it available to UK businesses. If your country has its own Refund Scheme but doesn't let UK businesses use it, you can't claim under the UK Refund Scheme.
- You don't make any supplies in the UK
If the following rules apply to you, please fill the 65A form and send it to HMRC.
Webinars
You can cancel your participation up to a month before the course and receive a refund minus 10% of the full course value. Between 2-4 weeks before the course you will be charged 50% cancellation fee and if you cancel less than 2 weeks before the course you can only offer your place to a colleague. Up to 2 weeks before the course you can reregister for another edition for 10% reregistration fee if there is another webinar offered or you can rebook for a course in London by paying the difference in price plus 10% reregistration fee.
Classroom Courses
If there is any official travel restriction or difficulty related to the COVID pandemic around the time of the course we will convert the training into a webinar or offer to attend the next classroom edition at no extra cost.
If you are unable to attend the course, you can either send a replacement at no extra charge or, up to 10 days before the training, you can transfer your booking to another edition within the next 6 months paying administrative fee of 20% of the full course price. For any cancellation requests received between 11 days and 4 weeks from the course we offer 50% refund or reregistration to another edition for 25% of the value of the booking. For any cancellation requests received more than 4 weeks before the course date we will offer a refund less an administration fee of 10% of the full course price.
Cancellations must be made in writing (letter or email) and reach our office four weeks prior to the course date. We regret that only limited refunds can be given after this period as per points above. Non-attendance without any notification will be charged at full rate. Your place on a course is not guaranteed until we receive the payment. All payments must be made in full before the course date.
All our trainers have been working for many years in their respective sectors before they begun to teach so they bring a wealth of practical experience to the classroom.
Most of them used to work for 15 or more years in the financial sector and corporate world, and were holding positions of Directors, VP and Senior Managers. Some of them have published books and have written articles for specialised magazines and newspapers including FT, The Independent, The Times etc. You can find detailed biography of each trainer on the page of the course you want to register for.
Yes, you will receive a Certificate of Attendance at the end of the course you attend.
If you have to apply for a Visa to attend a course in the UK, we will issue a letter to support your application. The letter will be issued only after the payment for the course has been made.
It is delegate’s responsibility to obtain a Visa and failure to do so will not make the participant exempt from the cancellation policy.
Anyone suspected of applying for a training course simply to gain a Visa letter will be reported to their embassy.
We will need the following information to issue an invitation letter:
- Full name as it appears on your passport
- Date of birth
- Passport number
- Passport issue date
- Passport expiry date
13 Oct 2026, Online / Virtual
Register by 01 Sep to save £200
Early bird price £895 + VAT
Regular price £1095 + VAT
5% discount for 2 and 10% for 3 people.
8 Dec 2026, London / Virtual
Register by 01 Sep to save £200
Early bird price £895 + VAT
Regular price £1095 + VAT
5% discount for 2 and 10% for 3 people.
This topic can be arranged on in-house basis. If you have a group of 4 or more we can customise it and deliver in any location worldwide. Contact us to discuss your requirements
