ACCA LW Eng Syllabus E. Capital And The Financing Of Companies - Explain The Doctrine Of Capital Maintenance And Capital Reduction - Notes 1 / 2
Capital Maintenance prevents members withdrawing their capital without restriction
The idea is that there's always some money to help pay creditors - what we call the creditors' buffer.
The creditors' buffer
This is basically undistributable reserves - meaning an amount that can't be taken by shareholders via dividends or share repurchases.
Capital Reduction
Capital can be reduced in 3 ways:
Writing off unpaid calls on issued share capital
Removing excess capital - by giving it to fully paid shareholders
Cancelling paid up share capital that has been lost
How to reduce capital
Per the CA 2006 private companies may reduce capital without court approval by following the procedures below:
Pass a special resolution
Produce a statement of solvency within 15 days
Public companies must get court approval for any reduction of capital and allows any member or creditor to object.