For cooperatives (Genossenschaft, société coopérative, società cooperativa) I’m seeking a way to manage shares. I wonder if there is one already. Any hints?
My current need is for managing cooperative shares as an extension to “assocation”/membership. Anyhow, I more generic module - e.g. for managing shares of stock corporations (Aktiengesellschaft, société anonyme, società per azioni) - might be of help, too.
There is at least on major difference between stock corporations (Aktiengesellschaft, société anonyme, società per azioni) and cooperatives (Genossenschaft, société coopérative, società cooperativa) - at least according to German law:
stock corporations have a fixes number of shares
only the stockholders’ meeting can decide about increasing the number of shares
if a shareholder wants to monetize her/his shares, he/she needs to find somebody to buy the shares (two-sided transaction)
the corporation may not sell all shares, but hold some itself; it might also buy back shares from shareholders
when thinking of shares as a sellable: the corporation has a fixed number of shares “on stock”, which might get “old out”
cooperatives have a variable number of shares
the number of shares increases, whenever a new member joins or whenever a member decides to put more money into the cooperative - both of which is (more or less) daily business, to be decided by the board
if a shareholder wants to monetize her/his shares, he/she cancels her/his shares (one-sided transaction)
the cooperative never holds any shares itself: if shares are canceled, they cease to exist
when thinking of shares as a sellable, cooperative shares are more like a service