See also "SWIFT"

A corporate action is an action taken by a public company which has a direct effect on the holdings of its shareholders. The most common example of a corporate action is a dividend; a payment to the shareholder of company profits. Other examples include; cash from the sale of rights, stock splits, and the release of warrants or options on the security.

Raising additional debt through the release of a bond is not typically considered a corporate action. Although such debt changes the finances of the company, it does not directly affect the valuation of the stock.

-Any event that brings material change to a company and so affects its stakeholders. This includes; shareholders, both common and preferred, as well as bondholders. These events are generally approved by the company's board of directors; shareholders are permitted to vote on some events as well.

Splits, dividends, mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs are all examples of corporate actions. For example, a company may decide to split its shares 2:1, leaving shareholders with twice as many shares as they had before. Bondholders are also subject to the effects of corporate actions, which might include; calls or the issuance of new debt. For example, if interest rates fall sharply, a company may call in bonds and pay off existing bondholders, then issue new debt at the current lower interest rates.

Example definition of Corporate Actions:

A corporate action message is used to report changes in companies that affect the company's equity capital and/or the number of equity instruments (stock count). These are primarily:

• Corporate actions that affect the capital, such as; capital increases, splits etc. 

However, they also include:

• Institutional basic data changes (e.g. name change)
• Legal or court proceedings and trials (e.g. bankruptcy proceedings, class action)
• Purchase offers and takeover bids.

A corporate action event can involve one or more companies, and each event can be made up of several subevents. Each subevent can have an immediate effect on the companies involved or on any of the instruments issued by them.