MasterCard is making major changes in the corporate structure of their
company. The appointment of a new board of directors and the
creation of a new charitable foundation mark the beginnings of the
transition to being a publicly traded company. There are
currently over 1400 financial institutions that are MasterCard
shareholders. These shareholders will retain 41% equity in the
company through the ownership of this stock. The current
shareholders will also recieve Class M common stock which will allow
them to elect directors from several financial institutions.
MasterCard will also begin issuing Class A voting stock to public
investors. Upon completion of the new stock allocations, the
public will own 49% of MasterCard stock and 83% of the voting rights.
The remaining voting rights and an additional 10% of MasterCard stock
will be given to the planned charitable foundadtion.
Completion of the new corporate structure and administration is
dependent upon regulatory filings and shareholder approval. This
move by MasterCard will continue to revise and improve the rapidly
evolving credit card industry. MasterCard will be more
competitive and other major credit card issuers will have to
follow. Visa and American Express will be required to implement
competitive changes as well due to the quickly changing atmosphere of
the credit industry.
