| Advantages | Advantages | Disadvantage | Disadvantage |
| SEs provide to business firms the required funds, interest-free, & publicly, for an investment well-planned (& marketed), given its NAV & a steady promised dividend in a % above banking interest plus a % for the risk | Get rid of a past investment & become liquid | Become vulnerable to be taken-over by another company, if the price of stock falls substantially & company used to be profitable; this is not liked by Greek companies, which run a business as a way of life; potential loss of management | A firm may fail to pay the dividend promised; or it fails to carry-out the investment stated; or the “raised money” goes for purposes other than those stated… etc. |
| SEs encourage new investments with other people’s money-no need one to risk own money | Own shares bought by the company may be sold for profit, if stock price goes up in the aftermarket and so on | Listing causes costs: for listing for internal auditors for a perfect accounting & for frequent reporting (rise in administration cost) (*); ability to obey to all SE rules & obligations | losing savings |
| Dividends reinforce a pension, or income; the selling stock high & buying it low, provides a profit | Transparency is required | Inside information about company’s share may be used, though illegal | SE evaluates the value of a company each minute, no matter its past or its future glory |
| SE may have a saying in who is company’s CEO (“Stelmar” case)! | SEs (NYSE) does not allow a stock price to fall below $1 & thus demands a counter action within a month | Speculation29 on company’s share price is open | Stock prices are influenced by a variety of reasons, including fake news30 |
| Keep a proper % of company’s stock so that to forbid take-overs (Greek shipowners) | Some shareholders are benefitted if their company is sold at a level higher than its current stock value (“Stelmar” case), unlike the owners | Speculators31 are present & their purposes (**) are different than those of the companies | Company’s decisions cannot be fast and independent, as shipping needs |
| Repay expensive loans with cheap money from SE |
| If a company intends to be sold, then board of directors promised to be retained in their posts, after taking-over, vote in favor of it (“Stelmar” case) | Shareholders (investors) are partners |