Share Ownership and Control in Listed Australian Companies

Abstract

This paper examines the structure of share ownership and control in companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). A comparison is made with the structure of share ownership and control in companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. The paper shows that the level of institutional share ownership and control has been increasing in Australia in recent decades. The paper explores the implications of this for securities regulation, corporate governance, and corporate performance. The empirical evidence presented in this paper demonstrates that large non-institutional shareholders are also prominent in the Australian share market. This too has several implications, especially in the areas of corporate governance, corporate performance, and takeovers regulation and practice, which are discussed.