Book Closure / Record Date

Book closure/record date help a company determine exactly the shareholders of a company as on a given date. Book closure refers to the closing of the register of the names of investors in the records of a company. Companies declare book closure dates from time to time. Various benefits like dividends, bonus issues, rights issue accrue to investors whose name appears on the companies record as on a given date which is known as the record date and it is declared in advance by the company so that buyers have enough time to purchase the shares, get them registered in the books of the company and become entitled for the benefits such as bonus, rights, dividends etc.