Capitalization

the total amount of capitalized securities issued by a joint stock company. Includes bonds, debentures, preferred and common shares, reserve capital. Bonds and debentures are usually entered in the books of the issuing company at their face value. Preferred or common shares may be recorded at par or declared value. The declared value can be an arbitrary amount accepted by the directors of the company, or it can be the amount received by the company from the sale of securities at the time of issue.