EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE AND DIVIDENDS PER SHARE (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Schedule of weighted average shares outstanding used to calculate basic and diluted earnings per common share

Weighted average shares outstanding used to calculate basic and diluted earnings per share are as follows:


	Three months ended September 30,		Nine months ended September 30,
	2020	2019	2020	2019
(number of common shares in millions)
Weighted average shares outstanding	2,021	2,018	2,020	2,017
Effect of dilutive options	—	2	1	3
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding	2,021	2,020	2,021	2,020

Schedule of preferred stock characteristics by class

On November 3, 2020, our Board of Directors declared the following quarterly dividends. All dividends are payable on December 1, 2020 to shareholders of record on November 13, 2020.


			Dividend per share
Common Shares1			$0.81000
Preference Shares, Series A			$0.34375
Preference Shares, Series B			$0.21340
Preference Shares, Series C2			$0.15975
Preference Shares, Series D			$0.27875
Preference Shares, Series F			$0.29306
Preference Shares, Series H			$0.27350
Preference Shares, Series J			US$0.30540
Preference Shares, Series L			US$0.30993
Preference Shares, Series N			$0.31788
Preference Shares, Series P			$0.27369
Preference Shares, Series R			$0.25456
Preference Shares, Series 1			US$0.37182
Preference Shares, Series 3			$0.23356
Preference Shares, Series 5			US$0.33596
Preference Shares, Series 7			$0.27806
Preference Shares, Series 9			$0.25606
Preference Shares, Series 113			$0.24613
Preference Shares, Series 134			$0.19019
Preference Shares, Series 155			$0.18644
Preference Shares, Series 17			$0.32188
Preference Shares, Series 19			$0.30625

1 The quarterly dividend per common share was increased 9.8% to $0.81 from $0.738, effective March 1, 2020.

2 The quarterly dividend per share paid on Series C was increased to $0.25458 from $0.25305 on March 1, 2020, was decreased to $0.16779 from $0.25458 on June 1, 2020 and was decreased to $0.15975 from $0.16779 on September 1, 2020, due to reset on a quarterly basis following the date of issuance of the Series C Preference Shares.

3 The quarterly dividend per share paid on Series 11 was decreased to $0.24613 from $0.275 on March 1, 2020, due to the reset of the annual dividend on March 1, 2020, and every five years thereafter.

4 The quarterly dividend per share paid on Series 13 was decreased to $0.19019 from $0.275 on June 1, 2020, due to the reset of the annual dividend on June 1, 2020, and every five years thereafter.

5 The quarterly dividend per share paid on Series 15 was decreased to $0.18644 from $0.275 on September 1, 2020, due to the reset of the annual dividend on September 1, 2020, and every five years thereafter.