Shareholders' equity

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Shareholders' equity

Shareholders’ equity

All of ACE’s Common Shares are authorized under Swiss corporate law. Though the par value of Common Shares is stated in Swiss francs, ACE continues to use U.S. dollars as its reporting currency for preparing consolidated financial statements. Under Swiss corporate law, dividends, including distributions through a reduction in par value (par value reduction) or from legal reserves, must be stated in Swiss francs though dividend payments are made by ACE in U.S. dollars. At our May 2012 and May 2013 annual general meetings, our shareholders approved a dividend for the following year, respectively, payable in four quarterly installments after the annual general meetings in the form of a distribution by way of a par value reduction. At the January 10, 2014 Extraordinary General Meeting, our shareholders approved a resolution to increase our quarterly dividend from $0.51 per share to $0.63 per share for the final two quarterly installments (made on January 31, 2014 and April 17, 2014) that had been earlier approved at our 2013 annual general meeting. The $0.12 per share increase for each installment was distributed from capital contribution reserves (Additional paid-in capital), a subaccount of legal reserves, and transferred to free reserves (Retained earnings) for payment, while the existing $0.51 per share was distributed by way of a par value reduction.

For the three months ended March 31, 2014, dividends per Common Share amounted to CHF 0.65 ($0.75), of which CHF 0.45 ($0.51) were distributed by way of a par value reduction and CHF 0.20 ($0.24) were distributed from capital contribution reserves. Par value reductions have been reflected as such through Common Shares in the consolidated statements of shareholders' equity and had the effect of reducing par value per Common Share to CHF 26.59 at March 31, 2014.

Common Shares in treasury are used principally for issuance upon the exercise of employee stock options, grants of restricted stock, and purchases under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). At March 31, 2014, 4,857,768 Common Shares remain in treasury after net shares redeemed under employee share-based compensation plans.

ACE Limited securities repurchase authorization

For the three months ended March 31, 2014, ACE repurchased 3,487,882 Common Shares for a cost of $332 million in a series of open market transactions under the November 2013 Board authorization of a share repurchase program of up to $2.0 billion of ACE's Common Shares through December 31, 2014. At March 31, 2014, $1.61 billion in share repurchase authorization remained through December 31, 2014 pursuant to the Board authorization. For the period April 1, 2014 through May 1, 2014, ACE repurchased 531,000 Common Shares for a total of $53 million in a series of open market transactions. At May 1, 2014, $1.56 billion in share repurchase authorization remained through December 31, 2014.