Shareholders' equity

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Shareholders' equity

Shareholders’ equity

All of Chubb’s Common Shares are authorized under Swiss corporate law. Though the par value of Common Shares is stated in Swiss francs, Chubb 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 Chubb in U.S. dollars. At March 31, 2017, our Common Shares had a par value of CHF 24.15 per share.

At our May 2016 and 2015 annual general meetings, our shareholders approved an annual dividend for the following year of up to $2.76 per share and $2.68 per share, respectively, which were paid in four quarterly installments of $0.69 per share and $0.67 per share, respectively, at dates determined by the Board of Directors (Board) after the annual general meetings by way of a distribution from capital contribution reserves, transferred to free reserves for payment.

Dividend distributions per Common Share for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 were $0.69 (CHF 0.69) and $0.67 (CHF 0.66), per Common Share, respectively.

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, 2017, 12,560,845 Common Shares remain in treasury after net shares redeemed under employee share-based compensation plans.

Chubb Limited securities repurchase authorization

There was no share repurchase program from January 2016 through October 2016. In November 2016, the Board authorized a share repurchase program of $1.0 billion of Chubb's Common Shares through December 31, 2017.

Repurchases of Chubb's Common Shares conducted in a series of open market transactions from January 1, 2017 through May 3, 2017 under the Board authorization are as follows:

(in millions of U.S. dollars, except share data)	Three Months Ended March 31, 2017		April 1, 2017 through May 3, 2017
Number of shares repurchased	1,036,064		664,301
Cost of shares repurchased	$	140	$	91
Repurchase authorization remaining at end of period	$	860	$	769