233 ANNUAL REPORT 2010 NOTE 8  SHARE CAPITAL Issued and outstanding 2010 2009 Common shares 208 208 Preferred shares A 53 53 Preferred shares B 17 17 TOTAL SHARE CAPITAL 278 278 Authorized 2010 2009 Common shares 360 360 Preferred shares A 125 125 Preferred shares B 125 125 AT DECEMBER 31 610 610 Par value in cents per share 2010 2009 Common shares 12 12 Preferred shares A 25 25 Preferred shares B 25 25 All issued common and preferred shares are fully paid.  Repayment of capital can only be initiated by the Executive  Board, is subject to approval of the Supervisory Board and must  be resolved by the General Meeting of Shareholders. Moreover,  repayment on preferred shares needs approval of the related  shareholders. There are restrictions on the amount of funds  that companies within the Group may transfer in the form of  cash dividends or otherwise to the parent company. These  restrictions stem from solvency and legal requirements. Refer  to note 46 to the consolidated financial statements of the  Group for a description of these requirements. AEGON N.V. and Vereniging AEGON have entered into a  preferred shares voting rights agreement, pursuant to which  Vereniging AEGON has voluntarily waived its right to cast 25/12  vote per class A or class B preferred share. Instead, Vereniging  AEGON has agreed to exercise one vote only per preferred  share, except in the event of a ‘special cause’, such as the  acquisition of a 15% interest in AEGON N.V., a tender offer for  AEGON N.V. shares or a proposed business combination by any  person or group of persons, whether individually or as a group,  other than in a transaction approved by the Executive Board  and Supervisory Board. If, in its sole discretion, Vereniging  AEGON determines that a ‘special cause’ has occurred,  Vereniging AEGON will notify the General Meeting of  Shareholders and retain its right to exercise the full voting  power of 25/12 vote per preferred share for a limited period  of six months.  Vereniging AEGON, based in The Hague, holds all of the issued  preferred shares. Vereniging AEGON, in case of an issuance of  shares by AEGON N.V., may purchase as many class B preferred  shares as would enable Vereniging AEGON to prevent or correct  dilution to below its actual percentage of voting shares, unless  Vereniging AEGON as a result of exercising these option rights  would increase its voting power to more than 33%. Class B  preferred shares will then be issued at par value (EUR 0.25),  unless a higher issue price is agreed. In the years 2003 through  2007, 35,170,000 class B preferred shares were issued under  these option rights. In 2008, no option rights were exercised. In  2009, Vereniging AEGON exercised its option rights to purchase  in aggregate 33,860,000 class B preferred shares at par value  to correct dilution caused by AEGON’s EUR 1 billion equity issue  as completed in August 2009. On August 13, 2009, AEGON completed a share issuance raising  EUR 1 billion of capital. As part of the issuance 157.8 million  ordinary shares of a par value of EUR 0.12 were issued and  32.7 million treasury shares were reissued. The shares were  issued at EUR 5.25 per share. Expenses relating to this share  issuance amounting to EUR 14 million have been charged to  retained earnings. On October 1, 2009, Vereniging AEGON  used its right to purchase preferred shares B for an amount  of EUR 8.5 million representing 33.9 million shares. After the  transaction, Vereniging AEGON holds 22.8% of the voting  rights in AEGON N.V. SHARPENING OUR FOCUS