Legal Definitions - rights off

Definition: Rights off refers to a situation where shares are traded without the right to buy shares of a new stock issue. This means that the value of the subscription privilege has been deducted, giving the purchaser no right to buy shares of a new stock issue.

Example: If a company issues new shares, it may offer existing shareholders the right to buy these new shares before they are offered to the public. This is called a subscription privilege. If a shareholder decides not to exercise this right, they can sell their shares to someone else. However, the buyer of these shares will not have the right to buy the new shares. They are buying the shares "rights off".

Explanation: The example illustrates how shares can be traded without the right to buy new shares. When a shareholder sells their shares "rights off", the buyer only gets the existing shares without the subscription privilege. This means that they cannot buy the new shares that the company is issuing.