A rights issue is an issue of additional shares by a company to raise seasoned equity offering. The rights issue is a special form of shelf offering or shelf registration. With the issued rights, existing shareholders have the privilege to buy a specified number of new shares from the firm at a specified price within a specified time. A rights issue is in contrast to an initial public offering, where shares are issued to the general public through market exchanges. Closed-end companies cannot retain earnings, because they distribute essentially all of their realized income, and capital gains each year. They raise additional capital by rights offerings. Companies usually opt for a rights issue either when having problems raising capital through traditional means or to avoid interest charges on loans.

A rights issue is directly offered to all shareholders of record or through broker dealers of record and may be exercised in full or partially. Subscription rights may either be transferable, allowing the subscription-rightsholder to sell them privately, on the open market or not at all. A rights issue to shareholders is generally made as a tax-free dividend on a ratio basis (e.g. a dividend of one subscription right for one share of Common stock issued and outstanding). Because the company receives shareholders' money in exchange for shares, a rights issue is a source of capital in an organisation.

William "Bill" Maher, Jr. ( /ˈmɑːr/; born January 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author, and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and later on ABC.

Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary, which targets a wide swath of topics including religion, politics, bureaucracies of many kinds, political correctness, the mass media, greed among people and persons in positions of high political and social power, and the lack of intellectual curiosity in the electorate. He supports the legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, and serves on the board of PETA. He is also a critic of religion and is an advisory board member of Project Reason, a foundation to promote scientific knowledge and secular values within society. In 2005, Maher ranked at number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. Bill Maher received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on September 14, 2010.

Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (née Bourke) (Irish: Máire Mhic Róibín; born 21 May 1944) served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate (1969–1989). She defeated Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan and Fine Gael's Austin Currie in the 1990 presidential election becoming, as an Independent candidate nominated by the Labour Party, the Workers' Party and independent senators, the first elected president in the office's history not to have had the support of Fianna Fáil.

She is widely regarded as a transformative figure in the presidency of Ireland, who revitalised and liberalised a previously conservative, low-profile political office. She resigned the presidency two months ahead of the end of her term of office to take up her post in the United Nations. Robinson has been Honorary President of Oxfam International since 2002 and of the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation EIUC since 2005, she is Chair of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and is also a founding member and Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders. Robinson was a member of the European members of the Trilateral Commission.