The authorised share capital of the Basler Kantonalbank, in accordance with the law governing the Basler Kantonalbank, consists on the one hand of capital subject to payment of interest made available by Basel City Canton, and on the other hand, of participation certificate capital traded on the stock exchange.

Apart from payment of interest on the initial capital made available by Basel City Canton, Basel City Canton also receives a handsome profit transfer from time to time as well as indemnification for providing the guaranty. The Basler Kantonalbank has the advantage of a comprehensive government guaranty for this, as a public law institute of Basel City Canton, and is exempted from federal and cantonal taxes.

Acquisition of the participation certificate capital in the original sum of CHF 20 million was made in the year 1986 by issuing 200,000 participation certificates having a nominal value of CHF 100 each, at an issue price of CHF 250. The participation certificate capital has been successively increased since 1996 to the current level in the course of steady expansion of business activities. Liquidity of the securities was effectively increased by means of two split-ups in order to take into account the increasing demand for participation certificates. The participation certificate capital is today divided into 5.9 million participation certificates each of a nominal value of CHF 8.50.