Kwantor vs STAK
Better because it minimizes the need for a notary, doesn't require a foundation entity while digitizing issuance, transfer, and record keeping.
- Separate entity (foundation)
- Manual paperwork
- Heavy governance
- Notary fees
- Paper-based
- No extra entity
- No administration overhead
- No unnecessary notary fees
- Also tradable
- Fully digital
What is a STAK and when is it used?
A STAK (Stichting Administratiekantoor) is a Dutch legal structure that separates a company's voting rights from its economic rights, like profit sharing. The STAK holds the company's shares, managing voting rights while issuing depositary receipts to shareholders. These holders receive dividends and profits but have no direct voting rights in the company. It is often used by founders who want to separate economic rights from voting rights. Early stage teams adopt it to give employees upside without altering shareholder control.
What are the benefits of a STAK?
A STAK centralizes voting power and allows the board to act quickly without gathering many small shareholders. Receipts track the value of the company, so recipients share in dividends and exit proceeds. The structure is well known to local notaries and investors, making it an accepted option in the Benelux ecosystem.
How does Kwantor compare?
Kwantor keeps the familiar split between voting and economic rights but removes the extra legal entity. Our equity management platform Teller digitizes the issuance, transfer, and record keeping that a STAK normally manages via paper ledgers. Despite the split between voting and economic rights, share certificates through a STAK usually still come with governance and administration impact (e.g. information rights), whereas Kwantor's participation plan purely focuses on economic rights.
What are the benefits of Kwantor compared to a STAK?
Kwantor eliminates notary and foundation maintenance fees (which can be significant) while preserving the investor friendly structure. Furthermore, by keeping governance more strictly seperated from economic rights, there is no governance overhead. Employees receive economic rights with clear documentation. Because every transaction is recorded in our equity platform Teller, finance and legal teams gain real time oversight.