vw: Lame charity

Good news for Volkswagen shareholders. The German carmaker has finally decided to cancel its treasury shares. VW had amassed them via buybacks and they have since been sitting on the company’s books. The fear was that VW would use the shares, which equate to about 13% of VW’s ordinary share capital, to finance a reckless acquisition or to bring on board a friendly investor, who would throw a defensive shield around the carmaker. But investors should not get too excited. VW has not developed a ne...