below par value, so investors can be confident that no one else will receive a more favorable issue price. Thus, par value is the nominal value of a security which is determined by the issuing company to be its minimum price. This was far more important in unregulated equity markets than in the regulated markets that exist today, where stock issuance prices must usually be published. The par value of stock remains unchanged in a bonus stock issue but it changes in a stock split.

In accounting, the