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Shareholders' equity | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2014
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract] |
Shareholders' equity | Shareholders’ equity All of ACE’s Common Shares are authorized under Swiss corporate law. Though the par value of Common Shares is stated in Swiss francs, ACE continues to use U.S. dollars as its reporting currency for preparing consolidated financial statements. Under Swiss corporate law, dividends, including distributions through a reduction in par value (par value reduction) or from legal reserves, must be stated in Swiss francs though dividend payments are made by ACE in U.S. dollars. At our May 2013 annual general meeting, our shareholders approved an annual dividend for the following year of $2.04 per share, payable in four quarterly installments of $0.51 per share after the annual general meeting in the form of a distribution by way of a par value reduction. At the January 10, 2014 extraordinary general meeting, our shareholders approved a resolution to increase our quarterly dividend from $0.51 per share to $0.63 per share for the final two quarterly installments (made on January 31, 2014 and April 17, 2014) that had been earlier approved at our 2013 annual general meeting. The $0.12 per share increase for each installment was distributed from capital contribution reserves (Additional paid-in capital), a subaccount of legal reserves, and transferred to free reserves (Retained earnings) for payment, while the existing $0.51 per share was distributed by way of a par value reduction. At our May 2014 annual general meeting, our shareholders approved an annual dividend for the following year of $2.60 per share, payable in four quarterly installments of $0.65 per share after the annual general meeting in the form of a distribution by way of a par value reduction. The following table presents the dividends per Common Share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, in Swiss francs (CHF) and U.S. dollars (USD).
| Three Months Ended |  |  | Nine Months Ended |
| September 30 |  |  | September 30 |
| 2014 |  | 2013 |  | 2014 |  | 2013
Dividends – par value reduction | CHF | 0.61 |  |  | $ | 0.65 |  |  | CHF | 0.46 |  |  | $ | 0.51 |  |  | CHF | 1.64 |  |  | $ | 1.81 |  |  | CHF | 1.40 |  |  | $ | 1.51 |
Dividends – distributed from capital contribution reserves | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 0.20 |  |  | 0.24 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Total dividends per common share | CHF | 0.61 |  |  | $ | 0.65 |  |  | CHF | 0.46 |  |  | $ | 0.51 |  |  | CHF | 1.84 |  |  | $ | 2.05 |  |  | CHF | 1.40 |  |  | $ | 1.51 |
Par value reductions have been reflected as such through Common Shares in the consolidated statements of shareholders' equity and had the effect of reducing par value per Common Share to CHF 25.40 at September 30, 2014. Common Shares in treasury are used principally for issuance upon the exercise of employee stock options, grants of restricted stock, and purchases under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). At September 30, 2014, 10,720,855 Common Shares remain in treasury after net shares redeemed under employee share-based compensation plans. ACE Limited securities repurchase authorization The following table presents 2014 share repurchases of ACE's Common Shares conducted in a series of open market transactions under the November 2013 Board authorization of a share repurchase program of up to $2.0 billion through December 31, 2014:
(in millions of U.S. dollars, except share data) | Three Months Ended |  |  | Nine Months Ended |  |  | October 1, 2014 through October 28, 2014 |
September 30, 2014 |  |  | September 30, 2014 |  |
Number of shares repurchased | 4,349,302 |  |  | 10,143,184 |  |  | 699,965 |
Dollar value of shares repurchased | $450 |  | $1,019 |  | $74
Repurchase authorization remaining at end of period | $924 |  | $924 |  | $850

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- Definition The entire disclosure for shareholders' equity comprised of portions attributable to the parent entity and noncontrolling interest, including other comprehensive income. Includes, but is not limited to, balances of common stock, preferred stock, additional paid-in capital, other capital and retained earnings, accumulated balance for each classification of other comprehensive income and amount of comprehensive income. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(d),(e)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 4 -Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 4.C) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187143-122770 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.29-31) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 4.E) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27010918&loc=d3e74512-122707 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) -Number Topic 4 -Section C Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) -Number Topic 4 -Section E Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 08 -Article 4 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 6 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21506-112644 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Glossary Preferred Stock -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6521494 Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 02 -Paragraph 29, 30, 31 -Article 5 Reference 11: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 04 -Article 3 Reference 12: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21463-112644 Reference 13: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770 Reference 14: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21475-112644 Reference 15: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 11 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21564-112644 Reference 16: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21488-112644 Reference 17: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21484-112644 Reference 18: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 08 -Paragraph d -Article 4 Reference 19: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6405834&loc=d3e23285-112656 + Details
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