Capital Stack

I. Formal Definition

The hierarchy of financial instruments that fund an organisation, ordered by seniority of claim on cash flow and assets. A typical capital stack runs from senior secured debt at the top through senior unsecured debt, subordinated debt, mezzanine, preferred equity, and common equity at the residual. The federation requires the capital stack to be presented in a single diagram or table at each quarterly disclosure with face amounts, effective rates, maturities, and material covenants per MEV-Annex:4.1. Inter-creditor arrangements are footnoted with their priority effects.

II. Etymology

A real estate finance coinage of the late twentieth century; the stack metaphor entered general corporate finance via the leveraged buyout literature.

III. Federation Usage

Federation members publish a capital stack diagram quarterly. Inter-creditor agreements affecting effective seniority are footnoted. Misrepresentation of effective seniority is a Tier-1 conduct violation under TGS-002:2.3.

IV. Related Terms

• equity
• debt
• mezzanine
• capital-structure

V. Authoritative Citations

• UFMS-001:3.1UFMS Article III - Capital Stack
• MEV-Annex:4.1MEV Annex IV - Stack Disclosure

VI. Citation in BibTeX

@misc{ifo4_glossary_capital_stack,
  title        = {{Capital Stack}},
  author       = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
  howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{capital-stack}}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/capital-stack},
  note         = {Category: Capital; key: CapitalStack}
}

VII. Challenge This Definition

Federation members and accredited practitioners may challenge any entry under TGS-002:1.7. Filed challenges are routed to the editorial board, triaged into the revision register, and resolved in writing on the public docket. The slug remains stable through any revision.