The number of shares that preferred owners could claim was huge, enough to trigger a shareholder vote on the number of authorized shares.

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The stock repurchase program means Hecla is authorized to repurchase up to 20 million shares of its outstanding common stock from time to time, with the purchases expected to occur over the next 24 months, the company said.

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Perhaps as one sign that Goldman believes trading will be muted, or at least less robust than it was earlier this year, the firm's board authorized a buyback of an additional 60 million shares.

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The bank also said its Board has authorized it to buyback nearly 12.6 million shares, about 7% of its outstanding common stock, as well as outstanding warrants to purchase nearly 11.5 million shares of common stock.

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Some market makers, called authorized participants (APs), are allowed to interchange ETF shares for their underlying securities, corporate bonds in this case.

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