Buying shares for the queen

[pemmons1]

What does this accomplish? Why would one want to do it?

[Tim Timsen]

AI players stop buying shares from the respective island, so if Beryl keeps buying shares from an island you definitely want to keep or don't want her to get, sell a share, and she'll leave it alone.

[Chaosium]

You can see it as taking a loan, you get instant money for selling the share (at the cost of income/minute), and you can buy it back later, but yeah it's mostly so that AIs leave your islands alone