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class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#History"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1</span> <span>History</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-History-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Corporate_structure" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Corporate_structure"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Corporate structure</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Corporate_structure-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Corporate structure subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Corporate_structure-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Corporate_legal_personality" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Corporate_legal_personality"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Corporate legal personality</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Corporate_legal_personality-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Capacity_and_powers" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Capacity_and_powers"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1.1</span> <span>Capacity and powers</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Capacity_and_powers-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Corporate_crime" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Corporate_crime"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1.2</span> <span>Corporate crime</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Corporate_crime-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Corporate_governance" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Corporate_governance"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Corporate governance</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Corporate_governance-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Constitution" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Constitution"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.1</span> <span>Constitution</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Constitution-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Balance_of_power" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Balance_of_power"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.2</span> <span>Balance of power</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Balance_of_power-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Director_duties" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Director_duties"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span>Director duties</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Director_duties-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Company_law_theory" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Company_law_theory"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Company law theory</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Company_law_theory-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Litigation" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Litigation"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Litigation</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Litigation-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Corporate_finance" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Corporate_finance"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Corporate finance</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Corporate_finance-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Corporate finance subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Corporate_finance-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Shares_and_share_capital" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Shares_and_share_capital"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.1</span> <span>Shares and share capital</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Shares_and_share_capital-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Dissolution" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Dissolution"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Dissolution</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Dissolution-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Dissolution subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Dissolution-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Mergers_and_acquisitions" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Mergers_and_acquisitions"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6.1</span> <span>Mergers and acquisitions</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Mergers_and_acquisitions-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Corporate_insolvency" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Corporate_insolvency"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6.2</span> <span>Corporate insolvency</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Corporate_insolvency-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Insider_dealing" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Insider_dealing"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6.3</span> <span>Insider dealing</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Insider_dealing-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Trends_and_developments" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Trends_and_developments"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Trends and developments</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Trends_and_developments-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-By_region" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#By_region"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>By region</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-By_region-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle By region subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-By_region-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Europe" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Europe"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8.1</span> <span>Europe</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Europe-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Germany" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Germany"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8.1.1</span> <span>Germany</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Germany-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-United_Kingdom" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#United_Kingdom"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8.1.2</span> <span>United Kingdom</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-United_Kingdom-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-United_States" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#United_States"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8.2</span> <span>United States</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-United_States-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Delaware" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Delaware"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8.2.1</span> <span>Delaware</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Delaware-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">11</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Corporate law</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 34 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-34" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">34 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AA" title="قانون الشركات – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="قانون الشركات" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-az mw-list-item"><a href="https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korporativ_h%C3%BCquq" title="Korporativ hüquq – Azerbaijani" lang="az" hreflang="az" data-title="Korporativ hüquq" data-language-autonym="Azərbaycanca" data-language-local-name="Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Azərbaycanca</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selskabsret" title="Selskabsret – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Selskabsret" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesellschaftsrecht" title="Gesellschaftsrecht – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Gesellschaftsrecht" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Chingu%C3%B5igus" title="Ühinguõigus – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="Ühinguõigus" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derecho_de_sociedades" title="Derecho de sociedades – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Derecho de sociedades" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%88%D9%82_%D8%B4%D8%B1%DA%A9%D8%A7" title="حقوق شرکا – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="حقوق شرکا" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droit_des_affaires" title="Droit des affaires – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Droit des affaires" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%ED%9A%8C%EC%82%AC%EB%B2%95" title="회사법 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="회사법" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hi mw-list-item"><a href="https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%89%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%9F_%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%A8" title="कॉरपोरेट कानून – Hindi" lang="hi" hreflang="hi" data-title="कॉरपोरेट कानून" data-language-autonym="हिन्दी" data-language-local-name="Hindi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>हिन्दी</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-io mw-list-item"><a href="https://io.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societala_yurocienco" title="Societala yurocienco – Ido" lang="io" hreflang="io" data-title="Societala yurocienco" data-language-autonym="Ido" data-language-local-name="Ido" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ido</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukum_perusahaan" title="Hukum perusahaan – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Hukum perusahaan" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diritto_societario" title="Diritto societario – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Diritto societario" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%93%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%99_%D7%AA%D7%90%D7%92%D7%99%D7%93%D7%99%D7%9D" title="דיני תאגידים – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="דיני תאגידים" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-kn mw-list-item"><a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B2%95%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%B0%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%AA%E0%B3%8A%E0%B2%B0%E0%B3%87%E0%B2%9F%E0%B3%8D_%E0%B2%95%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%A8%E0%B3%82%E0%B2%A8%E0%B3%81" title="ಕಾರ್ಪೊರೇಟ್ ಕಾನೂನು – Kannada" lang="kn" hreflang="kn" data-title="ಕಾರ್ಪೊರೇಟ್ ಕಾನೂನು" data-language-autonym="ಕನ್ನಡ" data-language-local-name="Kannada" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ಕನ್ನಡ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ku mw-list-item"><a href="https://ku.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dadweriya_%C5%9Firketan" title="Dadweriya şirketan – Kurdish" lang="ku" hreflang="ku" data-title="Dadweriya şirketan" data-language-autonym="Kurdî" data-language-local-name="Kurdish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Kurdî</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lt mw-list-item"><a href="https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%AEmoni%C5%B3_teis%C4%97" title="Įmonių teisė – Lithuanian" lang="lt" hreflang="lt" data-title="Įmonių teisė" data-language-autonym="Lietuvių" data-language-local-name="Lithuanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lietuvių</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-mk mw-list-item"><a href="https://mk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%BE_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BE" title="Корпоративно право – Macedonian" lang="mk" hreflang="mk" data-title="Корпоративно право" data-language-autonym="Македонски" data-language-local-name="Macedonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Македонски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondernemingsrecht" title="Ondernemingsrecht – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Ondernemingsrecht" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%81%E6%A5%AD%E6%B3%95" title="企業法 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="企業法" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-no mw-list-item"><a href="https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selskapsrett" title="Selskapsrett – Norwegian Bokmål" lang="nb" hreflang="nb" data-title="Selskapsrett" data-language-autonym="Norsk bokmål" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Bokmål" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk bokmål</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prawo_sp%C3%B3%C5%82ek" title="Prawo spółek – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Prawo spółek" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direito_societ%C3%A1rio" title="Direito societário – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Direito societário" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drept_corporativ" title="Drept corporativ – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Drept corporativ" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BE" title="Корпоративное право – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Корпоративное право" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-si mw-list-item"><a href="https://si.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B7%83%E0%B6%82%E0%B7%83%E0%B7%8A%E0%B6%AE%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%B4%E0%B7%92%E0%B6%AD_%E0%B7%80%E0%B7%8A%E2%80%8D%E0%B6%BA%E0%B7%80%E0%B7%84%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%BB%E0%B6%BA" title="සංස්ථාපිත ව්‍යවහාරය – Sinhala" lang="si" hreflang="si" data-title="සංස්ථාපිත ව්‍යවහාරය" data-language-autonym="සිංහල" data-language-local-name="Sinhala" 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rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks vcard hlist"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle">This article is part of <a href="/wiki/Category:Corporate_law" title="Category:Corporate law">a series</a> on</td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Corporate law</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Society.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Society.svg/200px-Society.svg.png" decoding="async" width="200" height="79" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Society.svg/300px-Society.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Society.svg/400px-Society.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="96" data-file-height="38" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center; background:lavender; line-height:130%; padding:0.3em 0em;;color: var(--color-base)">By jurisdiction</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anguillan_company_law" title="Anguillan company law">Anguilla</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Australian_corporate_law" title="Australian corporate law">Australia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/British_Virgin_Islands_company_law" title="British Virgin Islands company law">BVI</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Canadian_corporate_law" title="Canadian corporate law">Canada</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cayman_Islands_company_law" title="Cayman Islands company law">Cayman Islands</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Indian_company_law" title="Indian company law">India</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/South_African_company_law" title="South African company law">South Africa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_company_law" title="United Kingdom company law">UK</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_corporate_law" title="United States corporate law">United States</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corporate_law_in_Vietnam" title="Corporate law in Vietnam">Vietnam</a></li> <li><br /><a href="/wiki/European_corporate_law" class="mw-redirect" title="European corporate law">European Union</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/French_company_law" title="French company law">France</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/German_company_law" title="German company law">Germany</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center; background:lavender; line-height:130%; padding:0.3em 0em;;color: var(--color-base)">General corporate forms</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Company" title="Company">Company</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conglomerate_(company)" title="Conglomerate (company)">Conglomerate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cooperative" title="Cooperative">Cooperative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corporation" title="Corporation">Corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Holding_company" title="Holding company">Holding company</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joint-stock_company" title="Joint-stock company">Joint-stock</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Partnership" title="Partnership">Partnership</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/General_partnership" title="General partnership">General</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_partnership" title="Limited partnership">Limited</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_liability_partnership" title="Limited liability partnership">Limited liability</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Private_limited_company" title="Private limited company">Private limited</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shell_corporation" title="Shell corporation">Shell corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shelf_corporation" title="Shelf corporation">Shelf corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sole_proprietorship" title="Sole proprietorship">Sole proprietorship</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center; background:lavender; line-height:130%; padding:0.3em 0em;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/List_of_legal_entity_types_by_country" title="List of legal entity types by country">Corporate forms<br />by jurisdiction</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/European_corporate_law" class="mw-redirect" title="European corporate law">European Union</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="border-bottom:#ccc 1px solid"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Societas_Europaea" title="Societas Europaea"><i>Societas</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(SE)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Societas_cooperativa_Europaea" title="Societas cooperativa Europaea"><i>Societas cooperativa</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(SCE)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Societas_privata_Europaea" title="Societas privata Europaea"><i>Societas privata</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(SPE)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Societas_unius_personae" title="Societas unius personae"><i>Societas unius personae</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(SUP)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/European_economic_interest_grouping" title="European economic interest grouping">Economic interest grouping <span style="font-size:85%;">(EEIG)</span></a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <span class="nowrap">UK / Ireland / Commonwealth</span></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="border-bottom:#ccc 1px solid"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Charitable_incorporated_organisation" title="Charitable incorporated organisation">Charitable incorporated organisation (England and Wales) <span style="font-size:85%;">(CIO)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scottish_charitable_incorporated_organisation" title="Scottish charitable incorporated organisation">Scottish charitable incorporated organisation <span style="font-size:85%;">(SCIO)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Community_interest_company" title="Community interest company">Community interest company <span style="font-size:85%;">(CIC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Industrial_and_provident_society" title="Industrial and provident society">Industrial and provident society <span style="font-size:85%;">(IPS)</span></a></li> <li><br /><a href="/wiki/Limited_company" title="Limited company">Limited company <span style="font-size:85%;">(Ltd.)</span></a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Private_company_limited_by_guarantee" class="mw-redirect" title="Private company limited by guarantee">by guarantee</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Private_company_limited_by_shares" title="Private company limited by shares">by shares</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proprietary_company" title="Proprietary company">proprietary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Public_limited_company" title="Public limited company">public</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Unlimited_company" title="Unlimited company">Unlimited company</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> United States</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="border-bottom:#ccc 1px solid"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Benefit_corporation" title="Benefit corporation">Benefit corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/C_corporation" title="C corporation">C corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_liability_company" title="Limited liability company">Limited liability company <span style="font-size:85%;">(LLC)</span></a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Low-profit_limited_liability_company" title="Low-profit limited liability company">Low-profit LLC</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Series_LLC" title="Series LLC">Series LLC</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_liability_limited_partnership" title="Limited liability limited partnership">Limited liability limited partnership <span style="font-size:85%;">(LLLP)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/S_corporation" title="S corporation">S corporation</a></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Delaware_General_Corporation_Law" title="Delaware General Corporation Law">Delaware corporation</a> / <a href="/wiki/Delaware_statutory_trust" title="Delaware statutory trust">statutory trust</a></span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Massachusetts_business_trust" title="Massachusetts business trust">Massachusetts business trust</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nevada_corporation" title="Nevada corporation">Nevada corporation</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> Others</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="border-bottom:#ccc 1px solid"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Aktiebolag" title="Aktiebolag"><i>Aktiebolag</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(AB)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aktiengesellschaft" title="Aktiengesellschaft"><i>Aktiengesellschaft</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(AG)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ansvarlig_selskap" title="Ansvarlig selskap"><i>Ansvarlig selskap</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(ANS)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aktieselskab" title="Aktieselskab"><i>Aktieselskab</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(A/S)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aksjeselskap" title="Aksjeselskap"><i>Aksjeselskap</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(AS)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gesellschaft_mit_beschr%C3%A4nkter_Haftung" class="mw-redirect" title="Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung"><i>Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(GmbH)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kabushiki_gaisha" title="Kabushiki gaisha"><i>Kabushiki gaisha</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(K.K.)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Naamloze_vennootschap" title="Naamloze vennootschap"><i>Naamloze vennootschap</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(N.V.)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Osakeyhti%C3%B6" title="Osakeyhtiö"><i>Osakeyhtiö</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(Oy)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/S.A._(corporation)" title="S.A. (corporation)">S.A.</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_%C3%A0_responsabilit%C3%A9_limit%C3%A9e" title="Société à responsabilité limitée"><i>Société à responsabilité limitée</i> <span style="font-size:85%;">(SARL)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Types_of_business_entity" class="mw-redirect" title="Types of business entity">more...</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center; background:lavender; line-height:130%; padding:0.3em 0em;;color: var(--color-base)">Doctrines</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Business_judgment_rule" title="Business judgment rule">Business judgment rule</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corporate_governance" title="Corporate governance">Corporate governance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/De_facto_corporation_and_corporation_by_estoppel" title="De facto corporation and corporation by estoppel"><i>De facto</i> and estoppel corporations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Internal_affairs_doctrine" title="Internal affairs doctrine">Internal affairs doctrine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_liability" title="Limited liability">Limited liability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tag-along_right" title="Tag-along right">Tag-along right</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Drag-along_right" title="Drag-along right">Drag-along right</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Piercing_the_corporate_veil" title="Piercing the corporate veil">Piercing the corporate veil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rochdale_Principles" title="Rochdale Principles">Rochdale Principles</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Ultra_vires" title="Ultra vires">Ultra vires</a></i></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center; background:lavender; line-height:130%; padding:0.3em 0em;;color: var(--color-base)">Related areas</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Beneficial_ownership" title="Beneficial ownership">Beneficial ownership</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Civil_procedure" title="Civil procedure">Civil procedure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Contract" title="Contract">Contract</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_company_registers" class="mw-redirect" title="List of company registers">Corporate registers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Registered_agent" title="Registered agent">Registered agent</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-below"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Portal:Companies" title="Portal:Companies">Company portal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Portal:Law" title="Portal:Law">Law portal</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output 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href="/wiki/Business_administration" title="Business administration">Business administration</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-above"> Management of a business</td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align: center;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Accounting" title="Accounting">Accounting</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Management_accounting" title="Management accounting">Management accounting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Financial_accounting" title="Financial accounting">Financial accounting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Audit" title="Audit">Audit</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align: center;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Legal_person" title="Legal person">Business entity</a> (<a href="/wiki/List_of_legal_entity_types_by_country" title="List of legal entity types by country">list</a>)</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Corporate_group" title="Corporate group">Corporate group</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corporation_sole" title="Corporation sole">Corporation sole</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Company" title="Company">Company</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conglomerate_(company)" title="Conglomerate (company)">Conglomerate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Holding_company" title="Holding company">Holding company</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cooperative" title="Cooperative">Cooperative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corporation" title="Corporation">Corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joint-stock_company" title="Joint-stock company">Joint-stock company</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_liability_company" title="Limited liability company">Limited liability company</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Partnership" title="Partnership">Partnership</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Privately_held_company" title="Privately held company">Privately held company</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sole_proprietorship" title="Sole proprietorship">Sole proprietorship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State-owned_enterprise" title="State-owned enterprise">State-owned enterprise</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align: center;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Corporate_governance" title="Corporate governance">Corporate governance</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Annual_general_meeting" title="Annual general meeting">Annual general meeting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">Board of directors</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supervisory_board" title="Supervisory board">Supervisory board</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Advisory_board" title="Advisory board">Advisory board</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Audit_committee" title="Audit committee">Audit committee</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align: center;;color: var(--color-base)"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Corporate law</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Commercial_law" title="Commercial law">Commercial law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Constitutional_documents" title="Constitutional documents">Constitutional documents</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Contract" title="Contract">Contract</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corporate_crime" title="Corporate crime">Corporate crime</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corporate_liability" title="Corporate liability">Corporate liability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Insolvency_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Insolvency law">Insolvency law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_trade_law" title="International trade law">International trade law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mergers_and_acquisitions" title="Mergers and acquisitions">Mergers and acquisitions</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align: center;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Corporate_title" title="Corporate title">Corporate title</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chairman" class="mw-redirect" title="Chairman">Chairman</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chief_business_officer" title="Chief business officer">Chief business officer</a>/<a href="/wiki/Chief_brand_officer" class="mw-redirect" title="Chief brand officer">Chief brand officer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chief_executive_officer" title="Chief executive officer">Chief executive officer</a>/<a href="/wiki/Chief_operating_officer" title="Chief operating officer">Chief operating officer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chief_financial_officer" title="Chief financial officer">Chief financial officer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chief_human_resources_officer" title="Chief human resources officer">Chief human resources officer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chief_information_officer" title="Chief information officer">Chief information officer</a>/<a href="/wiki/Chief_marketing_officer" title="Chief marketing officer">Chief marketing officer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chief_product_officer" title="Chief product officer">Chief product officer</a>/<a href="/wiki/Chief_technology_officer" title="Chief technology officer">Chief technology officer</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align: center;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Economics" title="Economics">Economics</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Commodity" title="Commodity">Commodity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Public_economics" title="Public economics">Public economics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Labour_economics" title="Labour economics">Labour economics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Development_economics" title="Development economics">Development economics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_economics" title="International economics">International economics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mixed_economy" title="Mixed economy">Mixed economy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Planned_economy" title="Planned economy">Planned economy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Econometrics" title="Econometrics">Econometrics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Environmental_economics" title="Environmental economics">Environmental economics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Open_economy" title="Open economy">Open economy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Market_economy" title="Market economy">Market economy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Knowledge_economy" title="Knowledge economy">Knowledge economy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microeconomics" title="Microeconomics">Microeconomics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Macroeconomics" title="Macroeconomics">Macroeconomics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_development" title="Economic development">Economic development</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_statistics" title="Economic statistics">Economic statistics</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align: center;;color: var(--color-base)">Finance</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Financial_statement" title="Financial statement">Financial statement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Insurance" title="Insurance">Insurance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Factoring_(finance)" title="Factoring (finance)">Factoring</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cash_conversion_cycle" title="Cash conversion cycle">Cash conversion cycle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Insider_dealing" class="mw-redirect" title="Insider dealing">Insider dealing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Capital_budgeting" title="Capital budgeting">Capital budgeting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Commercial_bank" title="Commercial bank">Commercial bank</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Derivative_(finance)" title="Derivative (finance)">Derivative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Financial_statement_analysis" title="Financial statement analysis">Financial statement analysis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Financial_risk" title="Financial risk">Financial risk</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Public_finance" title="Public finance">Public finance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corporate_finance" title="Corporate finance">Corporate finance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Managerial_finance" title="Managerial finance">Managerial finance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_finance" title="International finance">International finance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liquidation" title="Liquidation">Liquidation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stock_market" title="Stock market">Stock market</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Financial_market" title="Financial market">Financial market</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tax" title="Tax">Tax</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Financial_institution" title="Financial institution">Financial institution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Capital_management" title="Capital management">Capital management</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Venture_capital" title="Venture capital">Venture capital</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align: center;;color: var(--color-base)">Types of management</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Asset_management" title="Asset management">Asset</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Brand_management" title="Brand management">Brand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_intelligence" title="Business intelligence">Business intelligence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_development" title="Business development">Business development</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Capacity_management" title="Capacity management">Capacity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Capability_management_in_business" title="Capability management in business">Capability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Change_management" title="Change management">Change</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Innovation_management" title="Innovation management">innovation</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Commercial_management" title="Commercial management">Commercial</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Marketing_management" title="Marketing management">Marketing</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Communications_management" title="Communications management">Communications</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Configuration_management" title="Configuration management">Configuration</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conflict_management" title="Conflict management">Conflict</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Content_management" title="Content management">Content</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Customer_relationship_management" title="Customer relationship management">Customer relationship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Distributed_management" title="Distributed management">Distributed</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Earned_value_management" title="Earned value management">Earned value</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Electronic_business" title="Electronic business">Electronic business</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Enterprise_resource_planning" title="Enterprise resource planning">Enterprise resource planning</a>  <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Management_information_system" title="Management information system">management information system</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Financial_management" title="Financial management">Financial</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Human_resource_management" title="Human resource management">Human resource</a>  <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Human_resources" title="Human resources">development</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Incident_management" title="Incident management">Incident</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Knowledge_management" title="Knowledge management">Knowledge</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Enterprise_legal_management" title="Enterprise legal management">Legal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Materials_management" title="Materials management">Materials</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Network_management" title="Network management">Network</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Network_administrator" title="Network administrator">administrator</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Office_management" title="Office management">Office</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Operations_management" title="Operations management">Operations</a>  <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Operations_management_for_services" title="Operations management for services">services</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Performance_management" class="mw-redirect" title="Performance management">Performance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Power_management" title="Power management">Power</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_process_management" title="Business process management">Process</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Product_life-cycle_management" class="mw-redirect" title="Product life-cycle management">Product life-cycle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Product_management" title="Product management">Product</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Project_management" title="Project management">Project</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Property_management" title="Property management">Property</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quality_management" title="Quality management">Quality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Records_management" title="Records management">Records</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Resource_management" title="Resource management">Resource</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Risk_management" title="Risk management">Risk</a>  <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Crisis_management" title="Crisis management">crisis</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sales_management" title="Sales management">Sales</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Security_management" title="Security management">Security</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Service_management" title="Service management">Service</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Strategic_management" title="Strategic management">Strategic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supply_chain_management" title="Supply chain management">Supply chain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Systems_management" title="Systems management">Systems</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/System_administrator" title="System administrator">administrator</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Talent_management" title="Talent management">Talent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Technology_management" title="Technology management">Technology</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align: center;;color: var(--color-base)">Organization</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_architecture" title="Organizational architecture">Architecture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_behavior" title="Organizational behavior">Behavior</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_communication" title="Organizational communication">Communication</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_culture" title="Organizational culture">Culture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_conflict" title="Organizational conflict">Conflict</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organization_development" title="Organization development">Development</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_engineering" title="Organizational engineering">Engineering</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hierarchical_organization" title="Hierarchical organization">Hierarchy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_patterns" title="Organizational patterns">Patterns</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_space" title="Organizational space">Space</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Organizational_structure" title="Organizational structure">Structure</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align: center;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Trade" title="Trade">Trade</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Business_analysis" title="Business analysis">Business analysis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_ethics" title="Business ethics">Business ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_plan" title="Business plan">Business plan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_judgment_rule" title="Business judgment rule">Business judgment rule</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Consumer_behaviour" title="Consumer behaviour">Consumer behaviour</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_operations" title="Business operations">Business operations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_business" title="International business">International business</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_model" title="Business model">Business model</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_trade" title="International trade">International trade</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Trade_route" title="Trade route">Trade route</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_process" title="Business process">Business process</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_statistics" class="mw-redirect" title="Business statistics">Business statistics</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-below"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Emblem-money.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Emblem-money.svg/16px-Emblem-money.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Emblem-money.svg/24px-Emblem-money.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Emblem-money.svg/32px-Emblem-money.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="48" data-file-height="48" /></a></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Business_and_economics" class="mw-redirect" title="Portal:Business and economics">Business and economics portal</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Business_administration" title="Template:Business administration"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Business_administration" title="Template talk:Business administration"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Business_administration" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Business administration"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle"><i>Part of <a href="/wiki/Category:Trade" title="Category:Trade">a series</a> on</i></td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle"><a href="/wiki/International_trade" title="International trade">World trade</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image" style="padding: 0.4em 0 0.4em; border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc"><figure class="mw-halign-center notpageimage" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Storck_Harbour_scene.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Storck_Harbour_scene.jpg/180px-Storck_Harbour_scene.jpg" decoding="async" width="180" height="181" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Storck_Harbour_scene.jpg/270px-Storck_Harbour_scene.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Storck_Harbour_scene.jpg/360px-Storck_Harbour_scene.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1590" data-file-height="1599" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; background: transparent; text-align: left;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Commercial_policy" title="Commercial policy">Policy</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Import" title="Import">Import</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Export" title="Export">Export</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Balance_of_trade" title="Balance of trade">Balance of trade</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_trade_law" title="International trade law">Trade law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_agreement" title="Trade agreement">Trade pact</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_bloc" title="Trade bloc">Trade bloc</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_creation" title="Trade creation">Trade creation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_diversion" title="Trade diversion">Trade diversion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Export-oriented_industrialization" title="Export-oriented industrialization">Export orientation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Import_substitution_industrialization" title="Import substitution industrialization">Import substitution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_finance" title="Trade finance">Trade finance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_facilitation" title="Trade facilitation">Trade facilitation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_route" title="Trade route">Trade route</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Domestic_trade" class="mw-redirect" title="Domestic trade">Domestic trade</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tax" title="Tax">Tax</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; background: transparent; text-align: left;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Trade_restriction" title="Trade restriction">Restrictions</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Trade_barrier" title="Trade barrier">Trade barriers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tariff" title="Tariff">Tariffs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Non-tariff_barriers_to_trade" title="Non-tariff barriers to trade">Non-tariff barriers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Import_quota" title="Import quota">Import quotas</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tariff-rate_quota" title="Tariff-rate quota">Tariff-rate quotas</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Import_license" title="Import license">Import licenses</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Duty_(economics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Duty (economics)">Customs duties</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Export_subsidy" title="Export subsidy">Export subsidies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Technical_barriers_to_trade" title="Technical barriers to trade">Technical barriers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bribery" title="Bribery">Bribery</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_exchange_controls" title="Foreign exchange controls">Exchange rate controls</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_sanctions" title="Economic sanctions">Embargo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Safeguard_(international_law)" class="mw-redirect" title="Safeguard (international law)">Safeguards</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Countervailing_duties" title="Countervailing duties">Countervailing duties</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dumping_(pricing_policy)" title="Dumping (pricing policy)">Anti-dumping duties</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Voluntary_export_restraint" title="Voluntary export restraint">Voluntary export restraints</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; background: transparent; text-align: left;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Timeline_of_international_trade" title="Timeline of international trade">History</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Mercantilism" title="Mercantilism">Mercantilism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Protectionism" title="Protectionism">Protectionism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Laissez-faire" title="Laissez-faire">Laissez-faire</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Free_trade" title="Free trade">Free trade</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_nationalism" title="Economic nationalism">Economic nationalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_integration" title="Economic integration">Economic integration</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; background: transparent; text-align: left;;color: var(--color-base)">Organizations</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund" title="International Monetary Fund">International Monetary Fund</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_Trade_Centre" title="International Trade Centre">International Trade Centre</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/World_Trade_Organization" title="World Trade Organization">World Trade Organization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/World_Customs_Organization" title="World Customs Organization">World Customs Organization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_Chamber_of_Commerce" title="International Chamber of Commerce">International Chamber of Commerce</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; background: transparent; text-align: left;;color: var(--color-base)">Economic integration</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Preferential_trading_area" title="Preferential trading area">Preferential trading area</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Free-trade_area" class="mw-redirect" title="Free-trade area">Free-trade area</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Currency_union" title="Currency union">Currency union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Customs_union" title="Customs union">Customs union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Single_market" title="Single market">Single market</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_union" title="Economic union">Economic union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fiscal_union" title="Fiscal union">Fiscal union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Customs_and_monetary_union" title="Customs and monetary union">Customs and monetary union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_and_monetary_union" title="Economic and monetary union">Economic and monetary union</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; background: transparent; text-align: left;;color: var(--color-base)">Issues</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Intellectual_property" title="Intellectual property">Intellectual property rights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Smuggling" title="Smuggling">Smuggling</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Competition_law" title="Competition law">Competition policy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Government_procurement" title="Government procurement">Government procurement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outsourcing" title="Outsourcing">Outsourcing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Globalization" title="Globalization">Globalization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fair_trade" title="Fair trade">Fair trade</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_justice" title="Trade justice">Trade justice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Emissions_trading" title="Emissions trading">Emissions trading</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_sanctions" title="Economic sanctions">Trade sanctions</a></li> <li>War <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Currency_war" title="Currency war">Currency war</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_facilitation_and_development" title="Trade facilitation and development">Trade costs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_war" title="Trade war">Trade war</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trade_and_development" title="Trade and development">Trade and development</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; background: transparent; text-align: left;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Index_of_international_trade_articles" title="Index of international trade articles">Lists</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_countries_by_imports" title="List of countries by imports">Imports</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_countries_by_exports" title="List of countries by exports">Exports</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_tariffs" title="List of tariffs">Tariffs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_largest_consumer_markets" title="List of largest consumer markets">Largest consumer markets</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_countries_by_leading_trade_partners" title="List of countries by leading trade partners">Leading trade partners</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; background: transparent; text-align: left;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Category:Foreign_trade_by_country" title="Category:Foreign trade by country">By country</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content hlist" style="padding-bottom: 0"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Trade_mission" title="Trade mission">Trade mission</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trading_nation" title="Trading nation">Trading nation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_trade_of_the_United_States" title="Foreign trade of the United States">United States</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_trade_of_Argentina" title="Foreign trade of Argentina">Argentina</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_trade_of_Pakistan" title="Foreign trade of Pakistan">Pakistan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_trade_of_Romania" title="Foreign trade of Romania">Romania</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_trade_of_Vietnam" title="Foreign trade of Vietnam">Vietnam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_trade_of_India" title="Foreign trade of India">India</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; background: transparent; text-align: left;;color: var(--color-base)">Theory</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Comparative_advantage" title="Comparative advantage">Comparative advantage</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Competitive_advantage" title="Competitive advantage">Competitive advantage</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Heckscher%E2%80%93Ohlin_model" title="Heckscher–Ohlin model">Heckscher–Ohlin model</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New_trade_theory" title="New trade theory">New trade theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_geography" title="Economic geography">Economic geography</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intra-industry_trade" title="Intra-industry trade">Intra-industry trade</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gravity_model_of_trade" title="Gravity model of trade">Gravity model of trade</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_trade#Ricardian_theory_of_international_trade" title="International trade">Ricardian trade theories</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Balassa%E2%80%93Samuelson_effect" title="Balassa–Samuelson effect">Balassa–Samuelson effect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Linder_hypothesis" title="Linder hypothesis">Linder hypothesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Leontief_paradox" title="Leontief paradox">Leontief paradox</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lerner_symmetry_theorem" title="Lerner symmetry theorem">Lerner symmetry theorem</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Terms_of_trade" title="Terms of trade">Terms of trade</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:World_trade" title="Template:World trade"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:World_trade" title="Template talk:World trade"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:World_trade" title="Special:EditPage/Template:World trade"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Corporate law</b> (also known as <b>company law</b> or <b>enterprise law</b>) is the body of <a href="/wiki/Law" title="Law">law</a> governing the <a href="/wiki/Rights" title="Rights">rights</a>, relations, and <a href="/wiki/Behavior" title="Behavior">conduct</a> of <a href="/wiki/Legal_person" title="Legal person">persons</a>, <a href="/wiki/Company" title="Company">companies</a>, <a href="/wiki/Organization" title="Organization">organizations</a> and <a href="/wiki/Business" title="Business">businesses</a>. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corporations, or to the theory of <a href="/wiki/Corporation" title="Corporation">corporations</a>. Corporate law often describes the law relating to matters which derive directly from the life-cycle of a corporation.<sup id="cite_ref-armour_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-armour-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It thus encompasses the formation, funding, governance, and death of a corporation. </p><p>While the minute nature of corporate governance as personified by <a href="/wiki/Shareholders" class="mw-redirect" title="Shareholders">share ownership</a>, <a href="/wiki/Capital_market" title="Capital market">capital market</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Business_culture" class="mw-redirect" title="Business culture">business culture</a> rules differ, similar legal characteristics and legal problems exist across many jurisdictions. Corporate law regulates how <a href="/wiki/Corporations" class="mw-redirect" title="Corporations">corporations</a>, <a href="/wiki/Investor" title="Investor">investors</a>, <a href="/wiki/Shareholders" class="mw-redirect" title="Shareholders">shareholders</a>, <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">directors</a>, <a href="/wiki/Employees" class="mw-redirect" title="Employees">employees</a>, <a href="/wiki/Creditors" class="mw-redirect" title="Creditors">creditors</a>, and other <a href="/wiki/Stakeholder_(corporate)" title="Stakeholder (corporate)">stakeholders</a> such as <a href="/wiki/Consumer" title="Consumer">consumers</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Community" title="Community">community</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Environment_(biophysical)" class="mw-redirect" title="Environment (biophysical)">environment</a> interact with one another.<sup id="cite_ref-armour_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-armour-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Whilst the term <b>company</b> or <b>business law</b> is colloquially used interchangeably with corporate law, the term <b>business law</b> mostly refers to wider concepts of <i><a href="/wiki/Commercial_law" title="Commercial law">commercial law</a>,</i> that is the law relating to commercial and business related purposes and activities. In some cases, this may include matters relating to <a href="/wiki/Corporate_governance" title="Corporate governance">corporate governance</a> or <a href="/wiki/Financial_law" title="Financial law">financial law</a>. When used as a substitute for corporate law, <b>business law</b> means the law relating to the <i>business corporation</i> (or business enterprises), including such activity as raising capital, company formation, and registration with the government. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Overview">Overview</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Overview"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Academics identify four legal characteristics universal to business enterprises. These are: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Separate_legal_personality" class="mw-redirect" title="Separate legal personality">Separate legal personality</a> of the corporation (access to tort and <a href="/wiki/Contract_Law" class="mw-redirect" title="Contract Law">contract law</a> in a manner similar to a person)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_liability" title="Limited liability">Limited liability</a> of the shareholders (a shareholder's personal liability is limited to the value of their shares in the corporation)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Share_(finance)" title="Share (finance)">Transferable shares</a> (if the corporation is a "<a href="/wiki/Public_company" title="Public company">public company</a>", the shares are publicly listed and traded)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Delegation" title="Delegation">Delegated management</a> under a board structure; the <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">board of directors</a> delegates day-to-day management of the company to <a href="/wiki/Executive_(management)" class="mw-redirect" title="Executive (management)">executives</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-armour_1-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-armour-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:0_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <p>Widely available and user-friendly corporate law enables business participants to possess these four legal characteristics and thus transact as businesses. Thus, corporate law is a response to three endemic opportunism: conflicts between managers and shareholders, between controlling and non-controlling shareholders; and between shareholders and other contractual counterparts (including creditors and employees). </p><p>A <a href="/wiki/Corporation" title="Corporation">corporation</a> may accurately be called a company; however, a company should not necessarily be called a corporation, which has distinct characteristics. In the United States, a company may or may not be a separate legal entity, and is often used synonymous with "firm" or "business." According to <a href="/wiki/Black%27s_Law_Dictionary" title="Black's Law Dictionary">Black's Law Dictionary</a>, in America a company means "a corporation — or, less commonly, an association, partnership or union — that carries on industrial enterprise."<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Other types of business associations can include <a href="/wiki/Partnership" title="Partnership">partnerships</a> (in the UK governed by the Partnership Act 1890), or <a href="/wiki/Trusts" class="mw-redirect" title="Trusts">trusts</a> (such as a pension fund), or companies limited by guarantee (like some community organizations or charities). Corporate law deals with companies that are incorporated or registered under the corporate or company law of a <a href="/wiki/Sovereign_state" title="Sovereign state">sovereign state</a> or their <a href="/wiki/Administrative_division" title="Administrative division">sub-national states</a>. </p><p>The defining feature of a corporation is its legal independence from the shareholders that own it. Under corporate law, corporations of all sizes have <a href="/wiki/Separate_legal_personality" class="mw-redirect" title="Separate legal personality">separate legal personality</a>, with <a href="/wiki/Limited_liability" title="Limited liability">limited</a> or <a href="/wiki/Unlimited_company" title="Unlimited company">unlimited</a> liability for its shareholders. Shareholders control the company through a <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">board of directors</a> which, in turn, typically delegates control of the corporation's day-to-day operations to a full-time <a href="/wiki/Executive_(management)" class="mw-redirect" title="Executive (management)">executive</a>. Shareholders' losses, in the event of liquidation, are limited to their stake in the corporation, and they are not liable for any remaining debts owed to the corporation's creditors. This rule is called <a href="/wiki/Limited_liability" title="Limited liability">limited liability</a>, and it is why the names of corporations end with "<a href="/wiki/Ltd." class="mw-redirect" title="Ltd.">Ltd.</a>" or some variant such as "<a href="/wiki/Incorporation_(business)" title="Incorporation (business)">Inc.</a>" or "<a href="/wiki/Public_limited_company" title="Public limited company">plc</a>." </p><p>Under almost all legal systems<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_words" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:Avoid weasel words"><span title="The material near this tag possibly uses too vague attribution or weasel words. (May 2018)">which?</span></a></i>]</sup> corporations have much the same legal rights and obligations as individuals. In some jurisdictions, this extends to allow corporations to exercise <a href="/wiki/Human_rights" title="Human rights">human rights</a> against real individuals and the state,<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and they may be responsible for human rights violations.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Just as they are "born" into existence through its members obtaining a <a href="/wiki/Certificate_of_incorporation" title="Certificate of incorporation">certificate of incorporation</a>, they can "die" when they lose money into <a href="/wiki/Insolvency" title="Insolvency">insolvency</a>. Corporations can even be convicted of criminal offences, such as <a href="/wiki/Corporate_fraud" class="mw-redirect" title="Corporate fraud">corporate fraud</a> and <a href="/wiki/Corporate_manslaughter" title="Corporate manslaughter">corporate manslaughter</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="History">History</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: History"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Corporation#History" title="Corporation">History of corporations</a></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Edward_Matthew_Ward_(1816-1879)_-_The_South_Sea_Bubble,_a_Scene_in_%27Change_Alley_in_1720_-_N00432_-_National_Gallery.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Edward_Matthew_Ward_%281816-1879%29_-_The_South_Sea_Bubble%2C_a_Scene_in_%27Change_Alley_in_1720_-_N00432_-_National_Gallery.jpg/220px-Edward_Matthew_Ward_%281816-1879%29_-_The_South_Sea_Bubble%2C_a_Scene_in_%27Change_Alley_in_1720_-_N00432_-_National_Gallery.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="150" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Edward_Matthew_Ward_%281816-1879%29_-_The_South_Sea_Bubble%2C_a_Scene_in_%27Change_Alley_in_1720_-_N00432_-_National_Gallery.jpg/330px-Edward_Matthew_Ward_%281816-1879%29_-_The_South_Sea_Bubble%2C_a_Scene_in_%27Change_Alley_in_1720_-_N00432_-_National_Gallery.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Edward_Matthew_Ward_%281816-1879%29_-_The_South_Sea_Bubble%2C_a_Scene_in_%27Change_Alley_in_1720_-_N00432_-_National_Gallery.jpg/440px-Edward_Matthew_Ward_%281816-1879%29_-_The_South_Sea_Bubble%2C_a_Scene_in_%27Change_Alley_in_1720_-_N00432_-_National_Gallery.jpg 2x" data-file-width="964" data-file-height="658" /></a><figcaption><i><a href="/wiki/The_South_Sea_Bubble" title="The South Sea Bubble">The South Sea Bubble</a></i> by <a href="/wiki/Edward_Matthew_Ward" title="Edward Matthew Ward">Edward Matthew Ward</a>, 1847. A <a href="/wiki/William_Hogarth" title="William Hogarth">Hogarthian</a> image of the <a href="/wiki/South_Sea_Bubble" class="mw-redirect" title="South Sea Bubble">South Sea Bubble</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tate_Gallery" class="mw-redirect" title="Tate Gallery">Tate Gallery</a></figcaption></figure> <p>Although some forms of companies are thought to have existed during <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Rome" title="Ancient Rome">Ancient Rome</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greece" title="Ancient Greece">Ancient Greece</a>, the closest recognizable ancestors of the modern company did not appear until the 16th century. With increasing international trade, <a href="/wiki/Royal_charter" title="Royal charter">Royal charters</a> were granted in Europe (notably in <a href="/wiki/England" title="England">England</a> and <a href="/wiki/Holland" title="Holland">Holland</a>) to merchant adventurers. The Royal charters usually conferred special privileges on the trading company (including, usually, some form of <a href="/wiki/Monopoly" title="Monopoly">monopoly</a>). Originally, traders in these entities traded stock on their own account, but later the members came to operate on joint account and with joint stock, and the new <a href="/wiki/Joint_stock_company" class="mw-redirect" title="Joint stock company">Joint stock company</a> was born.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Early companies were purely economic ventures; it was only a belatedly established benefit of holding joint stock that the company's stock could not be seized for the debts of any individual member.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The development of company law in Europe was hampered by two notorious "bubbles" (the <a href="/wiki/South_Sea_Company" title="South Sea Company">South Sea Bubble</a> in England and the <a href="/wiki/Tulip_mania" title="Tulip mania">Tulip Bulb Bubble</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Dutch_Republic" title="Dutch Republic">Dutch Republic</a>) in the 17th century, which set the development of companies in the two leading jurisdictions back by over a century in popular estimation. </p> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Jack_and_the_Giant_Joint-Stock.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Jack_and_the_Giant_Joint-Stock.jpg/220px-Jack_and_the_Giant_Joint-Stock.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="281" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Jack_and_the_Giant_Joint-Stock.jpg/330px-Jack_and_the_Giant_Joint-Stock.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Jack_and_the_Giant_Joint-Stock.jpg 2x" data-file-width="334" data-file-height="426" /></a><figcaption>"Jack and the Giant Joint-Stock", a cartoon in <i>Town Talk</i> (1858) satirizing the 'monster' joint-stock economy that came into being after the <a href="/wiki/Joint_Stock_Companies_Act_1844" title="Joint Stock Companies Act 1844">Joint Stock Companies Act 1844</a></figcaption></figure> <p>Companies returned to the forefront of commerce, although in England to circumvent the <a href="/wiki/Bubble_Act" title="Bubble Act">Bubble Act</a> 1720 investors had reverted to trading the stock of unincorporated associations, until it was repealed in 1825.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_better_articles#Stay_on_topic" title="Wikipedia:Writing better articles"><span title="The paragraph near this tag may contain information that is not relevant to the article's main topic. (May 2018)">relevant?</span></a></i>]</sup> However, the process of obtaining Royal charters was insufficient to keep up with demand. In England there was a lively trade in the charters of defunct companies. It was not until the <a href="/wiki/Joint_Stock_Companies_Act_1844" title="Joint Stock Companies Act 1844">Joint Stock Companies Act 1844</a> that the first equivalent of modern companies, formed by registration, appeared. Soon after came the <a href="/wiki/Limited_Liability_Act_1855" title="Limited Liability Act 1855">Limited Liability Act 1855</a>, which in the event of a company's bankruptcy limited the liability of all shareholders to the amount of capital they had invested. </p><p>The beginning of modern company law came when the two pieces of legislation were codified under the <a href="/wiki/Joint_Stock_Companies_Act_1856" title="Joint Stock Companies Act 1856">Joint Stock Companies Act 1856</a> at the behest of the then Vice President of the Board of Trade, Mr <a href="/wiki/Robert_Lowe,_1st_Viscount_Sherbrooke" class="mw-redirect" title="Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke">Robert Lowe</a>. That legislation shortly gave way to the railway boom, and from there the numbers of companies formed soared. In the later nineteenth century depression took hold, and just as company numbers had boomed, many began to implode and fall into insolvency. Much strong academic, legislative and judicial opinion was opposed to the notion that businessmen could escape accountability for their role in the failing businesses. The last significant development in the history of companies was the decision of the House of Lords in <i><a href="/wiki/Salomon_v._Salomon_%26_Co." class="mw-redirect" title="Salomon v. Salomon & Co.">Salomon v. Salomon & Co.</a></i> where the House of Lords confirmed the separate legal personality of the company, and that the liabilities of the company were separate and distinct from those of its owners. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Corporate_structure">Corporate structure</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Corporate structure"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Corporation" title="Corporation">Corporation</a></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Types_of_business_entity" class="mw-redirect" title="Types of business entity">Types of business entity</a></div> <p>The law of business organizations originally derived from the <a href="/wiki/Common_law" title="Common law">common law</a> of <a href="/wiki/England" title="England">England</a>, and has evolved significantly in the 20th century. In common law countries today, the most commonly addressed forms are:<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_better_articles#Stay_on_topic" title="Wikipedia:Writing better articles"><span title="The paragraph near this tag may contain information that is not relevant to the article's main topic. (May 2018)">relevant?</span></a></i>]</sup> </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Corporation" title="Corporation">Corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_company" title="Limited company">Limited company</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Unlimited_company" title="Unlimited company">Unlimited company</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_liability_partnership" title="Limited liability partnership">Limited liability partnership</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_partnership" title="Limited partnership">Limited partnership</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Not-for-profit_corporation" class="mw-redirect" title="Not-for-profit corporation">Not-for-profit corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Company_limited_by_guarantee" title="Company limited by guarantee">Company limited by guarantee</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Partnership" title="Partnership">Partnership</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sole_proprietorship" title="Sole proprietorship">Sole proprietorship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Privately_held_company" title="Privately held company">Privately held company</a></li></ul> <p>The proprietary limited company is a statutory business form in several countries, including <a href="/wiki/Australia" title="Australia">Australia</a>. Many countries have forms of business entity unique to that country, although there are equivalents elsewhere. Examples are the <a href="/wiki/Limited_liability_company" title="Limited liability company">limited liability company</a> (LLC) and the <a href="/wiki/Limited_liability_limited_partnership" title="Limited liability limited partnership">limited liability limited partnership</a> (LLLP) in the United States. Other types of business organizations, such as <a href="/wiki/Cooperative" title="Cooperative">cooperatives</a>, <a href="/wiki/Credit_unions" class="mw-redirect" title="Credit unions">credit unions</a> and publicly owned enterprises, can be established with purposes that parallel, supersede, or even replace the <a href="/wiki/Profit_maximization" title="Profit maximization">profit maximization</a> mandate of business corporations. </p><p>There are various types of company that can be formed in different jurisdictions, but the most common forms of company are: </p> <ul><li><i>a <a href="/wiki/Company_limited_by_guarantee" title="Company limited by guarantee">company limited by guarantee</a></i>. Commonly used where companies are formed for non-commercial purposes, such as clubs or charities. The members guarantee the payment of certain (usually nominal) amounts if the company goes into <a href="/wiki/Liquidation" title="Liquidation">insolvent liquidation</a>, but otherwise they have no economic rights in relation to the company .</li> <li><i>a company limited by guarantee with a share capital</i>. A hybrid entity, usually used where the company is formed for non-commercial purposes, but the activities of the company are partly funded by investors who expect a return.</li> <li><i>a <a href="/wiki/Private_limited_company_by_shares" class="mw-redirect" title="Private limited company by shares">company limited by shares</a></i>. The most common form of company used for business ventures.</li> <li><i>an <a href="/wiki/Unlimited_Company" class="mw-redirect" title="Unlimited Company">unlimited company</a></i> either with or without a share capital. This is a hybrid company, a company similar to its limited company (Ltd.) counterpart but where the members or shareholders do not benefit from limited liability should the company ever go into formal <a href="/wiki/Liquidation" title="Liquidation">liquidation</a>.</li></ul> <p>There are, however, many specific categories of corporations and other business organizations which may be formed in various countries and <a href="/wiki/Jurisdiction" title="Jurisdiction">jurisdictions</a> throughout the world. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Corporate_legal_personality">Corporate legal personality</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Corporate legal personality"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Piercing_the_corporate_veil" title="Piercing the corporate veil">Piercing the corporate veil</a></div> <p>One of the key legal features of corporations are their separate legal personality, also known as "personhood" or being "artificial persons". However, the separate legal personality was not confirmed under <a href="/wiki/English_law" title="English law">English law</a> until 1895 by the <a href="/wiki/Judicial_functions_of_the_House_of_Lords" title="Judicial functions of the House of Lords">House of Lords</a> in <i><a href="/wiki/Salomon_v._Salomon_%26_Co." class="mw-redirect" title="Salomon v. Salomon & Co.">Salomon v. Salomon & Co.</a></i><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Separate legal personality often has <a href="/wiki/Unintended_consequence" class="mw-redirect" title="Unintended consequence">unintended consequences</a>, particularly in relation to smaller, <a href="/wiki/Family_company" class="mw-redirect" title="Family company">family companies</a>. In <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=B_v._B&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="B v. B (page does not exist)">B v. B</a></i> [1978] Fam 181 it was held that a <a href="/wiki/Discovery_(law)" title="Discovery (law)">discovery order</a> obtained by a wife against her husband was not effective against the husband's company as it was not named in the order and was separate and distinct from him.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> And in <i><a href="/wiki/Macaura_v._Northern_Assurance_Co_Ltd" class="mw-redirect" title="Macaura v. Northern Assurance Co Ltd">Macaura v. Northern Assurance Co Ltd</a></i><sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> a claim under an insurance policy failed where the insured had transferred timber from his name into the name of a company wholly owned by him, and it was subsequently destroyed in a fire; as the property now belonged to the company and not to him, he no longer had an "insurable interest" in it and his claim failed. </p><p>Separate legal personality allows corporate groups flexibility in relation to tax planning, and management of overseas liability. For instance in <i><a href="/wiki/Adams_v._Cape_Industries_plc" class="mw-redirect" title="Adams v. Cape Industries plc">Adams v. Cape Industries plc</a></i><sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> it was held that victims of asbestos poisoning at the hands of an American subsidiary could not sue the English parent in tort. Whilst academic discussion highlights certain specific situations where courts are generally prepared to "<a href="/wiki/Piercing_the_corporate_veil" title="Piercing the corporate veil">pierce the corporate veil</a>", to look directly at, and impose liability directly on the individuals behind the company; the actual practice of piercing the corporate veil is, at English law, non-existent.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, the court will look beyond the corporate form where the corporation is a sham or perpetuating a fraud. The most commonly cited examples are: </p> <ul><li>where the company is a mere façade</li> <li>where the company is effectively just the agent of its members or controllers</li> <li>where a representative of the company has taken some personal responsibility for a statement or action<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>where the company is engaged in fraud or other criminal wrongdoing</li> <li>where the natural interpretation of a contract or statute is as a reference to the corporate group and not the individual company</li> <li>where permitted by statute (for example, many jurisdictions provide for shareholder liability where a company breaches <a href="/wiki/Environmental_law" title="Environmental law">environmental protection laws</a>)</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Capacity_and_powers">Capacity and powers</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Capacity and powers"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Corporate_benefit" class="mw-redirect" title="Corporate benefit">Corporate benefit</a></div> <p>Historically, because companies are artificial persons created by operation of law, the law prescribed what the company could and could not do. Usually this was an expression of the commercial purpose which the company was formed for, and came to be referred to as the company's <i>objects</i>, and the extent of the objects are referred to as the company's <a href="/wiki/Capacity_(law)" title="Capacity (law)">capacity</a>. If an activity fell outside the company's capacity it was said to be <i><a href="/wiki/Ultra_vires" title="Ultra vires">ultra vires</a></i> and <a href="/wiki/Void_(law)" title="Void (law)">void</a>. </p><p>By way of distinction, the organs of the company were expressed to have various <i>corporate powers</i>. If the objects were the things that the company was able to do, then the powers were the means by which it could do them. Usually expressions of powers were limited to methods of raising capital, although from earlier times distinctions between objects and powers have caused lawyers difficulty.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Most jurisdictions have now modified the position by statute, and companies generally have capacity to do all the things that a natural person could do, and power to do it in any way that a natural person could do it. </p><p>However, references to corporate capacity and powers have not quite been consigned to the dustbin of legal history. In many jurisdictions, directors can still be liable to their shareholders if they cause the company to engage in businesses outside its objects, even if the transactions are still valid as between the company and the third party. And many jurisdictions also still permit transactions to be challenged for lack of "<a href="/wiki/Corporate_benefit" class="mw-redirect" title="Corporate benefit">corporate benefit</a>", where the relevant transaction has no prospect of being for the commercial benefit of the company or its shareholders. </p><p>As artificial persons, companies can only act through human agents. The main agent who deals with the company's management and business is the <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">board of directors</a>, but in many jurisdictions other officers can be appointed too. The board of directors is normally elected by the members, and the other officers are normally appointed by the board. These agents enter into contracts on behalf of the company with third parties. </p><p>Although the company's agents owe duties to the company (and, indirectly, to the shareholders) to exercise those powers for a proper purpose, generally speaking third parties' rights are not impugned if it transpires that the officers were acting improperly. Third parties are entitled to rely on the <a href="/wiki/Ostensible_authority" class="mw-redirect" title="Ostensible authority">ostensible authority</a> of agents held out by the company to act on its behalf. A line of common law cases reaching back to <i><a href="/wiki/Royal_British_Bank_v_Turquand" title="Royal British Bank v Turquand">Royal British Bank v Turquand</a></i> established in common law that third parties were entitled to assume that the internal management of the company was being conducted properly, and the rule has now been codified into statute in most countries. </p><p>Accordingly, companies will normally be liable for all the act and omissions of their officers and agents. This will include almost all <a href="/wiki/Torts" class="mw-redirect" title="Torts">torts</a>, but the law relating to <a href="/wiki/Corporate_manslaughter" title="Corporate manslaughter">crimes committed by companies</a> is complex, and varies significantly between countries. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Corporate_crime">Corporate crime</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Corporate crime"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main articles: <a href="/wiki/Corporate_liability" title="Corporate liability">Corporate liability</a> and <a href="/wiki/Corporate_crime" title="Corporate crime">Corporate crime</a></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Corporate_Manslaughter_and_Corporate_Homicide_Act_2007" title="Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007">Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Corporate_governance">Corporate governance</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Corporate governance"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Corporate_governance" title="Corporate governance">Corporate governance</a></div> <p>Corporate governance is primarily the study of the power relations among a corporation's senior executives, its <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">board of directors</a> and those who elect them (<a href="/wiki/Shareholders" class="mw-redirect" title="Shareholders">shareholders</a> in the "<a href="/wiki/General_meeting" class="mw-redirect" title="General meeting">general meeting</a>" and <a href="/wiki/Employees" class="mw-redirect" title="Employees">employees</a>), as well as other stakeholders, such as <a href="/wiki/Creditors" class="mw-redirect" title="Creditors">creditors</a>, <a href="/wiki/Consumer" title="Consumer">consumers</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Environment_(biophysical)" class="mw-redirect" title="Environment (biophysical)">environment</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Community" title="Community">community</a> at large.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> One of the main differences between different countries in the internal form of companies is between a two-tier and a one tier board. The United Kingdom, the United States, and most Commonwealth countries have single unified boards of directors. In Germany, companies have two tiers, so that shareholders (and employees) elect a "supervisory board", and then the supervisory board chooses the "management board". There is the option to use two tiers in France, and in the new European Companies (<span title="Latin-language text"><i lang="la"><a href="/wiki/Societas_Europaea" title="Societas Europaea">Societas Europaea</a></i></span>). </p><p>Recent literature, especially from the United States, has begun to discuss corporate governance in the terms of <a href="/wiki/Management_science" title="Management science">management science</a>. While post-war discourse centred on how to achieve effective "corporate democracy" for shareholders or other stakeholders, many scholars have shifted to discussing the law in terms of <a href="/wiki/Principal%E2%80%93agent_problem" title="Principal–agent problem">principal–agent problems</a>. On this view, the basic issue of corporate law is that when a "principal" party delegates his property (usually the shareholder's capital, but also the employee's labour) into the control of an "agent" (i.e. the director of the company) there is the possibility that the agent will act in his own interests, be "opportunistic", rather than fulfill the wishes of the principal. Reducing the risks of this opportunism, or the "agency cost", is said to be central to the goal of corporate law. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Constitution">Constitution</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Constitution"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Corporate_constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="Corporate constitution">Corporate constitution</a></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Vereinigte_Ostindische_Compagnie_bond_-_Middelburg_-_Amsterdam_-_1622.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Vereinigte_Ostindische_Compagnie_bond_-_Middelburg_-_Amsterdam_-_1622.jpg/220px-Vereinigte_Ostindische_Compagnie_bond_-_Middelburg_-_Amsterdam_-_1622.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="182" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Vereinigte_Ostindische_Compagnie_bond_-_Middelburg_-_Amsterdam_-_1622.jpg/330px-Vereinigte_Ostindische_Compagnie_bond_-_Middelburg_-_Amsterdam_-_1622.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Vereinigte_Ostindische_Compagnie_bond_-_Middelburg_-_Amsterdam_-_1622.jpg/440px-Vereinigte_Ostindische_Compagnie_bond_-_Middelburg_-_Amsterdam_-_1622.jpg 2x" data-file-width="640" data-file-height="528" /></a><figcaption>A <a href="/wiki/Bond_(finance)" title="Bond (finance)">bond</a> issued by the <a href="/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company" title="Dutch East India Company">Dutch East India Company</a>, dating from 7 November 1623, for the amount of 2,400 <a href="/wiki/Dutch_gulden" class="mw-redirect" title="Dutch gulden">florins</a></figcaption></figure> <p>The rules for corporations derive from two sources. These are the country's statutes: in the US, usually the <a href="/wiki/Delaware_General_Corporation_Law" title="Delaware General Corporation Law">Delaware General Corporation Law</a> (DGCL); in the UK, the <a href="/wiki/Companies_Act_2006" title="Companies Act 2006">Companies Act 2006</a> (CA 2006); in Germany, the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bundesrecht.juris.de/aktg/">Aktiengesetz (AktG)</a> and the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bundesrecht.juris.de/gmbhg/index.html">Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaften mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH-Gesetz, GmbHG).</a> The law will set out which rules are mandatory, and which rules can be derogated from. Examples of important rules which cannot be derogated from would usually include how to fire the <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">board of directors</a>, what duties directors owe to the company or when a company must be dissolved as it approaches bankruptcy. Examples of rules that members of a company would be allowed to change and choose could include, what kind of procedure <a href="/wiki/General_meeting" class="mw-redirect" title="General meeting">general meetings</a> should follow, when dividends get paid out, or how many members (beyond a minimum set out in the law) can amend the constitution. Usually, the statute will set out <a href="/wiki/Model_Articles" class="mw-redirect" title="Model Articles">model articles</a>, which the corporation's constitution will be assumed to have if it is silent on a bit of particular procedure. </p><p>The United States, and a few other common law countries, split the corporate constitution into two separate documents (the UK got rid of this in 2006). The <a href="/wiki/Memorandum_of_association" title="Memorandum of association">memorandum of association</a> (or <a href="/wiki/Articles_of_incorporation" class="mw-redirect" title="Articles of incorporation">articles of incorporation</a>) is the primary document, and will generally regulate the company's activities with the outside world. It states which objects the company is meant to follow (e.g. "this company makes automobiles") and specifies the <a href="/wiki/Authorised_share_capital" class="mw-redirect" title="Authorised share capital">authorised share capital</a> of the company. The <a href="/wiki/Articles_of_Association_(law)" class="mw-redirect" title="Articles of Association (law)">articles of association</a> (or <a href="/wiki/Bylaw" class="mw-redirect" title="Bylaw">by-laws</a>) is the secondary document, and will generally regulate the company's internal affairs and management, such as procedures for board meetings, dividend entitlements etc. In the event of any inconsistency, the memorandum prevails<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and in the United States only the memorandum is publicised. In <a href="/wiki/Civil_law_(legal_system)" title="Civil law (legal system)">civil law</a> jurisdictions, the company's constitution is normally consolidated into a single document, often called the <a href="/wiki/Charter" title="Charter">charter</a>. </p><p>It is quite common for members of a company to supplement the corporate constitution with additional arrangements, such as <i><a href="/wiki/Shareholders%27_agreement" title="Shareholders' agreement">shareholders' agreements</a></i>, whereby they agree to exercise their membership rights in a certain way. Conceptually a shareholders' agreement fulfills many of the same functions as the corporate constitution, but because it is a contract, it will not normally bind new members of the company unless they accede to it somehow.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> One benefit of shareholders' agreement is that they will usually be confidential, as most jurisdictions do not require shareholders' agreements to be publicly filed. Another common method of supplementing the corporate constitution is by means of <i><a href="/wiki/Voting_trust" title="Voting trust">voting trusts</a></i>, although these are relatively uncommon outside the <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> and certain <a href="/wiki/Offshore_Financial_Centre" class="mw-redirect" title="Offshore Financial Centre">offshore jurisdictions</a>. Some jurisdictions consider the <a href="/wiki/Company_seal" title="Company seal">company seal</a> to be a part of the "constitution" (in the loose sense of the word) of the company, but the requirement for a seal has been abrogated by legislation in most countries. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Balance_of_power">Balance of power</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Balance of power"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Adolf_Augustus_Berle_NYWTS.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Adolf_Augustus_Berle_NYWTS.jpg/220px-Adolf_Augustus_Berle_NYWTS.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="272" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Adolf_Augustus_Berle_NYWTS.jpg/330px-Adolf_Augustus_Berle_NYWTS.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Adolf_Augustus_Berle_NYWTS.jpg/440px-Adolf_Augustus_Berle_NYWTS.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2429" data-file-height="3000" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Adolf_Berle" class="mw-redirect" title="Adolf Berle">Adolf Berle</a> in <i><a href="/wiki/The_Modern_Corporation_and_Private_Property" title="The Modern Corporation and Private Property">The Modern Corporation and Private Property</a></i> argued that the separation of control of companies from the investors who were meant to own them endangered the American economy and led to a mal-<a href="/wiki/Distribution_of_wealth" title="Distribution of wealth">distribution of wealth</a>.</figcaption></figure> <p>The most important rules for corporate governance are those concerning the balance of power between the <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">board of directors</a> and the members of the company. Authority is given or "delegated" to the board to manage the company for the success of the investors. Certain specific decision rights are often reserved for shareholders, where their interests could be fundamentally affected. There are necessarily rules on when directors can be removed from office and replaced. To do that, meetings need to be called to vote on the issues. How easily the constitution can be amended and by whom necessarily affects the relations of power. </p><p>It is a principle of corporate law that the directors of a company have the right to manage. This is expressed in statute in the <a href="/wiki/Delaware_General_Corporation_Law" title="Delaware General Corporation Law">DGCL</a>, where §141(a)<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> states, </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>(a) The business and affairs of every corporation organized under this chapter shall be managed by or under the direction of a board of directors, except as may be otherwise provided in this chapter or in its certificate of incorporation.</p></blockquote> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Germany" title="Germany">Germany</a>, §76 <a href="/wiki/Aktiengesellschaft" title="Aktiengesellschaft">AktG</a> says the same for the management board, while under §111 AktG the supervisory board's role is stated to be to "oversee" (<i>überwachen</i>). In the <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a>, the right to manage is not laid down in law, but is found in Part.2 of the <a href="/wiki/Model_Articles" class="mw-redirect" title="Model Articles">Model Articles</a>. This means it is a default rule, which companies can opt out of (s.20 <a href="/wiki/Companies_Act_2006" title="Companies Act 2006">CA 2006</a>) by reserving powers to members, although companies rarely do. UK law specifically reserves shareholders right and duty to approve "substantial non cash asset transactions" (s.190 CA 2006), which means those over 10% of company value, with a minimum of £5,000 and a maximum of £100,000.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Similar rules, though much less stringent, exist in §271 DGCL<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and through case law in Germany under the so-called <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Holzm%C3%BCller-Doktrin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Holzmüller-Doktrin (page does not exist)">Holzmüller-Doktrin</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Probably the most fundamental guarantee that directors will act in the members' interests is that they can easily be sacked. During the <a href="/wiki/Great_Depression" title="Great Depression">Great Depression</a>, two <a href="/wiki/Harvard_University" title="Harvard University">Harvard</a> scholars, <a href="/wiki/Adolf_Berle" class="mw-redirect" title="Adolf Berle">Adolf Berle</a> and <a href="/wiki/Gardiner_Means" title="Gardiner Means">Gardiner Means</a> wrote <i><a href="/wiki/The_Modern_Corporation_and_Private_Property" title="The Modern Corporation and Private Property">The Modern Corporation and Private Property</a></i>, an attack on American law which failed to hold directors to account, and linked the growing power and autonomy of directors to the economic crisis. In the UK, the right of members to remove directors by a simple majority is assured under s.168 CA 2006<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Moreover, Art.21 of the Model Articles requires a third of the board to put themselves up for re-election every year (in effect creating maximum three year terms). 10% of shareholders can demand a meeting any time, and 5% can if it has been a year since the last one (s.303 CA 2006). In Germany, where employee participation creates the need for greater boardroom stability, §84(3) AktG states that management board directors can only be removed by the supervisory board for an important reason (<i>ein wichtiger Grund</i>) though this can include a vote of no-confidence by the shareholders. Terms last for five years, unless 75% of shareholders vote otherwise. §122 AktG lets 10% of shareholders demand a meeting. In the US, Delaware lets directors enjoy considerable autonomy. §141(k) DGCL states that directors can be removed without any cause, unless the board is "classified", meaning that directors only come up for re-appointment on different years. If the board is classified, then directors cannot be removed unless there is gross misconduct. Director's autonomy from shareholders is seen further in §216 DGCL, which allows for plurality voting and §211(d) which states shareholder meetings can only be called if the constitution allows for it.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The problem is that in America, directors usually choose where a company is incorporated and §242(b)(1) DGCL says any constitutional amendment requires a resolution by the directors. By contrast, constitutional amendments can be made at any time by 75% of shareholders in Germany (§179 AktG) and the UK (s.21 CA 2006).<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Countries with <a href="/wiki/Co-determination" class="mw-redirect" title="Co-determination">co-determination</a> employ the practice of workers of an enterprise having the right to vote for representatives on the board of directors in a company.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (January 2021)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Director_duties">Director duties</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Director duties"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main articles: <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">Board of directors</a> and <a href="/wiki/Directors%27_duties" title="Directors' duties">Directors' duties</a></div> <p>In most jurisdictions, directors owe <a href="/wiki/Fiduciary" title="Fiduciary">strict duties of good faith</a>, as well as duties of care and skill, to safeguard the interests of the company and the members. In many developed countries outside the English speaking world, company boards are appointed as representatives of both shareholders and employees to "<a href="/wiki/Codetermination" class="mw-redirect" title="Codetermination">codetermine</a>" company strategy.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Corporate law is often divided into <a href="/wiki/Corporate_governance" title="Corporate governance">corporate governance</a> (which concerns the various power relations within a corporation) and <a href="/wiki/Corporate_finance" title="Corporate finance">corporate finance</a> (which concerns the rules on how capital is used). </p><p> Directors also owe strict duties not to permit any <a href="/wiki/Conflict_of_interest" title="Conflict of interest">conflict of interest</a> or conflict with their duty to act in the best interests of the company. This rule is so strictly enforced that, even where the conflict of interest or conflict of duty is purely hypothetical, the directors can be forced to disgorge all personal gains arising from it. In <i><a href="/wiki/Aberdeen_Ry_v._Blaikie" class="mw-redirect" title="Aberdeen Ry v. Blaikie">Aberdeen Ry v. Blaikie</a></i> (1854) 1 Macq HL 461 <a href="/wiki/Robert_Rolfe,_1st_Baron_Cranworth" title="Robert Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth">Lord Cranworth</a> stated in his judgment that, </p><blockquote class="quote-frame pullquote" style="font-size: 95%; padding: 0.5em 2em; background-color: var( --background-color-neutral-subtle, #f8f9fa ); color: var( --color-base, black ); border: 1px solid #aaa; display:table; float:none;"><div style="padding: 0.6em 1em;">"A corporate body can only act by agents, and it is, of course, the duty of those agents so to act as best to promote the interests of the corporation whose affairs they are conducting. Such agents have duties to discharge of a fiduciary nature towards their principal. And it is a rule of universal application that no one, having such duties to discharge, shall be allowed to enter into engagements in which he has, <i>or can have</i>, a personal interest conflicting <i>or which possibly may conflict</i>, with the interests of those whom he is bound to protect... So strictly is this principle adhered to that no question is allowed to be raised as to the fairness or unfairness of the contract entered into..."</div></blockquote><p> However, in many jurisdictions the members of the company are permitted to ratify transactions which would otherwise fall foul of this principle.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It is also largely accepted in most jurisdictions that this principle should be capable of being abrogated in the company's constitution. </p><p>The standard of skill and care that a director owes is usually described as acquiring and maintaining sufficient knowledge and understanding of the company's business to enable him to properly discharge his duties. This duty enables the company to seek compensation from its director if it can be proved that a director has not shown reasonable skill or care which in turn has caused the company to incur a loss.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In many jurisdictions, where a company continues to trade despite foreseeable <a href="/wiki/Bankruptcy" title="Bankruptcy">bankruptcy</a>, the directors can be forced to account for trading losses personally. Directors are also strictly charged to exercise their powers only for a proper purpose. For instance, were a director to issue a large number of new shares, not for the purposes of raising capital but in order to defeat a potential takeover bid, that would be an improper purpose.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Company_law_theory">Company law theory</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Company law theory"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Ronald_Coase" title="Ronald Coase">Ronald Coase</a> has pointed out, all business organizations represent an attempt to avoid certain costs associated with doing business. Each is meant to facilitate the contribution of specific resources - investment capital, knowledge, relationships, and so forth - towards a venture which will prove profitable to all contributors. Except for the partnership, all business forms are designed to provide <a href="/wiki/Limited_liability" title="Limited liability">limited liability</a> to both members of the organization and external investors. Business organizations originated with <a href="/wiki/Agency_(law)" class="mw-redirect" title="Agency (law)">agency law</a>, which permits an agent to act on behalf of a principal, in exchange for the principal assuming equal liability for the wrongful acts committed by the agent. For this reason, all partners in a typical general partnership may be held liable for the wrongs committed by one partner. Those forms that provide limited liability are able to do so because the state provides a mechanism by which businesses that follow certain guidelines will be able to escape the full liability imposed under agency law. The state provides these forms because it has an interest in the strength of the companies that provide jobs and services therein, but also has an interest in monitoring and regulating their behaviour. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Litigation">Litigation</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Litigation"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main articles: <a href="/wiki/Derivative_suit" title="Derivative suit">Derivative suit</a> and <a href="/wiki/Unfair_prejudice" class="mw-redirect" title="Unfair prejudice">Unfair prejudice</a></div> <p>Members of a company generally have rights against each other and against the company, as framed under the company's constitution. However, members cannot generally claim against third parties who cause damage to the company which results in a diminution in the value of their shares or others membership interests because this is treated as "<a href="/wiki/Reflective_loss" title="Reflective loss">reflective loss</a>" and the law normally regards the company as the proper claimant in such cases. </p><p>In relation to the exercise of their rights, minority shareholders usually have to accept that, because of the limits of their voting rights, they cannot direct the overall control of the company and must accept the will of the majority (often expressed as <i>majority rule</i>). However, majority rule can be iniquitous, particularly where there is one controlling shareholder. Accordingly, a number of exceptions have developed in law in relation to the general principle of majority rule. </p> <ul><li>Where the majority shareholder(s) are exercising their votes to perpetrate a fraud on the minority, the courts may permit the minority to sue<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>members always retain the right to sue if the majority acts to invade their personal rights, e.g. where the company's affairs are not conducted in accordance with the company's constitution (this position has been debated because the extent of a personal right is not set in law). <i>Macdougall v Gardiner</i> and <i>Pender v Lushington</i> present irreconcilable differences in this area.</li> <li>in many jurisdictions it is possible for minority shareholders to take a <i>representative</i> or <i><a href="/wiki/Derivative_action" class="mw-redirect" title="Derivative action">derivative action</a></i> in the name of the company, where the company is controlled by the alleged wrongdoers</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Corporate_finance">Corporate finance</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Corporate finance"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Corporate_finance" title="Corporate finance">Corporate finance</a></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Financial_law" title="Financial law">Financial law</a></div> <p>Through the operational life of the corporation, perhaps the most crucial aspect of corporate law relates to raising capital for the business to operate. The law, as it relates to corporate finance, not only provides the framework for which a business raises funds - but also provides a forum for principles and policies which drive the fundraising, to be taken seriously. Two primary methods of financing exists with regard to corporate financing, these are: </p> <ul><li>Equity financing; and</li> <li>Debt financing</li></ul> <p>Each has relative advantages and disadvantages, both at law and economically. Additional methods of raising capital necessary to finance its operations is that of retained profits<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Various combinations of <a href="/wiki/Financial_law" title="Financial law">financing structures</a> have the capacity to produce fine-tuned transactions which, using the advantages of each form of financing, support the limitations of the corporate form, its industry, or economic sector.<sup id="cite_ref-Gullifer_32-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gullifer-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> A mix of both debt and equity is crucial to the sustained health of the company, and its overall market value is independent of its capital structure. One notable difference is that interest payments to debt is tax deductible whilst payment of dividends are not, this will incentivise a company to issue debt financing rather than <a href="/wiki/Preferred_stock" title="Preferred stock">preferred stock</a> in order to reduce their tax exposure. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Shares_and_share_capital">Shares and share capital</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Shares and share capital"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Share_capital" title="Share capital">Share capital</a></div> <p>A company limited by shares, whether public or private, must have at least one issued share; however, depending on the <a href="/wiki/Corporate_structure" title="Corporate structure">corporate structure</a>, the formatting may differ. If a company wishes to raise capital through equity, it will usually be done by issuing shares (sometimes called "stock" (not to be confused with stock-in-trade)) or <a href="/wiki/Warrant_(finance)" title="Warrant (finance)">warrants</a>. In the common law, whilst a shareholder is often colloquially referred to as the owner of the company - it is clear that the shareholder is not an owner of the company but makes the shareholder a member of the company and entitles them to enforce the provisions of the company's constitution against the company and against other members.<sup id="cite_ref-Gullifer_32-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gullifer-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> A share is an item of property, and can be sold or transferred. Shares also normally have a nominal or par value, which is the limit of the shareholder's liability to contribute to the debts of the company on an insolvent liquidation. Shares usually confer a number of rights on the holder. These will normally include: </p> <ul><li>voting rights</li> <li>rights to <a href="/wiki/Dividend" title="Dividend">dividends</a> (or payments made by companies to their shareholders) declared by the company</li> <li>rights to any return of <a href="/wiki/Capital_(economics)" title="Capital (economics)">capital</a> either upon redemption of the share, or upon the liquidation of the company</li> <li>in some countries, shareholders have preemption rights, whereby they have a preferential right to participate in future share issues by the company</li></ul> <p>Companies may issue different types of shares, called "classes" of shares, offering different rights to the shareholders depending on the underlying regulatory rules pertaining to corporate structures, taxation, and capital market rules. A company might issue both ordinary shares and preference shares, with the two types having different voting and/or economic rights. It might provide that preference shareholders shall each receive a cumulative preferred dividend of a certain amount per annum, but the ordinary shareholders shall receive everything else. Corporations will structure capital raising in this way in order to appeal to different lenders in the market by providing different incentives for investment.<sup id="cite_ref-Gullifer_32-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gullifer-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The total value of issued shares in a company is said to represent its <i>equity capital</i>. Most jurisdictions regulate the minimum amount of capital which a company may have,<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (May 2018)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> although some jurisdictions prescribe minimum amounts of capital for companies engaging in certain types of business (e.g. <a href="/wiki/Bank" title="Bank">banking</a>, <a href="/wiki/Insurance" title="Insurance">insurance</a> etc.).<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (May 2018)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> Similarly, most jurisdictions regulate the maintenance of equity capital, and prevent companies returning funds to shareholders by way of distribution when this might leave the company financially exposed. Often this extends to prohibiting a company from providing <a href="/wiki/Financial_assistance_(share_purchase)" title="Financial assistance (share purchase)">financial assistance</a> for the purchase of its own shares.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Dissolution">Dissolution</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Dissolution"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Events such as mergers, acquisitions, insolvency, or the commission of a crime affect the <a href="/wiki/Corporate_form" class="mw-redirect" title="Corporate form">corporate form</a>. In addition to the creation of the corporation, and its financing, these events serve as a transition phase into either dissolution, or some other material shift. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Mergers_and_acquisitions">Mergers and acquisitions</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Mergers and acquisitions"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Mergers_and_acquisitions" title="Mergers and acquisitions">Mergers and acquisitions</a></div> <p>A merger or acquisition can often mean the altering or extinguishing of the corporation. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Corporate_insolvency">Corporate insolvency</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Corporate insolvency"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Insolvency_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Insolvency law">Insolvency law</a></div> <p>If unable to discharge its debts in a timely manner, a corporation may end up on bankruptcy liquidation. Liquidation is the normal means by which a company's existence is brought to an end. It is also referred to (either alternatively or concurrently) in some jurisdictions as <i>winding up</i> or <i>dissolution</i>. Liquidations generally come in two forms — either <i>compulsory liquidations</i> (sometimes called <i>creditors' liquidations</i>) and <i>voluntary liquidations</i> (sometimes called <i>members' liquidations</i>, although a voluntary liquidation where the company is insolvent will also be controlled by the creditors, and is properly referred to as a <i>creditors' voluntary liquidation</i>). Where a company goes into liquidation, normally a <a href="/wiki/Liquidator_(law)" title="Liquidator (law)">liquidator</a> is appointed to gather in all the company's assets and settle all claims against the company. If there is any surplus after paying off all the creditors of the company, this surplus is then distributed to the members. </p><p>As its names imply, applications for compulsory liquidation are normally made by <a href="/wiki/Creditor" title="Creditor">creditors</a> of the company when the company is unable to pay its debts. However, in some jurisdictions, regulators have the power to apply for the liquidation of the company on the grounds of public good, i.e., where the company is believed to have engaged in unlawful conduct, or conduct which is otherwise harmful to the public at large. </p><p>Voluntary liquidations occur when the company's members decide voluntarily to wind up the affairs of the company. This may be because they believe that the company will soon become <a href="/wiki/Insolvent" class="mw-redirect" title="Insolvent">insolvent</a>, or it may be on economic grounds if they believe that the purpose for which the company was formed is now at an end, or that the company is not providing an adequate return on assets and should be broken up and sold off. </p><p>Some jurisdictions also permit companies to be wound up on "just and equitable" grounds.<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Generally, applications for just and equitable winding-up are brought by a member of the company who alleges that the affairs of the company are being conducted in a prejudicial manner, and asking the court to bring an end to the company's existence. For obvious reasons, in most countries, the courts have been reluctant to wind up a company solely on the basis of the disappointment of one member, regardless of how well-founded that member's complaints are. Accordingly, most jurisdictions that permit just and equitable winding up also permit the court to impose other remedies, such as requiring the majority shareholder(s) to buy out the disappointed minority shareholder at a fair value. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Insider_dealing">Insider dealing</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: Insider dealing"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Insider_dealing" class="mw-redirect" title="Insider dealing">Insider dealing</a></div> <p><b>Insider trading</b> is the trading of a <a href="/wiki/Corporation" title="Corporation">corporation</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Stock" title="Stock">stock</a> or other <a href="/wiki/Security_(finance)" title="Security (finance)">securities</a> (e.g., <a href="/wiki/Bond_(finance)" title="Bond (finance)">bonds</a> or <a href="/wiki/Option_(finance)" title="Option (finance)">stock options</a>) by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company. In most countries, trading by corporate insiders such as officers, key employees, directors, and large shareholders may be legal if this trading is done in a way that does not take advantage of non-public information. However, the term is frequently used to refer to a practice in which an insider or a related party trades based on <a href="/wiki/Materiality_(law)" title="Materiality (law)">material</a> non-public information obtained during the performance of the insider's duties at the corporation, or otherwise in breach of a <a href="/wiki/Fiduciary" title="Fiduciary">fiduciary</a> or other relationship of trust and confidence or where the non-public information was misappropriated from the company.<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Illegal insider trading is believed to raise the cost of capital for securities issuers, thus decreasing overall economic growth.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the United States and several other jurisdictions, trading conducted by corporate officers, key employees, directors, or significant shareholders (in the United States, defined as beneficial owners of ten percent or more of the firm's equity securities) must be reported to the regulator or publicly disclosed, usually within a few business days of the trade. Many investors follow the summaries of these insider trades in the hope that mimicking these trades will be profitable. While "legal" insider trading cannot be based on <a href="/wiki/Material_non-public_information" class="mw-redirect" title="Material non-public information">material non-public information</a>, some investors believe corporate insiders nonetheless may have better insights into the health of a corporation (broadly speaking) and that their trades otherwise convey important information (e.g., about the pending retirement of an important officer selling shares, greater commitment to the corporation by officers purchasing shares, etc.) </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Trends_and_developments">Trends and developments</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Trends and developments"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Most case law on the matter of corporate governance dates to the 1980s and primarily addresses <a href="/wiki/Hostile_takeovers" class="mw-redirect" title="Hostile takeovers">hostile takeovers</a>, however, current research considers the direction of legal reforms to address issues of <a href="/wiki/Shareholder_activism" title="Shareholder activism">shareholder activism</a>, <a href="/wiki/Institutional_investors" class="mw-redirect" title="Institutional investors">institutional investors</a> and <a href="/w/index.php?title=Capital_market_intermediaries&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Capital market intermediaries (page does not exist)">capital market intermediaries</a>. Corporations and boards are challenged to respond to these developments. Shareholder demographics have been effected by trends in worker retirement, with more institutional intermediaries like <a href="/wiki/Mutual_funds" class="mw-redirect" title="Mutual funds">mutual funds</a> playing a role in employee retirement. These funds are more motivated to partner with employers to have their fund included in a company's retirement plans than to vote their shares – corporate governance activities only increase costs for the fund, while the benefits would be shared equally with competitor funds.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Shareholder activism prioritizes wealth maximization and has been criticized as a poor basis for determining corporate governance rules. Shareholders do not decide corporate policy, that is done by the board of directors, but shareholders may vote to elect board directors and on mergers and other changes that have been approved by directors. They may also vote to amend corporate <a href="/wiki/Bylaws" class="mw-redirect" title="Bylaws">bylaws</a>. Broadly speaking there have been three movements in 20th century American law that sought a federal corporate law: the <a href="/wiki/Progressive_Movement" class="mw-redirect" title="Progressive Movement">Progressive Movement</a>, some aspects of proposals made in the early stages of the <a href="/wiki/New_Deal" title="New Deal">New Deal</a> and again in the 1970s during a debate about the effect of corporate decision making on states. However, these movements did not establish federal incorporation. Although there has been some federal involvement in corporate governance rules as a result, the relative rights of shareholders and corporate officers is still mostly regulated by state laws. There is no federal legislation like there is for corporate political contributions or regulation of monopolies and federal laws have developed along different lines than state laws.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="By_region">By region</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: By region"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Europe">Europe</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Europe"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Societas_Europa" class="mw-redirect" title="Societas Europa">Societas Europa</a></div> <div class="excerpt-block"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066933788">.mw-parser-output .excerpt-hat .mw-editsection-like{font-style:normal}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable dablink excerpt-hat selfref">This section is an excerpt from <a href="/wiki/European_company_law" title="European company law">European company law</a>.<span class="mw-editsection-like plainlinks"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=European_company_law&action=edit">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div><div class="excerpt"> <a href="/wiki/European_company_law" title="European company law">European company law</a> is the part of <a href="/wiki/European_Union_law" class="mw-redirect" title="European Union law">European Union law</a> which concerns the formation, operation and insolvency of companies (or corporations) in the <a href="/wiki/European_Union" title="European Union">European Union</a>. The EU creates minimum standards for companies throughout the EU, and has its own corporate forms. All <a href="/wiki/Member_state_of_the_European_Union" title="Member state of the European Union">member states</a> continue to operate separate companies acts, which are amended from time to time to comply with EU Directives and Regulations. There is, however, also the option of businesses to incorporate as a <span title="Latin-language text"><i lang="la"><a href="/wiki/Societas_Europaea" title="Societas Europaea">Societas Europaea</a></i></span> (SE), which allows a company to operate across all member states.</div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Germany">Germany</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: Germany"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="excerpt-block"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1066933788"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable dablink excerpt-hat selfref">This section is an excerpt from <a href="/wiki/German_company_law" title="German company law">German company law</a>.<span class="mw-editsection-like plainlinks"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German_company_law&action=edit">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div><div class="excerpt"> <a href="/wiki/German_company_law" title="German company law">German company law</a> (<i>Gesellschaftsrecht</i>) is an influential legal regime for companies in Germany. The primary form of company is the public company or <span title="German-language text"><i lang="de"><a href="/wiki/Aktiengesellschaft" title="Aktiengesellschaft">Aktiengesellschaft</a></i></span> (AG). A private company with limited liability is known as a <span title="German-language text"><i lang="de"><a href="/wiki/Gesellschaft_mit_beschr%C3%A4nkter_Haftung" class="mw-redirect" title="Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung">Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung</a></i></span> (GmbH). A partnership is called a <i><a href="/wiki/Kommanditgesellschaft" title="Kommanditgesellschaft">Kommanditgesellschaft</a></i> (KG).</div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="United_Kingdom">United Kingdom</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: United Kingdom"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Companies_Act_2006" title="Companies Act 2006">Companies Act 2006</a></div> <div class="excerpt-block"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1066933788"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable dablink excerpt-hat selfref">This section is an excerpt from <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_company_law" title="United Kingdom company law">United Kingdom company law</a>.<span class="mw-editsection-like plainlinks"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_Kingdom_company_law&action=edit">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div><div class="excerpt"> <figure typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:London_Thames_Sunset_panorama_-_Feb_2008.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/London_Thames_Sunset_panorama_-_Feb_2008.jpg/400px-London_Thames_Sunset_panorama_-_Feb_2008.jpg" decoding="async" width="400" height="149" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/London_Thames_Sunset_panorama_-_Feb_2008.jpg/600px-London_Thames_Sunset_panorama_-_Feb_2008.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/London_Thames_Sunset_panorama_-_Feb_2008.jpg/800px-London_Thames_Sunset_panorama_-_Feb_2008.jpg 2x" data-file-width="13126" data-file-height="4876" /></a><figcaption>Beside the <a href="/wiki/River_Thames" title="River Thames">River Thames</a>, the <a href="/wiki/City_of_London" title="City of London">City of London</a> is a <a href="/wiki/World" title="World">global</a> financial centre. Within the <a href="/wiki/City_of_London" title="City of London">Square Mile</a>, the <a href="/wiki/London_Stock_Exchange" title="London Stock Exchange">London Stock Exchange</a> lies at the heart of the United Kingdom's <a href="/wiki/Corporation" title="Corporation">corporations</a>.</figcaption></figure> <p>The <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_company_law" title="United Kingdom company law">United Kingdom company law</a> regulates <a href="/wiki/Corporations" class="mw-redirect" title="Corporations">corporations</a> formed under the <a href="/wiki/Companies_Act_2006" title="Companies Act 2006">Companies Act 2006</a>. Also governed by the <a href="/wiki/Insolvency_Act_1986" title="Insolvency Act 1986">Insolvency Act 1986</a>, the <a href="/wiki/UK_Corporate_Governance_Code" title="UK Corporate Governance Code">UK Corporate Governance Code</a>, <a href="/wiki/European_Union" title="European Union">European Union</a> <a href="/wiki/Directive_(European_Union)" title="Directive (European Union)">Directives</a> and court cases, the company is the primary <a href="/wiki/Legal" class="mw-redirect" title="Legal">legal</a> vehicle to organise and run business. Tracing their modern history to the late <a href="/wiki/Industrial_Revolution" title="Industrial Revolution">Industrial Revolution</a>, public companies now employ more people and generate more of wealth in the United Kingdom economy than any other form of organisation. The United Kingdom was the first country to draft modern corporation statutes,<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>40<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> where through a simple registration procedure any investors could incorporate, limit liability to their commercial creditors in the event of business <a href="/wiki/Insolvency" title="Insolvency">insolvency</a>, and where management was delegated to a centralised <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">board of directors</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> An influential model within Europe, the <a href="/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations" title="Commonwealth of Nations">Commonwealth</a> and as an international standard setter, UK law has always given people broad freedom to design the internal company rules, so long as the mandatory minimum rights of investors under its legislation are complied with. </p><p>Company law, or corporate law, can be broken down into two main fields, <a href="/wiki/Corporate_governance" title="Corporate governance">corporate governance</a> and <a href="/wiki/Corporate_finance" title="Corporate finance">corporate finance</a>. Corporate governance in the UK mediates the rights and duties among shareholders, employees, creditors and directors. Since the <a href="/wiki/Board_of_directors" title="Board of directors">board of directors</a> habitually possesses the power to manage the business under a company constitution, a central theme is what mechanisms exist to ensure directors' accountability. UK law is "shareholder friendly" in that <a href="/wiki/Shareholders" class="mw-redirect" title="Shareholders">shareholders</a>, to the exclusion of <a href="/wiki/Employees" class="mw-redirect" title="Employees">employees</a>, typically exercise sole voting rights in the general meeting. The <a href="/wiki/General_meeting" class="mw-redirect" title="General meeting">general meeting</a> holds a series of minimum rights to change the company constitution, issue resolutions and remove members of the board. In turn, directors owe a set of <a href="/wiki/Directors%27_duties" title="Directors' duties">duties</a> to their companies. Directors must carry out their responsibilities with competence, in <a href="/wiki/Good_faith" title="Good faith">good faith</a> and undivided loyalty to the enterprise. If the mechanisms of voting do not prove enough, particularly for minority shareholders, directors' duties and other member rights may be vindicated in court. Of central importance in public and listed companies is the securities market, typified by the <a href="/wiki/London_Stock_Exchange" title="London Stock Exchange">London Stock Exchange</a>. Through the <a href="/wiki/Takeover_Code" class="mw-redirect" title="Takeover Code">Takeover Code</a> the UK strongly protects the right of shareholders to be treated equally and freely trade their shares. </p> Corporate finance concerns the two money raising options for limited companies. <a href="/wiki/Equity_(finance)" title="Equity (finance)">Equity finance</a> involves the traditional method of issuing <a href="/wiki/Share_(finance)" title="Share (finance)">shares</a> to build up a company's <a href="/wiki/Capital_(economics)" title="Capital (economics)">capital</a>. Shares can contain any rights the company and purchaser wish to contract for, but generally grant the right to participate in <a href="/wiki/Dividend" title="Dividend">dividends</a> after a company earns profits and the right to <a href="/wiki/Vote" class="mw-redirect" title="Vote">vote</a> in company affairs. A purchaser of shares is helped to make an informed decision directly by <a href="/wiki/Prospectus_(finance)" title="Prospectus (finance)">prospectus</a> requirements of full <a href="/wiki/Corporation#Financial_disclosure" title="Corporation">disclosure</a>, and indirectly through restrictions on <a href="/wiki/Financial_assistance_(share_purchase)" title="Financial assistance (share purchase)">financial assistance</a> by companies for purchase of their own shares. <a href="/wiki/Debt_finance" class="mw-redirect" title="Debt finance">Debt finance</a> means getting loans, usually for the price of a fixed annual <a href="/wiki/Interest" title="Interest">interest</a> repayment. Sophisticated lenders, such as <a href="/wiki/Bank" title="Bank">banks</a> typically contract for a <a href="/wiki/Security_interest" title="Security interest">security interest</a> over the assets of a company, so that in the event of default on loan repayments they may seize the company's property directly to satisfy debts. Creditors are also, to some extent, protected by courts' power to set aside unfair transactions before a company goes under, or recoup money from negligent directors engaged in <a href="/wiki/Wrongful_trading" title="Wrongful trading">wrongful trading</a>. If a company is unable to pay its debts as they fall due, <a href="/wiki/UK_insolvency_law" class="mw-redirect" title="UK insolvency law">UK insolvency law</a> requires an <a href="/wiki/Administration_(law)" title="Administration (law)">administrator</a> to attempt a rescue of the company (if the company itself has the assets to pay for this). If rescue proves impossible, a company's life ends when its assets are liquidated, distributed to creditors and the company is struck off the register. If a company becomes insolvent with no assets it can be wound up by a creditor, for a fee (not that common), or more commonly by the tax creditor (HMRC).</div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="United_States">United States</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: United States"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/US_corporate_law" class="mw-redirect" title="US corporate law">US corporate law</a></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Model_Business_Corporation_Act" title="Model Business Corporation Act">Model Business Corporation Act</a></div> <p>In the <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a>, most corporations are <a href="/wiki/Incorporation_(business)" title="Incorporation (business)">incorporated</a>, or organized, under the laws of a particular <a href="/wiki/U.S._state" title="U.S. state">state</a>. The laws of the state of incorporation normally governs a corporation's internal operations, even if the corporation's operations take place outside that state. Corporate law differs from state to state. Because of these differences, some businesses will benefit from having a corporate <a href="/wiki/Lawyer" title="Lawyer">lawyer</a> determine the most appropriate or advantageous state in which to incorporate. </p><p>Business entities may also be regulated by <a href="/wiki/Federal_law" title="Federal law">federal laws</a><sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>42<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and in some cases by <a href="/wiki/Local_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Local law">local laws</a> and ordinances.<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Delaware">Delaware</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=25" title="Edit section: Delaware"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Delaware_General_Corporation_Law" title="Delaware General Corporation Law">Delaware General Corporation Law</a></div> <p>A majority of publicly traded companies in the U.S. are <a href="/wiki/Delaware_corporation" class="mw-redirect" title="Delaware corporation">Delaware corporations</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>44<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Some companies choose to incorporate in Delaware because the <a href="/wiki/Delaware_General_Corporation_Law" title="Delaware General Corporation Law">Delaware General Corporation Law</a> offers lower corporate taxes than many other states.<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Many <a href="/wiki/Venture_capitalists" class="mw-redirect" title="Venture capitalists">venture capitalists</a> prefer to invest in Delaware corporations.<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>46<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Also, the <a href="/wiki/Delaware_Court_of_Chancery" title="Delaware Court of Chancery">Delaware Court of Chancery</a> is widely recognized as a good venue for the litigation of business disputes.<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>47<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=26" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1184024115">.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}</style><div class="div-col" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Business_ethics" title="Business ethics">Business ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Competition_law" title="Competition law">Competition law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Compliance_(regulation)" class="mw-redirect" title="Compliance (regulation)">Compliance (regulation)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Consumer_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Consumer law">Consumer law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corporate_crime" title="Corporate crime">Corporate crime</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corporation_sole" title="Corporation sole">Corporation sole</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Delaware_Journal_of_Corporate_Law" class="mw-redirect" title="Delaware Journal of Corporate Law">Delaware Journal of Corporate Law</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Enterprise_Act_2002" title="Enterprise Act 2002">Enterprise Act 2002</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/European_Company_Statute" class="mw-redirect" title="European Company Statute">European Company Statute</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Financial_law" title="Financial law">Financial law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Insolvency_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Insolvency law">Insolvency law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Labour_law" title="Labour law">Labour law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_companies_named_after_people" title="List of companies named after people">List of companies named after people</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_company_registers" class="mw-redirect" title="List of company registers">List of company registers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Public_service_law_(disambiguation)" class="mw-redirect mw-disambig" title="Public service law (disambiguation)">Public service law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quasi_corporation" class="mw-redirect" title="Quasi corporation">Quasi corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Race_to_the_bottom" title="Race to the bottom">Race to the bottom</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Securities_regulation_in_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Securities regulation in the United States">Securities regulation in the United States</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State-owned_enterprise" title="State-owned enterprise">State-owned enterprise</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Types_of_companies" class="mw-redirect" title="Types of companies">Types of companies</a></li></ul></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=27" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-armour-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-armour_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-armour_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-armour_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">John Armour, Henry Hansmann, Reinier Kraakman, Mariana Pargendler "What is Corporate Law?" in <i>The Anatomy of Corporate Law: A Comparative and Functional Approach</i>(Eds Reinier Kraakman, John Armour, Paul Davies, Luca Enriques, Henry Hansmann, Gerard Hertig, Klaus Hopt, Hideki Kanda, Mariana Pargendler, Wolf-Georg Ringe, and Edward Rock, Oxford University Press 2017)1.1</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:0-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:0_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/RC_Clark" class="mw-redirect" title="RC Clark">RC Clark</a>, <i>Corporate Law</i> (Aspen 1986) 2; H Hansmann et al., <i>Anatomy of Corporate Law</i> (2004) ch 1 set out similar criteria, and in addition state modern companies involve shareholder ownership. However this latter feature is not the case in many European jurisdictions, where employees participate in their companies.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Black%27s_Law_Dictionary" title="Black's Law Dictionary">Black's Law Dictionary</a>, 8th edition (2004), <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-314-15199-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-314-15199-0">0-314-15199-0</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">e.g. <a href="/wiki/South_African_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="South African Constitution">South African Constitution</a> Art.8, especially Art.(4)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Phillip I. Blumberg, The Multinational Challenge to Corporation Law: The Search for a New Corporate Personality, (1993) has a very good discussion of the controversial nature of additional rights being granted to corporations.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">e.g. <a href="/wiki/Corporate_Manslaughter_and_Corporate_Homicide_Act_2007" title="Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007">Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">In England the first joint stock company was the <a href="/wiki/British_East_India_Company" class="mw-redirect" title="British East India Company">East India Company</a>, which received its charter in 1600. The <a href="/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company" title="Dutch East India Company">Dutch East India Company</a> received its charter in 1602, but is generally recognized as the first company in the world to issue joint stock. Not coincidentally, the two companies were competitors.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">In England, see <i>Edmunds v Brown Tillard</i> (1668) 1 Lev 237 and <i>Salmon v The Hamborough Co</i> (1671) 1 Ch Cas 204</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/wiki/Salomon_v._Salomon_%26_Co." class="mw-redirect" title="Salomon v. Salomon & Co.">Salomon v. Salomon & Co.</a></i> [1897] AC 22.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Although it did attach to documents within the husband's custody or control.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/wiki/Macaura_v._Northern_Assurance_Co_Ltd" class="mw-redirect" title="Macaura v. Northern Assurance Co Ltd">Macaura v. Northern Assurance Co Ltd</a></i> [1925] AC 619</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/wiki/Adams_v._Cape_Industries_plc" class="mw-redirect" title="Adams v. Cape Industries plc">Adams v. Cape Industries plc</a></i> [1990] Ch 433</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Goode <i>Principles of Corporate Insolvency Law</i> (3rd Edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2013)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Williams v Natural Life</i> [1998] 1 WLR 830</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See the frustration expressed by the House of Lords in <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cotman_v._Brougham&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Cotman v. Brougham (page does not exist)">Cotman v. Brougham</a></i> [1918] AC 514</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLin2018" class="citation journal cs1">Lin, Tom C. W. (2018). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3294317">"Incorporating Social Activism"</a>. <i>98 Boston University Law Review</i>. Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2019-01. <b>1535</b>. Rochester, NY.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=98+Boston+University+Law+Review&rft.atitle=Incorporating+Social+Activism&rft.volume=1535&rft.date=2018&rft.aulast=Lin&rft.aufirst=Tom+C.+W.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fpapers.ssrn.com%2Fabstract%3D3294317&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACorporate+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ashbury_v._Watson&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ashbury v. Watson (page does not exist)">Ashbury v. Watson</a></i> (1885) 30 Ch D 376</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Shalfoon v Cheddar Valley</i> [1924] NZLR 561</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc04/index.shtml#TopOfPage">"TITLE 8 - CHAPTER 1. GENERAL CORPORATION LAW - Subchapter IV. Directors and Officers"</a>. <i>delcode.delaware.gov</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=delcode.delaware.gov&rft.atitle=TITLE+8+-+CHAPTER+1.+GENERAL+CORPORATION+LAW+-+Subchapter+IV.+Directors+and+Officers&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fdelcode.delaware.gov%2Ftitle8%2Fc001%2Fsc04%2Findex.shtml%23TopOfPage&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACorporate+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See also, <a href="/w/index.php?title=Listing_Rule&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Listing Rule (page does not exist)">Listing Rule</a> 10 for public companies, setting out a scale of transactions requiring shareholder approval and disclosure.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Shareholders must approve sale of "all or substantially all assets", held in <i>Gimbel</i> (1974) to be those "qualitatively vital to the existence and purpose" of the corporation; which in <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Katz_v._Bregman&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Katz v. Bregman (page does not exist)">Katz v. Bregman</a></i> (1981) was held to include assets under 50% of the company's value</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The <i><a href="/wiki/Bundesgerichtshof" class="mw-redirect" title="Bundesgerichtshof">Bundesgerichtshof</a></i> held that shareholders must approve a sale of assets amounting to 80% of the company's value</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">c.f. <i><a href="/wiki/Bushell_v._Faith" class="mw-redirect" title="Bushell v. Faith">Bushell v. Faith</a></i>, and query whether the decision would still be decided the same way.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See also, SEC 13d-5, dating from times when groups of investors were considered potential <a href="/wiki/Cartel" title="Cartel">cartels</a>, saying any 5% shareholder voting block must register with the Federal financial authority, the <a href="/wiki/United_States_Securities_and_Exchange_Commission" class="mw-redirect" title="United States Securities and Exchange Commission">Securities and Exchange Commission</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Though the Constitution may allow particular provisions to be further "entrenched", s.22; Furthermore, Art.3 of the Model Articles allows 75% of members in general meeting to give the directors specific instructions.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHans-Joachim_MertensErich_Schanze1979" class="citation journal cs1">Hans-Joachim Mertens; Erich Schanze (1979). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210307060647/https://www.law.upenn.edu/journals/jil/articles/volume2/issue2/MertensSchanze2J.Comp.Corp.L.%26Sec.Reg.75%281979%29.pdf">"The German Codetermination Act OF 1976"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Journal of Comparative Corporate Law and Securities Regulation</i>. <b>2</b>. North-Holland Publishing Company: 75–88. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.law.upenn.edu/journals/jil/articles/volume2/issue2/MertensSchanze2J.Comp.Corp.L.%26Sec.Reg.75%281979%29.pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on 2021-03-07<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2012-08-12</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+Comparative+Corporate+Law+and+Securities+Regulation&rft.atitle=The+German+Codetermination+Act+OF+1976&rft.volume=2&rft.pages=75-88&rft.date=1979&rft.au=Hans-Joachim+Mertens&rft.au=Erich+Schanze&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.law.upenn.edu%2Fjournals%2Fjil%2Farticles%2Fvolume2%2Fissue2%2FMertensSchanze2J.Comp.Corp.L.%2526Sec.Reg.75%25281979%2529.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACorporate+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Goode <i>Corporate Insolvency Law</i> (3rd Edn Sweet & Maxwell, 2013) 214</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/wiki/Multinational_Gas_and_Petrochemical_Co_v_Multinational_Gas_and_Petrochemical_Services_Ltd" title="Multinational Gas and Petrochemical Co v Multinational Gas and Petrochemical Services Ltd">Multinational Gas and Petrochemical Co v Multinational Gas and Petrochemical Services Ltd</a></i> [1983] Ch 258</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Harlowe%27s_Nominees_Pty_v._Woodside&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Harlowe's Nominees Pty v. Woodside (page does not exist)">Harlowe's Nominees Pty v. Woodside</a></i> (1968) 121 CLR 483 (Aust HC)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/wiki/Foss_v_Harbottle" title="Foss v Harbottle">Foss v Harbottle</a></i> (1843) 2 Hare 461</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Gullifer and Payne <i>Corporate Finance Law: Principles and Policy</i> (2nd Edn Hart Publishing, 2015) 5-41</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Gullifer-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Gullifer_32-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gullifer_32-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gullifer_32-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Gullifer and Payne <i>Corporate Finance Law: Principles and Policy</i> (2nd Edn Hart Publishing, 2015) 38</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Salomon v Salomon</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Janet Dine, Marios Koutsias <i>Company Law</i>(Macmillan International Higher Education 2014), 77</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">In England, see <i>Ebrahimi v Westbourne Galleries</i> [1973] AC 360</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary/insider-trading">"Insider Trading | Investor.gov"</a>. <i>www.investor.gov</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2023-03-26</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.investor.gov&rft.atitle=Insider+Trading+%26%23124%3B+Investor.gov&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.investor.gov%2Fintroduction-investing%2Finvesting-basics%2Fglossary%2Finsider-trading&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACorporate+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~charvey/Teaching/BA453_2005/BD_The_world.pdf">"The World Price of Insider Trading"</a> by <a href="/wiki/Utpal_Bhattacharya" title="Utpal Bhattacharya">Utpal Bhattacharya</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hazem_Daouk" title="Hazem Daouk">Hazem Daouk</a> in the Journal of Finance, Vol. LVII, No. 1 (Feb. 2002)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"Why New Corporate Law Arises" by Robert B. Thompson in <i>The Corporate Contract</i>, University of Chicago Press, p. 18</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"Why New Corporate Law Arises" by Robert B. Thompson in <i>The Corporate Contract</i>, University of Chicago Press, p. 16</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See <a href="/wiki/Joint_Stock_Companies_Act_1856" title="Joint Stock Companies Act 1856">Joint Stock Companies Act 1856</a>. The French <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Code_de_Commerce&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Code de Commerce (page does not exist)">Code de Commerce</a></i> of 1807, as part of the <a href="/wiki/Napoleonic_Code" title="Napoleonic Code">Napoleonic Code</a> allowed for public company formation with limited liability after an express governmental concession, and the New York <a href="/w/index.php?title=Act_Relative_to_Incorporations_for_Manufacturing_Purposes&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Act Relative to Incorporations for Manufacturing Purposes (page does not exist)">Act Relative to Incorporations for Manufacturing Purposes</a> of 1811 allowed for free incorporation with limited liability, but only for manufacturing businesses. So, while necessarily drawing on ideas formulated in France and the US, the UK had the first modern company law.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-41">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/RC_Clark" class="mw-redirect" title="RC Clark">RC Clark</a>, <i>Corporate Law</i> (Aspen 1986) 2, defines the modern <i>public</i> company by these three features (separate legal personality, limited liability, delegated management) and in addition, freely transferable shares.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-42">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/corporations">"Corporations"</a>. <i>Wex</i>. Cornell Law School<span class="reference-accessdate">. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 April</span> 2018</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Case+Western+Reserve+Law+Review&rft.atitle=Municipal+Regulation+of+Formula+Businesses&rft.volume=58&rft.issue=4&rft.pages=1251&rft.date=2008&rft.aulast=Salkin&rft.aufirst=Patricia+E.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fscholarlycommons.law.case.edu%2Fcaselrev%2Fvol58%2Fiss4%2F17&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACorporate+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-44">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://corp.delaware.gov/aboutagency.shtml">"About the Division of Corporations"</a>. <i>Delaware Division of Corporations</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 April</span> 2018</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Delaware+Division+of+Corporations&rft.atitle=About+the+Division+of+Corporations&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fcorp.delaware.gov%2Faboutagency.shtml&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACorporate+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-45">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFTarver2015" class="citation news cs1">Tarver, Evan (2015-09-25). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/092515/4-reasons-why-delaware-considered-tax-shelter.asp">"4 Reasons Why Delaware Is Considered a Tax Shelter"</a>. <i>Investopedia</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2017-08-19</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Investopedia&rft.atitle=4+Reasons+Why+Delaware+Is+Considered+a+Tax+Shelter&rft.date=2015-09-25&rft.aulast=Tarver&rft.aufirst=Evan&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.investopedia.com%2Farticles%2Fpersonal-finance%2F092515%2F4-reasons-why-delaware-considered-tax-shelter.asp&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACorporate+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-46">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFFeldman2017" class="citation web cs1">Feldman, Sandra (17 May 2017). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ct.wolterskluwer.com/resource-center/articles/choice-entity-startups-seeking-venture-capital">"Choice of Entity for Startups Seeking Venture Capital"</a>. <i>Wolters Kluwer</i>. CT Corporation System.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Wolters+Kluwer&rft.atitle=Choice+of+Entity+for+Startups+Seeking+Venture+Capital&rft.date=2017-05-17&rft.aulast=Feldman&rft.aufirst=Sandra&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fct.wolterskluwer.com%2Fresource-center%2Farticles%2Fchoice-entity-startups-seeking-venture-capital&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACorporate+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-47">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFQuillenHanrahan1992" class="citation web cs1">Quillen, William T.; Hanrahan, Michael (1992). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://courts.delaware.gov/chancery/history.aspx">"A Short History of the Court of Chancery"</a>. <i>Delaware Court of Chancery</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 April</span> 2018</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Delaware+Court+of+Chancery&rft.atitle=A+Short+History+of+the+Court+of+Chancery&rft.date=1992&rft.aulast=Quillen&rft.aufirst=William+T.&rft.au=Hanrahan%2C+Michael&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fcourts.delaware.gov%2Fchancery%2Fhistory.aspx&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACorporate+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Corporate_law&action=edit&section=28" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{flex:1;min-width:0}}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .side-box{width:238px}.mw-parser-output .side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}</style><div class="side-box metadata side-box-right"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style> <div class="side-box-abovebelow"> <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:The_Wikipedia_Library" title="Wikipedia:The Wikipedia Library">Library resources</a> about <br /> <b>Corporate law</b> <hr /></div> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-text plainlist"><ul><li><a class="external text" href="https://ftl.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/ftl?st=wp&su=Corporate+law">Resources in your library</a></li> <li><a class="external text" href="https://ftl.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/ftl?st=wp&su=Corporate+law&library=0CHOOSE0">Resources in other libraries</a></li> </ul></div></div> </div> <ul><li><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Commons-logo.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/12px-Commons-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/18px-Commons-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/24px-Commons-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="1376" /></a></span> Media related to <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Corporate_law" class="extiw" title="commons:Category:Corporate law">Corporate law</a> at Wikimedia Commons</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=1103644">A Comparative Bibliography: Regulatory Competition on Corporate Law</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170930014512/http://www.heyman-center.org/">The Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Center on Corporate Governance Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.djcl.org">The Delaware Journal of Corporate Law</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.iflr.com">International Financial Law Review</a></li> <li class="mw-empty-elt"></li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 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