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A corporation is a legal entity which, while being composed of natural persons, exists completely separately from them. This separation gives the corporation unique powers which other legal entities lack. The extent and scope of its status and capacity is determined by the law of the place of incorporation. Image File history File links Scale_of_justice. ...
Commercial law or business law is the body of law which governs business and commerce and is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. ...
Business organizations or Business Associations is an area of law that covers the broad array of rules governing the formation and operation of different kinds of entities by which individuals can organize to do business. ...
This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...
A Sole proprietorship is a business which legally has no separate existence from its owner. ...
In the common law, a partnership is a type of business entity in which partners share with each other the profits or losses of the business undertaking in which they have all invested. ...
This article needs to be wikified. ...
An income trust is an ownership vehicle for certain assets or businesses. ...
Statutory law is written law (as opposed to oral or customary law) set down by a legislature or other governing authority such as the executive branch of government in response to a perceived need to clarify the functioning of government, improve civil order, answer a public need, to codify existing...
A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners (GPs), there are one or more limited partners (LPs). ...
A Proprietary limited company or abbreviated as under Australian law is a business structure that has at least one shareholder with a limited number of shares. ...
The initials plc after a UK or Irish company name indicate that it is a public limited company, a type of limited company whose shares may be offered for sale to the pubic. ...
Limited liability partnerships (LLP) are a form of business organization combining elements of partnerships and corporations. ...
A limited liability company (denoted by L.L.C. or LLC in the US) is a legal form of business company offering limited liability to its owners. ...
Civil law is a codified system of law that sets out a comprehensive system of rules that are applied and interpreted by judges. ...
Aktiebolag is the Swedish term for a corporation, i. ...
The German term Aktiengesellschaft (IPA /aktsiəngəzεlʃaft/) (abbreviated AG) means a corporation which is limited by shares, , owned by shareholders. ...
An ansvarlig selskap is a Norwegian personal responsibility company model, mainly used in small-to-medium businesses, which translates directly into Responsible Company. This reflects that the participants - or owners - are personally responsible for any outstanding debts the company would aquire. ...
An aksjeselskap is the Norwegian term for a stock-based corporation. ...
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH or GesmbH) is a type of legal entity created in Germany in 1892. ...
Business corporation ) is a type of corporation ) defined under Japanese law. ...
The term Naamloze Vennootschap (usually abbreviated NV) is the Dutch terminology for a public limited liability company. ...
Osakeyhtiö, directly translated as share corporation, is the Finnish equivalent of Limited company (Ltd or LLC) or Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH). ...
S.A. is the abbreviation of Société Anonyme in French, Spółka Akcyjna in Polish, Sociedad Anónima in Spanish, Sociedade Anónima in Portuguese, or Naamloze Venootschap (N.V.) in Dutch, generally designating corporations in various countries. ...
The European Union is unique among international organisations in having a complex and highly developed system of internal law which has direct effect within the legal systems of its member states. ...
The Council Regulation on the Statute for a European Company of the European Union (adopted October 8, 2001; OJ L 294, 10 November 2001, pp. ...
Corporate governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way a corporation is directed, administered or controlled. ...
Limited liability (LL) is liability that is limited to a partner or investors investment. ...
Ultra vires is a Latin phrase that literally means beyond the power. ...
The business judgment rule is a case law-derived concept in Corporations law whereby a court will refuse to review the actions of a corporations board of directors in managing the corporation unless there is some allegation of conduct that (1) violates (a) the directors duty of care, (b...
De facto corporation and corporation by estoppel are both terms that are used by courts to describe circumstances in which is a business organization that has failed to become a de jure corporation (a corporation by law) will nonetheless be treated as a corporation, thereby shielding shareholders from liability. ...
The corporate law concept piercing (Lifting) the corporate veil describes a legal decision where an officer, director, or shareholder of a corporation is held liable for the debts of the corporation despite the general principle that those persons are immune from suits in contract or tort that otherwise would only...
A contract is a promise or an agreement that is enforced or recognized by the law. ...
Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the process that courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a civil action). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced, what kind of service of process is required, the types of pleadings or...
In jurisprudence, a natural person is a human being perceptible through the senses and subject to physical laws, as opposed to an artificial person, i. ...
A legal entity is a legal construct through which the law allows a group of natural persons to act as if it were an individual for certain purposes. ...
The capacity of both natural and artificial persons determines whether they may make binding amendments to their rights, duties and obligations, such as getting married or merging, entering into contracts, making gifts, or writing a valid will. ...
See also Portal:Law The stela of King Hammurabi depicts the god Shamash revealing a code of laws to the king. ...
Incorporation is: In business, incorporation is the creation of a corporation. ...
Investors and entrepreneurs often form joint stock companies and incorporate them to facilitate a business; as this form of business is now extremely prevalent, the term corporation is often used to refer specifically to such business corporations. Corporations may also be formed for political, religious or charitable purposes (not-for-profit corporations), or as government or quasi-governmental entities (public corporations). Investment is a term with several closely related meanings in finance and economics. ...
Entrepreneurs created by Thomas Clarke in 2001. ...
A joint stock company is a special kind of partnership. ...
Wall Street, Manhattan is the location of the New York Stock Exchange and is often used as a symbol for the world of business. ...
A Not-for-profit corporation is a corporation created by statute, government or judicial authority that does not issue stock. ...
Literally a public company is a company owned by the public. ...
Legal status
The law typically views a corporation as a fictional person, a legal person, or a moral person (as opposed to a natural person); United States law recognises this as corporate personhood. Under such a doctrine (obviously a legal fiction), a corporation enjoys many of the rights and obligations of individual persons, such as the ability to own property, sign binding contracts, pay taxes, have certain constitutional rights, and otherwise participate in society. (Note that corporations do not possess all the rights appertaining to individuals: in most jurisdictions, for example, a corporation cannot become a citizen and vote.) Corporate personhood is a term used to describe the legal fiction used within United States law that a corporation has a limited number or subset of the same constitutional rights as a human being. ...
In the common law, legal fictions are suppositions of fact taken to be true by the courts of law, but which are not necessarily true. ...
For the direction right, see left and right or starboard. ...
An obligation can be legal or moral. ...
// Use of the term In common usage, property means ones own thing and refers to the relationship between individuals and the objects which they see as being their own to dispense with as they see fit. ...
A contract is a promise or an agreement that is enforced or recognized by the law. ...
A tax (also known as a duty) is a financial charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state (e. ...
A constitutional right is a right granted by a governments constitution (on the national or sub-national level), and cannot be legally denied by that government. ...
Human relationships within an ethnically diverse society. ...
The term jurisdiction has more than one sense. ...
The word citizen may refer to: A person with a citizenship Citizen Watch Co. ...
Voting is a method of decision making wherein a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates. ...
In common law countries, the classic statement of this principle is found in Lennard's Carrying Co Ltd v Asiatic Petroleum Co Ltd [1915] AC 705, where Lord Haldane said: This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...
Lennards Carrying Co Ltd v Asiatic Petroleum Co Ltd 1915 AC 705 is a famous decision by the House of Lords on the ability to impose liability upon the a corporation. ...
- "My Lords, a corporation is an abstraction. It has no mind of its own any more than it has a body of its own; its active and directing will must consequently be sought in the person of somebody who is really the directing mind and will of the corporation, the very ego and centre of the personality of the corporation."
The most salient features of incorporation include: eGO is a company that builds electric motor scooters which are becoming popular for urban transportation and vacation use. ...
Incorporation (abbreviated Inc. ...
- Limited Liability
- Unlike in a partnership or sole proprietorship, members of a corporation hold no liability for the corporation's debts and obligations: see leading case in common law, Salomon v. Salomon & Co. [1897] AC 22. As a result their "limited" potential losses cannot exceed the amount which they contributed to the corporation as dues or paid for shares. The economic rationale for this lies in the fact that it allows anonymous trading in the shares of the corporation by virtue of eliminating the corporation's creditors as a stakeholder in such a transaction. Without limited liability, a creditor would not likely allow any share to be sold to a buyer of at least equivalent creditworthiness as the seller. Limited liability further allows corporations to raise funds for riskier enterprises by removing risks and costs from the owners and shifting them onto creditors and to other members of society, thereby creating an externality. Another rationale sometimes offered for limited liability is reducing the amount that an investor can lose reduces the time and effort required to determine whether a stock is risky, thus adding liquidity to the stock market - in contrast to the very illiquid market for partnership interests (however, given the due diligence already exercised by institutional and other large investors, and the availability of insurance, it is questionable whether added liability would increase the costs of determining risk sufficiently to impair the liquidity of the stock market). In any event, a lender or other creditor can require a personal guarantee on a loan to a corporation (normally a small corporation), thus introducing personal liability.
- Perpetual Lifetime
- The assets and structure of the corporation exist beyond the lifetime of any of its members or agents. This allows for stability and accumulation of capital, which thus becomes available for investment in projects of a larger size and over a longer term than if the corporate assets remained subject to dissolution and distribution. This feature also had great importance in the medieval period, when land donated to the Church (a corporation) would not generate the feudal fees that a lord could claim upon a landholder's death. In this regard, see Statute of Mortmain. It is important to note that the "perpetual lifetime" feature is an indication of the unbounded potential duration of the corporation's existence, and its accumulation of wealth and thus power. (In theory, a corporation can have its charter revoked at any time, putting an end to its existence as a legal entity. However, in practice, dissolution only occurs for corporations that request it or fail to meet annual filing requirements.)
In the common law, a partnership is a type of business entity in which partners share with each other the profits or losses of the business undertaking in which they have all invested. ...
A Sole proprietorship is a business which legally has no separate existence from its owner. ...
In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hindrance, or puts one at a disadvantage. ...
Debt is that which is owed. ...
An obligation can be legal or moral. ...
Solomon v. ...
See stock (disambiguation) for other meanings of the term stock A stock, also referred to as a share, is commonly a share of ownership in a corporation. ...
Risk is the potential impact (positive or negative) to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or from some future event. ...
A creditor is a party (e. ...
In economics, an externality is the effect of a transaction between two parties on a third party who is not involved in the carrying out of that transaction. ...
Market liquidity is a business or economics term that refers to the ability to quickly buy or sell a particular item without causing a significant movement in the price. ...
Due diligence (also known as due care) is the effort made by an ordinarily prudent or reasonable party to avoid harm to another party or himself. ...
In business and accounting an asset is anything owned, whether in possession or by right to take possession, by a person or a group acting together, e. ...
Capital has a number of related meanings in economics, finance and accounting. ...
Invest redirects here. ...
Dissolution can have the following meanings: In music dissolution is the separation of an inter-parametric unit into its component parts, where usually each part is developed independently. ...
Look up distribution in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ...
In economics, land comprises all naturally occurring resources, such as geographical locations, mineral deposits, and even portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. ...
The Statute of Mortmain was an enactment by King Edward I of England aimed at preserving the kingdoms revenues by preventing land from passing into the possession of the Church. ...
Ownership and control Humans and other legal entities composed of humans (such as trusts and other corporations) can be members of corporations. In the case of for-profit corporations, these members hold shares and are thus called shareholders. When no members or shareholders exist, a corporation may exist as a "memberless corporation" or similar — this second type of corporation counts as a not-for-profit corporation. In either category, the corporation comprises a collective of individuals with a distinct legal status and with special privileges not provided to ordinary unincorporated businesses, to voluntary associations, or to groups of individuals. A trust company has been referred to as a near-bank; while technically it differs from a bank in mandate and services offered, it also provides banking services such as chequing accounts, savings and loans, investments and credit cards. ...
In finance a share is a unit of account for various financial instruments including stocks, mutual funds, limited partnerships, and REITs. ...
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or company (including a corporation) that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a joint stock company. ...
A Not-for-profit corporation is a corporation created by statute, government or judicial authority that does not issue stock. ...
Collectivism is a term used to describe any doctrine that stresses the importance of a collective, rather than the importance of the individual. ...
A voluntary association (also sometimes called just an association) is a group of individuals who voluntarily enter into an agreement to form a body (or organization) to accomplish a purpose. ...
Typically, a board of directors governs a corporation on the behalf of the members. The corporate members elect the directors, and the board has a fiduciary duty to look after the interests of the corporation. The corporate officers such as the CEO, president, treasurer, and other titled officers are usually chosen by the board to manage the affairs of the corporation. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
A fiduciary is a person who occupies a position of trust in relation to someone else such that he is required to act for the latters benefit within the scope of that relationship. ...
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the job of having the ultimate executive responsibility or authority within an organization or corporation. ...
This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers, and should be edited to rectify this. ...
In many governments, a treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury. ...
Management (from Old French ménagement the art of conducting, directing, from Latin manu agere to lead by the hand) characterises the process of leading and directing all or part of an organisation, often a business, through the deployment and manipulation of resources (human, financial, material, intellectual or intangible). ...
Corporations can also be controlled (in part) by creditors such as banks. In return for lending money to the corporation, creditors can demand a control interest analogous to that of a shareholder, including one or more seats on the board of directors. Creditors are not said to "own" the corporation as shareholders do, but can outweigh the shareholders in practice, especially if the corporation is experiencing financial difficulties and cannot survive without credit. The First Provincial Bank of Taiwan in Taipei, Republic of China was formerly the central bank of Taiwan Province and issued the New Taiwan dollar. ...
Analogy is either the cognitive process of transferring information from a particular subject (the analogue or source) to another particular subject (the target), or a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process. ...
Look up credit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Members of a corporation are said to have a "residual interest." Should the corporation end its existence, the members are the last to receive its assets, following creditors and others with interests in the corporation. This can make investment in a corporation risky; however, the risk is outweighed by the corporation's limited liability, which ensures that the member will only be liable for the amount they contributed.
Formation Historically, corporations were created by special charter of governments. Today, corporations are usually registered with the state, province, or federal government and become regulated by the laws enacted by that government. Registration is the main prerequisite to the corporation's assumption of limited liability. As part of this registration, it must designate the principal address of the corporation (where to contact it in the event of legal process), and often an agent or other legal representative of the corporation. Alternate use, see charter airline, yacht charter, bare-boat charter or Charter Communications. ...
Agency is an area of law dealing with a contractual or quasi-contractual relationship between at least two parties in which one, the principal, authorizes the other, the agent, to represent her or his legal interests and to perform legal acts that bind the principal. ...
Generally, a corporation files articles of incorporation with the government, laying out the general nature of the corporation, the amount of stock it is authorized to issue, and the names and addresses of directors. Once the articles are approved, the corporation's directors meet to create bylaws that govern the internal functions of the corporation, such as meeting procedures and officer positions. The Articles of Incorporation (sometimes also referred to as the Certificate of Incorporation or the Charter) are the primary rules governing the management of a corporation, and are filed with a state or other regulatory agency. ...
A Bylaw (sometimes also seen as By-Law or ByLaw) is a rule governing the internal management of an organization, such as a business corporation. ...
The law of the jurisdiction in which a corporation operates will regulate most of its internal activities, as well as its finances. If a corporation operates outside its home state, it is often required to register with other governments as a foreign corporation, and is almost always subject to laws of its host state pertaining to employment, crimes, contracts, civil actions, and the like. Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...
A contract is any promise or set of promises made by one party to another for the breach of which the law provides a remedy. ...
Naming Corporations generally have a distinct name. Historically, some corporations were named after their membership: for instance, "The President and Fellows of Harvard College." Nowadays, corporations in most jurisdictions have a distinct name that does not need to make reference to their membership. In Canada, this possibility is taken to its logical extreme: many smaller Canadian corporations have no names at all, merely numbers (e.g., "1234567 Ontario Limited").
In most countries, corporate names include the term "Corporation", or an abbreviation that denotes the corporate status of the entity. See Types of corporations for a full list. Of course, these terms vary by jurisdiction and language. Their use puts all persons on constructive notice that they have to deal with an entity whose liability remains limited, in the sense that it does not reach back to the persons who constitute the entity; one can only collect from whatever assets the entity still controls at the time one obtains a judgment against it. There are various types of corporations throughout the world. ...
Constructive notice is a legal fiction used in the law of both common law and civil law systems to signify that a person or entity is legally presumed to have knowledge of something, even if they have no actual knowledge of it. ...
In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hindrance, or puts one at a disadvantage. ...
Certain jurisdictions do not allow the use of the word "company" alone to denote corporate status, since the word "company" may refer to a partnership or to a sole proprietorship, or even, archaically, to a group of not necessarily related people (for example, those staying in a tavern). In the common law, a partnership is a type of business entity in which partners share with each other the profits or losses of the business undertaking in which they have all invested. ...
A Sole proprietorship is a business which legally has no separate existence from its owner. ...
Unresolved issues The nature of the corporation continues to evolve, both through existing corporations pushing new ideas and structures, courts responding, and governments regulating in response to new situations. A question of long standing is that of diffused responsibility: for example, if the corporation is found liable for a death, then how should the blame and punishment for this be allocated across the shareholders, directors, management and staff of the corporation, and the corporation itself? See corporate manslaughter specifically, and corporate liability generally. Corporate manslaughter is a term in English law for an act of homicide committed by a company. ...
In the criminal law, corporate liability determines the extent to which a corporation as a fictitious person can be liable for the acts and omissions of the natural persons it employs. ...
The present law differs among jurisdictions, and is in a state of flux. Some argue that the owners of the business - the shareholders - should be ultimately responsible for such circumstances, forcing them to consider issues other than profit when investing, but the modern corporation may have many millions of small shareholders who know nothing about its business activities. In addition, traders — especially hedge funds — may rapidly turn over their partial ownership of a corporation many times a day. Traders was a Canadian television drama series, which aired on Global Television Network from 1995 to 2000. ...
The term hedge fund dates back to the first such fund founded by Alfred Winslow Jones in 1949. ...
One position is that the directors should be passed the burden of moral and legal responsibility as part of their job of representing the shareholders. Another position is that the artificial entity of the corporation itself should be held liable, in accordance with the model of a corporation as a natural person. In some jurisdictions, both directors and the corporation are liable for certain offences (see, for example, the Canadian province of Ontario's Environmental Protection Act). The issue of corporate repeat offenders (see H.Glasbeak, "Wealth by Stealth: Corporate Crime, Corporate Law, and the Perversion of Democracy" (Between the lines press: Toronto 2002) raises the question of the so-called "death penalty for corporations." [1]
Origins
Etymology The word "corporation" derives from the Latin Corpus (body), representing a "body of people"; that is, a group of people authorized to act as an individual (Oxford English Dictionary). The word universitas also used to refer to a group of people but now refers specifically to a group of scholars (see University). In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, the term corporation was also used for the local government body in charge of a borough. This style was replaced in most cases with the term council in the United Kingdom in 1973, and in the Republic of Ireland in 2001. The sole exception is the Corporation of London which retains the title. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language. ...
The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). ...
Representation of a university class, 1350s. ...
A borough is an administrative division used in the Canadian province of Quebec, in some states of the United States, and formerly in New Zealand. ...
A city council is the most common style of legislative government in a city or town. ...
Arms of the City of London as shown on Blackfriars station. ...
Pre-modern corporations Corporations have been present in some forms as far back as Ancient Rome. Although devoid of some of the core characteristics by which corporations are known today, they nonetheless were enterprises, sanctioned by the state, with a form of shareholders who invested money for a specific purpose.
With the collapse of the Roman Empire, the rise of Christianity and the influx of Germanic tribes, the Roman conception of the corporation merged with other views. Germanic tribes, for example, maintained that a group entity in and of itself could have a separate identity from that of its members. The Roman Empire was a phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by an autocratic form of government. ...
Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ...
These influences came together in the body of canon law built around the conception of the church as corporate structure in the Middle Ages. Different theories of the church as corporate body were favored by different individuals but all agreed on one key component: that the church was more than just its members and could maintain an existence perpetually, regardless of the death of any individual member.
This, together with discussion as to the relationship between the head of a corporation (such as the Pope) and its members, contributed not only to the development of modern corporations and corporate theory but also set the stage for many ideas that would come to fruition during the enlightenment. Kenneth Pomeranz, an economic historian, argues that the need to perform pseudo-governmental operations (such as the waging of war) accounts for the development of this economic structure in Europe but not in China or in the Middle East. Kenneth Pomeranz is a professor and the chair of the history department at the University of California, Irvine in the US. He received his Ph. ...
The United States detonated an atomic bomb over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. ...
World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ...
A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...
The law classifies a corporation either as a corporation sole (one person) or as a corporation aggregate (any other number). A corporation sole in English law is a legal entity consisting of a single person (sole). This allows the corporation to pass vertically from one holder of a position to the next, giving the position legal continuity. ...
A corporation aggregate, in English law, is a body corporate consisting of two or more people. ...
Development of modern commercial corporations Early corporations of the commercial sort were formed under frameworks set up by governments of states to undertake tasks which appeared too risky or too expensive for individuals or governments to embark upon. The alleged oldest commercial corporation in the world, the Stora Kopparberg mining community in Falun, Sweden, obtained a charter from King Magnus Eriksson in 1347. Many European nations chartered corporations to lead colonial ventures, such as the Dutch East India Company, and these corporations came to play a large part in the history of corporate colonialism. Image File history File links Stora_Kopparberg_1288. ...
Image File history File links Stora_Kopparberg_1288. ...
Stora Enso Oyj (NYSE: SEO) is a Finnish–Swedish pulp and paper manufacturer, formed by the merger of Swedish mining and forestry products company Stora and Finnish forestry products company Enso in 1998. ...
June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ...
Events February 22 - Nicholas IV becomes Pope. ...
Image File history File links Vereinigte_Ostindische_Compagnie_(VOC)share. ...
Image File history File links Vereinigte_Ostindische_Compagnie_(VOC)share. ...
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the issuer owes the holders a debt and is obliged to repay the principal and interest (the coupon). ...
Dutch colonial possessions, with the Dutch East India Company possessions marked in a paler green, surrounding the Indian Ocean plus Saint Helena in the mid-Atlantic. ...
November 7 is the 311th day of the year (312th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 54 days remaining. ...
Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ...
Florin may refer to this modern currency: Aruban florin. ...
A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern a society, having internal and external sovereignty over a definite territory. ...
Stora Enso Oyj (NYSE: SEO) is a Finnish–Swedish pulp and paper manufacturer, formed by the merger of Swedish mining and forestry products company Stora and Finnish forestry products company Enso in 1998. ...
Chuquicamata, the largest open pit copper mine in the world, Chile. ...
For the spiritual practise, see Falun Gong Falun is a city in central Sweden, in the province of Dalarna at 60°36´N 15°37´E. The town has about 35,000 inhabitants. ...
Alternate use, see charter airline, yacht charter, bare-boat charter or Charter Communications. ...
Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Sigillum ad causas for Magnus II of Sweden Magnus II Ericson, Magnus VII of Norway, (1316 – December 1, 1377), King of Sweden, Norway, and Terra Scania, son of Duke Eric Magnusson of Sweden and Ingeborg, daughter of Haakon V of Norway. ...
Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411). ...
Dutch colonial possessions, with the Dutch East India Company possessions marked in a paler green, surrounding the Indian Ocean plus Saint Helena in the mid-Atlantic. ...
Corporate colonialism relates to the involvement of corporate bodies in the practice of colonialism or imperialism. ...
In the United States, government chartering began to fall out of vogue in the mid-1800s. Corporate law at the time was focused on protection of the public interest, and not on the interests of corporate shareholders. Corporate charters were closely regulated by the states. Forming a corporation usually required an act of legislature. Investors generally had to be given an equal say in corporate governance, and corporations were required to comply with the purposes expressed in their charters. Many private firms in the 19th century avoided the corporate model for these reasons (Andrew Carnegie formed his steel operation as a limited partnership, and John D. Rockefeller set up Standard Oil as a trust). Eventually, state governments began to realize the greater corporate registration revenues available by providing more permissive corporate laws. New Jersey was the first state to adopt an "enabling" corporate law, with the goal of attracting more business to the state. Delaware followed, and soon became known as the most corporation-friendly state in the country; even today, most major public corporations are set up under Delaware law. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners (GPs), there are one or more limited partners (LPs). ...
1917 painting by John Singer Sargent. ...
Standard Oil (1870–1911) was a large, integrated, oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing organization. ...
Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area Ranked 47th - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²) - Width 70 miles (110 km) - Length 150 miles (240 km) - % water 14. ...
Official language(s) None Capital Dover Largest city Wilmington Area Ranked 49th - Total 2,491 sq mi (6,452 km²) - Width 30 miles (48 km) - Length 100 miles (161 km) - % water 21. ...
The 20th century saw a proliferation of enabling law across the world, which some argue helped to drive economic booms in many countries before and after World War I (the advantage to the overall economy of enabling laws must, however, be viewed in light of the success of Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil, the economic stimulus of the war, the flourishing of the automotive sector, and other major economic drivers). Starting in the 1980s, many countries with large state-owned corporations moved toward privatization, the selling of publicly-owned services and enterprises to private, normally corporate, ownership. Deregulation - reducing the public-interest regulation of corporate activity - often accompanied privatization as part of an ideologically laissez-faire policy. Another major postwar shift was toward development of conglomerates, in which large corporations purchased smaller corporations to expand their industrial base. Japanese firms developed a horizontal conglomeration model, the keiretsu, which was later duplicated in other countries as well. While corporate efficiency (and profitability) skyrocketed, small shareholder control was diminished and directors of corporations assumed greater control over business, contributing in part to the hostile takeover movement of the 1980s and the accounting scandals that brought down Enron and WorldCom following the turn of the century. Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire France Italy Russia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead: 5 million Military dead: 4 million The First World War, also known as The Great War, The War to End All Wars, and World War I (abbreviated WWI) was...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Deregulation is the process by which governments remove restrictions on business in order to (in theory) encourage the efficient operation of markets. ...
Laissez-faire is short for laissez faire, laissez passer, a French phrase meaning to let things alone, let them pass. First used by the eighteenth century Physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it is now used as a synonym for strict free market economics. ...
Identify 3 conglomerates and clearly explian the scope of their business. ...
A keiretsu lit. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Hostile takeover can refer to: For the business usage see takeover. ...
Enron Corporation is an American energy company based in Houston, Texas, United States. ...
For a time, WorldCom (WCOM) was the United States second largest long distance phone company (AT&T was the largest). ...
More recent corporate developments include downsizing, contracting-out or out-sourcing, off-shoring and scoping down activities to core business, as information technology, global trade regimes, and cheap fossil fuels enable corporations to reduce and externalize labour costs, transportation costs and transaction costs, and thereby maximize profits. Downsizing is a euphemism referring to layoffs initiated by a company in order to cut labor costs by reducing the size of the company. ...
Contracting-out is the practice of eliminating jobs at an employers existing worksite(s) and replacing them with contracts for services to be performed by non-employees, who may be individuals or corporations. ...
Off-shoring is the practice of eliminating jobs at an employers existing worksite(s) and replacing them with jobs in another (normally lower-wage) jurisdiction. ...
The core business of an organization is an idealized construct intended to express that organizations main or essential activity. ...
Information technology (IT)[1] is a broad subject concerned with technology and other aspects of managing and processing information, especially in large organizations. ...
For a history of corporations that is “pro-corporate”, see John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, The Company: a Short History of a Revolutionary Idea (New York: Modern Library, 2003). For a history of corporations that is “critical”, see Joel Bakan, The Corporation. The pathological pursuit of profit and power (Toronto: Viking Canada, 2004). John Micklethwait, born in 1962, is editor-in-chief of The Economist magazine ( since March 23, 2006). ...
Types of corporations
For-profit and non-profit Main article: non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (abbreviated NPO, or non-profit or not-for-profit) is an organization whose primary objective is to support some issue or matter of private interest or public concern for non-commercial purposes. ...
In modern economic systems, the corporate conventions of governance commonly appear in a wide variety of business and non-profit activities. Though the laws governing these creatures of statute often differ, the courts often interpret provisions of the law that apply to profit-making enterprises in the same manner (or in a similar manner) when applying principles to non-profit organizations — as the underlying structures of these two types of entity often resemble each other. A nonprofit organization (abbreviated NPO, or non-profit or not-for-profit) is an organization whose primary objective is to support some issue or matter of private interest or public concern for non-commercial purposes. ...
A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ...
Closely held and public The institution most often referenced when the word "corporation" is used, as in the title of the movie The Corporation, is a public or publicly traded corporation, the shares of which are traded on a public market (e.g., the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq) designed specifically for the buying and selling of shares of stock of corporations by and to the general public. Most of the largest businesses in the world are publicly traded corporations. However, the majority of corporations are said to be closely held, privately held or close corporations, meaning that no ready market exists for the trading of ownership interests. Many such corporations are owned and managed by a small group of businesspeople or companies, although the size of such a corporation can be as vast as the largest public corporations. The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian documentary film critical of the modern-day corporation, considering it as a class of person (as in US law it is understood to be) and evaluating its behaviour towards society and the world at large as a psychologist might evaluate an ordinary person. ...
The affairs of publicly traded and closely held corporations are similar in many respects. The main difference in most countries is that publicly traded corporations have an additional burden of complying with securities laws, which (especially in the U.S.) grant further rights to stockholders to protect them from fraud or unfairness in connection with the sale and purchase of stock. The publicly traded corporation must usually follow much more stringent disclosure requirements, and sometimes additional procedural obligations in connection with major transactions (e.g. mergers) or events (e.g. elections of directors).
Multinational corporations - Main article: Multinational corporation.
Following on the success of the corporate model at a national level, many corporations have become transnational or multinational corporations: growing beyond national boundaries to attain sometimes remarkable positions of power and influence in the process of globalising. A multinational corporation (MNC) or multinational enterprise (MNE) or transnational corporation (TNC) or multinational organization (MNO) is a corporation/enterprise that manages production establishments or delivers services in at least two countries. ...
A multinational corporation (MNC) or multinational enterprise (MNE) or transnational corporation (TNC) or multinational organization (MNO) is a corporation/enterprise that manages production establishments or delivers services in at least two countries. ...
Globalization is a term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that are the result of dramatically increased trade and cultural exchange. ...
The typical "transnational" or "multinational" may fit into a web of overlapping ownerships and directorships, with multiple branches and lines in different regions, many such sub-groupings comprising corporations in their own right. Growth by expansion may favour national or regional branches; growth by acquisition or merger can result in a plethora of groupings scattered around and/or spanning the globe, with structures and names which do not always make clear the structures of ownership and interaction. // Engineering In engineering, the term acquisition has the following meanings: In satellite communications, the process of locking tracking equipment on a signal from a communications satellite. ...
The phrase mergers and acquisitions or M&A refers to the aspect of corporate finance strategy and management dealing with the merging and acquiring of different companies as well as assets. ...
In the spread of corporations across multiple continents, the importance of corporate culture has grown as a unifying factor and a counterweight to local national sensibilities and cultural awareness. Organizational Culture refers to the values, beliefs and customs of an organization. ...
National features There are various types of corporations throughout the world. There are various types of corporations throughout the world. ...
United States In the United States, several corporate forms exist; the name of "corporation" generally applies to a business run for profit.
Corporate formation is generally within the purview of state governments. The federal government usually does not grant corporate charters, except for some special instances such as Amtrak and Freddie Mac and banks and credit unions which opt not to receive charters from their home states. ...
Acela Express in West Windsor, NJ Amtrak Cascades service with tilting Talgo trainsets in Seattle, Washington Amtrak train in downtown Orlando, Florida For other uses, see Amtrak (disambiguation). ...
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (NYSE: FRE) is a stockholder-owned, publicly-traded company chartered by the United States federal government in 1970 to purchase mortgages and related securities, and then issues securities and bonds in financial markets backed by those mortgages in secondary markets. ...
Because corporate law differs from state to state, many American corporations are incorporated in a different state than their primary base of operations. Many large corporations are chartered as "Delaware corporations" under the laws of Delaware, which charges no tax on activities outside the state and has courts experienced in corporate law. Corporations set up for privacy or asset protection often charter in Nevada, which does not require disclosure of share ownership. Many other states, particularly smaller states, have harmonized their corporate law around the Model Business Corporation Act, a "guideline" statute drafted by the American Bar Association. A Delaware corporation is a corporation chartered in the state of Delaware in the United States. ...
Official language(s) None Capital Dover Largest city Wilmington Area Ranked 49th - Total 2,491 sq mi (6,452 km²) - Width 30 miles (48 km) - Length 100 miles (161 km) - % water 21. ...
Corporations law or corporate law is the law concerning the creation and regulation of corporations. ...
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to keep their lives and personal affairs out of public view, or to stop information about themselves from becoming known to people other than those whom they choose to give the information. ...
Official language(s) None Capital Carson City Largest city Las Vegas Area Ranked 7th - Total 110,567 sq mi (286,367 km²) - Width 322 miles (519 km) - Length 490 miles (788 km) - % water 0. ...
American Bar Associations Washington, DC office The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. ...
Legally, corporations are accorded some corporate personhood, i.e. Constitutional rights similar to those held by persons. Contrary to accepted legal precedent the U.S. Supreme Court did not rule on this question in the 1886 case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad. Corporate personhood is a term used to describe the legal fiction used within United States law that a corporation has a limited number or subset of the same constitutional rights as a human being. ...
For the direction right, see left and right or starboard. ...
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ...
1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ...
Santa Clara County v. ...
In Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company (1886), Justice Harlan delivering the opinion of the court said the question regarding whether a corporation is a person within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment is an issue upon which the Court “did not deem it necessary to pass.” Santa Clara County v. ...
In the head notes of the case prepared by Supreme Court reporter J. C. Bancroft Davis, there is the sentence: “The defendant Corporations are persons within the intent of the clause in section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution … .” Because of illness, Chief Justice Morrison Remick Waite never reviewed the head notes.
Thus, without any deliberation, decision or ruling by the United States Supreme Court, the United States law has proceeded since 1886 with an accepted legal precedent based on the mistake of a clerk who reported something that never occurred.
The oldest corporation in the United States, and the oldest in North America, is the President and Fellows of Harvard College (also known as the Harvard Corporation), chartered in 1650. The President and Fellows of Harvard College (also known as the Harvard Corporation) is the more fundamental of Harvard Universitys two governing boards. ...
// Events June 23 - Claimant King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland arrives in Scotland, the only of the three Kingdoms that has accepted him as ruler. ...
Historically, most U.S. states issued charters for fixed lengths of time (for example, a manufacturing corporation might receive a charter good for 40 years), and only by an act of the legislature. Some individuals believed corporations should remain accountable to the government and used these limited charters as a means of forcing companies to do so. Investors, however, noted that it led to unhealthy amounts of political payoffs and graft. Most states now charter unlimited-term corporations for a small fee, and possibly for a yearly tax. A state of the United States (a U.S. state) is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, along with the District of Columbia, form the United States of America. ...
Accountability is a concept in ethics with several meanings. ...
Many countries around the world now have corporate laws based upon state laws from the United States. For example, corporations in Saudi Arabia follow corporate laws copied from New York. Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area Ranked 27th - Total 54,520 sq mi (141,205 km²) - Width 285 miles (455 km) - Length 330 miles (530 km) - % water 13. ...
Canada In Canada both the federal government and the provinces have corporate statutes, and thus a corporation may have a provincial or a federal charter. Many older corporations in Canada stem from Acts of Parliament passed before the introduction of general corporation law. The oldest corporation in Canada is the Hudson's Bay Company, chartered in 1670. Federally recognized corporations are regulated by the Canada Business Corporations Act. Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories. ...
In Westminster System parliaments, an Act of Parliament is a part of the law passed by the Parliament. ...
The Hudsons Bay Company (HBC. TSX: HBC) is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world. ...
1670 was a common year beginning on a Saturday in countries using the Julian calendar and a Wednesday in countries using the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Canada Business Corporations Act, also known as Bill C-44, is a Canadian act respecting Canadian business corporations. ...
Australia In Australia corporations are registered and regulated by the Commonwealth Government through the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Corporations law has been largely codified in the Corporations Act 2001. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent Australian government body that acts as Australias corporate regulator. ...
The Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), sometimes referred to just as the Corporations Act (or informally as the Corps Act), is an act of the Commonwealth of Australia that sets out the laws dealing with business entities in Australia at federal and interstate level. ...
German-speaking countries Germany, Austria and Switzerland recognize two forms of corporation: the Aktiengesellschaft (AG), analogous to public corporations in the English-speaking world, and the Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH), similar to (and an inspiration for) the modern limited liability company. The German term Aktiengesellschaft (IPA /aktsiÉ™ngÉ™zεlʃaft/) (abbreviated AG) means a corporation which is limited by shares, , owned by shareholders. ...
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH or GesmbH) is a type of legal entity created in Germany in 1892. ...
A limited liability company (denoted by L.L.C. or LLC in the US) is a legal form of business company offering limited liability to its owners. ...
Italy Italy recognize two form of company with limited liability : "S.r.l", or "Società a Responsabilità Limitata" (similar to Limited liability company) and "S.p.A" or "Società Per Azioni" (similar to american stock corporation). A limited liability company (denoted by L.L.C. or LLC in the US) is a legal form of business company offering limited liability to its owners. ...
Corporate taxation In many countries, including the United States and United Kingdom, corporate profits are taxed at a corporate tax rate, and dividends paid to shareholders are taxed at a separate rate. Such a system is sometimes referred to as "double taxation," because any profits distributed to shareholders will eventually be taxed twice. One solution to this (as in the case of Australia and UK tax systems) is for the recipient of the dividend to be entitled to a tax credit which addresses the fact that the profits represented by the dividend have already been taxed. The company profit being passed on is therefore effectively only taxed at the rate of tax paid by the eventual recipient of the dividend. Corporate tax refers to direct taxes charged by various jurisdictions on the profits made by companies or associations. ...
Criticisms Adam Smith in the Wealth of Nations criticized the corporate form because of the separation of ownership and management. Adam Smith, FRSE, (baptised June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790) was a Scottish political economist and moral philosopher. ...
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is the magnum opus of Adam Smith, published in 1776. ...
The directors of such [joint-stock] companies, however, being the managers rather of other people’s money than of their own, it cannot well be expected, that they should watch over it with the same anxious vigilance with which the partners in a private copartnery frequently watch over their own.... Negligence and profusion, therefore, must always prevail, more or less, in the management of the affairs of such a company. Noam Chomsky, the MIT linguist and activist describes the corporate structure as being fascist: Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is the Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ...
Mapúa Institute of Technology (MIT, MapúaTech or simply Mapúa) is a private, non-sectarian, Filipino tertiary institute located in Intramuros, Manila. ...
The following is a list of linguists, those who study linguistics. ...
A corporation or an industry is, if we were to think of it in political terms, fascist; that is, it has tight control at the top and strict obedience has to be established at every level — there's a little bargaining, a little give and take, but the line of authority is perfectly straightforward.... I'd love to see centralized power eliminated, whether it's the state or the economy, and have it diffused and ultimately under direct control of the participants. Chomsky has also criticized the legal decisions that led to the creation of the modern corporation: Corporations, which previously had been considered artificial entities with no rights, were accorded all the rights of persons, and far more, since they are "immortal persons," and "persons" of extraordinary wealth and power. Furthermore, they were no longer bound to the specific purposes designated by State charter, but could act as they chose, with few constraints.
Other business entities Almost every recognized type of organization carries out some economic activities (e.g. the family). Other organizations that may carry out activities that are generally considered to be business exist under the laws of various countries. These include: A family business is a company owned, controlled, and operated by members of one or several families. ...
In the common law, a partnership is a type of business entity in which partners share with each other the profits or losses of the business undertaking in which they have all invested. ...
A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners (GPs), there are one or more limited partners (LPs). ...
Limited liability partnerships (LLP) are a form of business organization combining elements of partnerships and corporations. ...
A limited liability company (denoted by L.L.C. or LLC in the US) is a legal form of business company offering limited liability to its owners. ...
A limited company in the United Kingdom is a company whose liability is limited by English law or Scots law. ...
A Not-for-profit corporation is a corporation created by statute, government or judicial authority that does not issue stock. ...
A Sole proprietorship is a business which legally has no separate existence from its owner. ...
A trust company has been referred to as a near-bank; while technically it differs from a bank in mandate and services offered, it also provides banking services such as chequing accounts, savings and loans, investments and credit cards. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
References - Sobel, Robert The Age of Giant Corporations: a Microeconomic History of American Business, 1914-1984 (1984)
- Klein and Coffee. Business Organization and Finance: Legal and Economic Principles (Foundation, 2002), ISBN 1-58778-713-X
- Hessen, Robert. In Defense of the Corporation. (Hoover Institute 1979), ISBN 0-8179-7072-X
- Kirzner, Israel M. Competition and Entrepreneurship (University of Chicago Press, 1973), ISBN 0-226-43776-0
- Bromberg, Alan R. Crane and Bromberg on Partnership. 1968.
- Conard, Alfred F. Corporations in Perspective. 1976.
- John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, The Company: a Short History of a Revolutionary Idea (New York: Modern Library, 2003).
- Joel Bakan, The Corporation. The pathological pursuit of profit and power (Toronto: Viking Canada, 2004).
- Alfred Sohn-Rethel Economy and Class Structure of German Fascism,London, CSE Bks, 1978 ISBN 0-906336-00-7
Robert Sobel in a promotional photo for his publisher. ...
The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian documentary film critical of the modern-day corporation, considering it as a class of person (as in US law it is understood to be) and evaluating its behaviour towards society and the world at large as a psychologist might evaluate an ordinary person. ...
Alfred Sohn-Rethel (born January 4, 1899 in Neuilly-sur-Seine near, today in Paris; died April 6, 1990 in Bremen, Germany) was an economist, a philosopher especially interested in epistemology. ...
See also A bylaw (sometimes also seen as by-law or Byelaw) was originally the Viking town law in the Danelaw. ...
Commercial law or business law is the body of law which governs business and commerce and is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. ...
A community interest company (CIC) is a new type of company introduced by the United Kingdom government in 2005. ...
Identify 3 conglomerates and clearly explian the scope of their business. ...
Co-op is: A cooperative education program. ...
Corporate governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way a corporation is directed, administered or controlled. ...
A corporate haven is a jurisdiction with laws friendly to corporations thereby encouraging them to choose that jurisdiction as a legal domicile. ...
Corporate personhood is a term used to describe the legal fiction used within United States law that a corporation has a limited number or subset of the same constitutional rights as a human being. ...
Historically, corporatism or corporativism (Italian corporativismo) is a political system in which legislative power is given to civic assemblies that represent economic, industrial, agrarian, and professional groups. ...
A Delaware corporation is a corporation chartered in the state of Delaware in the United States. ...
A guild is an association of people of the same trade or pursuits (with a similar skill or craft), formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards of morality or conduct. ...
Incorporation (abbreviated Inc. ...
A limited liability company (denoted by L.L.C. or LLC in the US) is a legal form of business company offering limited liability to its owners. ...
Megacorp is a term popularized by William Gibson derived from the combination of the prefix mega- with an abbreviation of the word corporation. ...
Organizational (Company / Corporate) culture comprises the attitudes, values, beliefs, norms and customs of an organization. ...
A preferred stock, also known as a preferred share or simply a preferred, is a share of stock carrying additional rights above and beyond those conferred by common stock. ...
The initials plc after a UK or Irish company name indicate that it is a public limited company, a type of limited company whose shares may be offered for sale to the pubic. ...
A shelf corporation, also called an aged corporation, is a corporation that has had no activity. ...
In corporate law, a stock certificate (also known as certificate of stock) is a legal document that certifies legal ownership of a specific number of stock shares in a corporation. ...
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