Sources of Company Law

Corporations Law can be described as the interaction between directors, employees, financier, consumers and the community. Corporations law can be implied to this case as Water Corporations, a government owned company had a responsibility upon entering into a contract with Norvik Industries to provide an attention to skill when connecting the water line. To provide fully trained employees to undertake this job. This involved double checking there work.

This essay will explain the concepts of separate personality and limited liability and their significance in company law. The principle of separate personality is defined in the Companies Act 2006(CA) ; “subscribers to the memorandum, together with such other persons as may from time to time become members of the company are a body corporate by the name contained in memorandum.” This essentially means that a company is a separate legal personality to its members and therefore can itself be sued and enter into contracts. This theory was birthed into company law through the case of Salomon v Salomon and Co LTD 1872. This case involved a company entering liquidation and the unsecured creditors not being able to claim assets to compensate them. The issue in this case was whether Mr Salomon owed the money or the company did. In the end, the House of Lords held that the company was not an agent of Mr Salomon and so the debts were that of the company thus creating the “corporate Veil” .

2 This is an OPEN book examination. You can only use your prescribed text book and the Corporations Act 2001. No other materials are allowed.

Managers and shareholders are the utmost contributors of these conflicts, hence affecting the entire structural organization of a company, its managerial system and eventually to the company's societal responsibility. A corporation is well organized with stipulated division of responsibilities among the arms of the organizational structure, shareholders, directors, managers and corporate officers. However, conflicts between managers in most firms and shareholders have brought about agency problems. Shares and their trade have seen many companies rise to big investments. Shareholders keep the companies running

The thesis deals with the above concepts and discusses how the Companies Act 71 of 2008 (the Act) modified the law, particularly, by extending the legal capacity of a company and extinguishing or modifying the above rules which had previously restricted a company's ability

Learning Objective 1.2 ~ discuss the different types of companies which may be formed under the Corporations Act 2001

Lipton, P. & Herzberg, A. (2010). Understanding Company Law. (15th ed.). Pyrmont, NSW: Lawbook Co.

“Corporations are said to be “creatures of statute;” they exist because state laws allow human beings to organize themselves into entities that separate ownership and management functions as the outline above delineates. The business rule is there a presumption that making a business decision, the offices act in good faith with the belief that their actions is what is best for the company (Halbert/Ingulli, 2012 pg. 31).”

Based on the case scenario, Doris, Betty, and Charlie formed a company called Bechdo Pty Ltd. The three members are the directors and Betty who is major shareholder holds 40% followed by Charlie and Doris who hold 20% each while the 20% is held by the rest. Based on the company constitution, a managing director has capacity to enter into a contract o behalf of the company up to a maximum of $100,000. Moreover, he/she can enter into contracts to the value of $900,000 upon getting consent for the board of directors. In this case, Bechdo Pty Ltd operates without a managing director since none was elected. The major issue is that Betty being the majority shareholder went ahead and entered into contract with BB Ltd, Jillo Pty Ltd, and

 Students have been shown in class on how to solve a law problem assignment – ie,

Choosing a Corporation/Company Structure - the business structure of a company/ corporation is highly recommended, it has the flexibility to gain more capital, or credit capability and assets used as security. Based on the Corporation Act 2001 (Cth) AC 22, a corporation is another legal entity with their own legal rights, duties and responsibilities separate to the individual or owner of the company (Harris, Hargovan & Adams, 2013, pp 229). The risk and consequences are one of the principal considerations of choosing a company structure (Harris, Hargovan & Adams, pp 50). Based on the “Corporate Veil” Liability is owned by a separate legal entity and not to the extent of the owner, for instance, the debt of the company is not a personal liability, but the company. This is further explained in the case below.

During this 21st century, we find that almost every nation has companies set up and these institutions play a major role in the nation’s economy. We can find that new companies are being incorporated almost in a daily basis under the Companies Commission of Malaysia, in accordance with Companies Act 1965(The Act). However, we realised that the concept of separate legal entity derived its mere foundation from Salamon v. Salamon & Co Ltd which dates back to several centuries.

The concept of a company being a separate legal entity is the most striking illustration in separating the company from its owners. A paramount principle of corporate law is that no shareholder or member of a company is made liable for the obligations incurred by such incorporations A company is different from its members in the eyes of law. In continuations to this the opposite also holds true in the sense that neither can the company be held liable for the acts of its members. It is a fundamental distinction that a company is distinct from its members.

This act modified the methods for many different subjects, such as financial and non-financial reporting, company communications with shareholders, and the responsibilities of company heads. The main role of the Act is to get managers to act in the best interests of shareholders. It additionally requires managers to think about the long-term effects of decisions; the welfares of the business’s staff; the business’s connections alongside suppliers, clients, and others; and the impression of the company’s procedures on the surrounding area. The Company Law Review Group was established by the government in 1998 in order to contemplate ways to modernize company law. The Company Law Review guidelines were the starting point for the modifications suggested by the Company Law Reform White Paper released in 2005. Then the White Paper proposals turned into an outline for a Bill, which then finally received official approval and passed in 2006, (companieshouse.gov.uk, 2014).

Corporation origin from the Latin word Corpus which means body. It is formed by a group of people and has separate rights and liability from those individual. In any means, corporation exists independently from its owner and this principle is called the doctrine of separate personality. Doctrine of separate personality is the basic and fundamental principle in a Company Law. This principle outline the legal relationship between company and its members. Company’s assets belong to the company not the shareholders as assets are the equity for creditors. Company must use up all its assets to pay off the creditors if it became insolvent. The same applies to the corporation’s debts. For limited liabilities company, the shareholder liability is limited which means that the shareholder is restricted to the number of shares they paid and not personally liable for the corporation’s debts. If the company does not have enough equity to pay off debts, the creditors cannot come after the shareholders. However, limited liability company can be very powerful when in hands who do fraud and on defeating creditors’ claims. Courts then can ignore the doctrine for exception cases and lifting the corporate veil. Lifting the corporate veil is a situation where courts put aside limited liability and hold a corporation’s shareholders or directors personally liable for the corporation’s debts.