Frank Ettin
Administrator
A corporation may be a fictional entity, but it has a solid, historical foundation. The corporate form goes back some 700 years and is a widely recognized and understood form of business organization.
At one time, corporations were formed by royal charter. Today, they are formed privately, without governmental action, except for the recording by a state agency of the documents forming the corporation. A modern corporation can be described as follows:
At one time, corporations were formed by royal charter. Today, they are formed privately, without governmental action, except for the recording by a state agency of the documents forming the corporation. A modern corporation can be described as follows:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation emphasis added)A corporation is a legal entity separate from the persons who own it or the persons who manage or operate it. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it can be either a corporation sole (an office held by an individual natural person, which is a legal entity separate from that person) or a corporation aggregate (involving more persons). In American and, increasingly, international usage, the term denotes a body corporate formed to conduct business, ....
Corporations exist as a product of corporate law, and their rules balance the interests of the management who operate the corporation; creditors who loan it goods, services or money; shareholders that invest their capital; the employees who contribute their labor; and the clients they serve. People work together in corporations to produce value and generate income. In modern times, corporations have become an increasingly dominant part of economic life. People rely on corporations for employment, for their goods and services, .... for economic growth and social development.
The defining feature of a corporation is its legal independence from the people who create it. If a corporation fails, shareholders normally only stand to lose their investment ....
Despite not being natural persons, corporations are recognized by the law to have rights and responsibilities like actual people. Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state,[1] and they may be responsible for human rights violations.[2] Just as they are "born" into existence through its members obtaining a certificate of incorporation, they can "die" when they lose money into insolvency. Corporations can even be convicted of criminal offences, such as fraud and manslaughter.[3] Five common characteristics of the modern corporation, ... are:
* delegated management, in other words, control of the company placed in the hands of a board of directors
* limited liability of the shareholders (so that when the company is insolvent, they only owe the money that they subscribed for in shares)
* investor ownership, which Hansmann and Kraakman take to mean, ownership by shareholders.[4]
* separate legal personality of the corporation (the right to sue and be sued in its own name)
* transferrable shares (usually on a listed exchange, such as the London Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange or Euronext in Paris)...