Introduction to Companies Act1956

Introduction Definition of Company. Features of company Types of Companies Lifting the Corporate Veil

Short Title and extent.

INTRODUCTION: This Act may be called the Companies Act, 1956. It is a Business Law. It is a commercial Law & its roots are seen in English Company Law. Many provisions of it are incorporated in this Indian Companies Act of 1956.

Applicability of Act
Being a Central Government Act it is applicable to all the states of India including Union Territories. The provisions of this Act are applicable to all the class of companies in India. The provisions are also applicable to all the companies incorporated out of India but they have established places of business in India.

Objectives :
To conduct the business smoothly with the help of limited liabilities & with limited shares. To serve the community by providing Quality products & services at reasonable cost.

 To earn the profit & distribute it among all the investors & Board of Directors in proportionate with their investments. To grow the business with the help of share capital & Ideas so that the part of it is contributed towards national prosperity. To create an employment opportunities for qualified and eligible person towards CSR.

Definition
General Definitions: 1)A Company is a form of business organization in which the funds of a large number of investors are managed by a few persons for the purpose of earning profits which are shared by all the investors. 2)It is an association of persons formed to achieve the common goal set by their Board of Directors.

 As per companies Act 1956.(Sec3(1)(i)) It means a business organization formed as per the companies Act 1956to achieve following objectives a) To encourage the investors to do their investments. b) To ensure proper Administration c) To prevent Malpractices d) To allow for investigation if required.

Essential Characteristics/Features of a Company.

Registration- Should be registered under the Companies Act. Distinct Person- Separate legal entity. Perpetual succession- Never dies. Easy transfer of shares. Limited liability. Artificial person but not a citizen.

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Common Seal. Capacity to sue and be sued. Share holders are actual owners of Company Number of persons are as per MOA Separate Property

Separation of ownership and Management Rigidity of objectives Authority to raise share capital in large scale. To comply Statutory Requirements on regular basis Company is a Corporate Body

Types of Companies

Royal Charter/ Chartered Companies

Statutory Companies

Registered Companies On basis of Liability

Companies limited by shares.

Companies limited by guarantee.

Unlimited companies

Public Companies

Private Companies

Types of Companies
A) On the basis of Liability B) On the basis of Incorporation C) On the basis of Ownership D) Government Companies E) On the basis of Jurisdiction F) On the basis of Control &Shareholding G) One Man Company

A) On the basis of Liability 1)Limited by shares 2)Limited by Guarantee 3)Unlimited Company B) On the basis of Incorporation 1)Chartered Company 2)Statutory Company 3)Registered Company

C) On the basis of Ownership 1)Private Limited Company 2) Public Limited Company D) Government Companies E) On the basis of Jurisdiction 1) Foreign Company 2) MNC Company

 F) On the basis of Control & Shareholding 1) Holding Company 2) Subsidiary Company G) One Man Company

A) On the basis of Liability

a ) Companies Limited by shares : companies limited by shares are the most commonly found companies. Section 12 (2) (a) implies that where the liability of the shareholders of a company is limited to the extent of the unpaid amount on the shares held by them, the company is known as a company limited by shares.

 In such companies, each share has a fixed nominal or face value which the shareholder is required to pay either at a time or in various installments. Whatsoever may be the liabilities of a company, shareholders are not bound to pay anything more than the face value of the shares held by them.

 Thus, the liability of each of the shareholders of such a company is always limited to the extent of the amount unpaid on his shares.

 b) Companies Limited by Guarantee: Words Companies limited by Guarantee implies that the liability of members of such company is always limited to a fixed amount agreed by its members to contribute towards the assets of the company.

 Section 12 (2) (b) states that, a company having the liability of its members limited by the memorandum to such amount as the members may respectively undertake by the memorandum to contribute to the assets of the company in any event of its being wound up, such company in this Act is termed as a company limited by guarantee

 c. Unlimited companies: it is obvious that where the liability of the members of a company is unlimited, it is called as an unlimited company. Section 12 provides that any seven or more persons in the case of a public company and 2 or more persons in the case of a private limited company can have such liability. Any company registered without limited liability is known as an unlimited company.

The liability of members of such company is unlimited like an ordinary partnership firm and every member of such company is liable for debts of the company in proportion to his interest in the company. An unlimited company may have or may not have a share capital. But if it has a share capital, it may be a public company or a private company

B) Mode of Incorporation
a) chartered companies : chartered companies are also known as Royal charter companies. Such companies are incorporated under the Royal (special) charter granted by the King or the Queen. Such companies as given exclusive powers rights and privileges under the Royal charter.

They have to function in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Royal charter. The East India company, /bank of England, The chartered bank of Australia are some of the examples of chartered or Royal companies. However, such companies find no place in India after independence, since there no monarchy in India now.

 b) Statutory companies :- Companies which are created by special Acts of Legislature are known as statutory companies. A statutory company can be defined as a company which is incorporated by a special Act passed by whether the Central Legislature or state Legislature and such a company enjoys certain powers,

rights, privileges as laid down in the Act. Therefore such companies do not require to have a Memorandum of Association. Companies Act 1956 is applicable to the statutory companies. Eg.Reserve Bank of India.

 c) Registered companies Under the Act : Registered companies are those companies which are registered or incorporated with the Registrar of companies as per the provisions of the companies act. At present, in India, almost all companies are registered under the companies Act of 1956.

C) On the Basis of ownership

A) Private company : Section 3 (i) (iii) defines a private company as follows Private company means a company which by its Articles a) Restricts the rights to transfer its shares, if any, b) Limits the number of its members to fifty and c) Not includes the persons who are in employment of the company;

 d) Persons, who having been formerly in the employment of the company, were members of the company while in that employment and have continued to be members after the employment ceased; and e) prohibits any invitation to the public to subscribe for any shares in or debentures of the company. Thus, the three features i.e. restriction on right to transfer, limit on the number of members and invitation to the public to subscribe as mentioned above are the mandatory provisions of a private limited company words Private Limited are required to be used at the end of the name of every company.

 Public company ; section 3 (1)(iv) lays down that. Public company means a company which is not a private company. Thus it can be said that a public company is a company which by its Articles, does not restricts the right to transfer its shares, if any, does not limit the number of its members and further does not

prohibit any invitation to the public to subscribe for any shares in or debentures of the company. Any seven or more persons can come together and join hands to form a public company. However, there is no restriction on the maximum number of members

 Private company& Public company Differences: 1.) A private company cannot have less than two members and more than fifty members The minimum number of persons required to form a public company is seven. There is no restriction on the maximum numbers of members in a public company. 2.) A private company cannot invite public to subscribe its share capital neither it can invite the people to buy its debentures A public company invites the public to subscribe to share capital or to purchase the debentures.

 3).In a private company, the right to transfer its shares is restricted by its Articles. Thus, if a private company has a share capital, it imposes certain restrictions on the right of its members to transfer the shares of the company they hold In a public company, its shares are freely transferable. 4). A private company has to add the words Private Limited at the end of its name. A Public company has to use the word Limited at the end of its name.

 5). A private company enjoys certain privileges i.e. exemption from certain provisions of the companies Act. Of 1956. A Public company does not enjoy any such privileges. 6).Directors of a private company need not file their consent with the Registrar to Act as director or sign an undertaking the take up qualification shares.

 Directors of a Public company have to file their consent with the Registrar to Act as director or sign an undertaking to take up qualification shares. 7). Legal controls on private companies are less. Legal controls, restrictions on public companies are more and strict. 8) In private companies, restrictions on the remuneration of Director's are far less. In public companies, there are restrictions on the remuneration of Directors. The remuneration of Directors cannot be more than 11 %of net profits of the company.

 9). Directors are allowed to borrow from the private companies Directors cannot borrow from the public companies 10).In the case of a private company, unless the articles of the company provide for a large number, two members personally present are quorum for a meeting of the company.

 In the case of a public company, unless the Articles of the company provide for a large number, five members personally present are quorum for a meeting of the company. (section 174 (1)). 11) A private company is not required to file a prospectus or a statement in lieu of prospectus with the registrar [section 70 (3)]. A public company has to file a prospectus or a statement in lieu of prospectus with the Registrar.

D) Government Company
Section 617 of the companies Act of 1956 defines government company as follows i) For the purpose of this Act Government company means any company in which more than fifty one percent of the paid up share capital is held by the central government, or by any State Government, or Governments or partly by others.

 The Central Government and partly by one or more state governments and includes a company which is a subsidiary of a Government company as thus defined In India, there are many companies in which 100% paid-up share capital or more than 51% of the paid up share capital is provided by the Central or State Government.

E) Based on the Jurisdiction of functioning

The boundaries of the country wherein it is registered, such a company is called a multinational or transnational company Foreign company :- , It can be said that a foreign company is one which is incorporated outside India but has a place of business in India.

(b) MNC:Companies incorporated outside India before/after the commencement of this act at many places, established a place of business within India and continue their business at established places within India at the commencement of this Act and after.

F) On the basis of control and/or share holding

a) Holding company :- section 4 (4) of the companies Act of 1956 implies that a company is deemed to be holding company of another if that other is its subsidiary. Thus, a holding company can be defined as a company which has a control over a subsidiary company through anyone of the several methods as explainedinsection4(1).

b) Subsidiary company :- A company is a subsidiary of a holding company if a holding company controls the majority composition of its board of directors, having an object to control the management of the subsidiary or that other company i.e. holding company holds the majority of its shares or the holding companys subsidiary has its own subsidiary, it becomes the subsidiary of the first mentioned company

G)

Other types of companies:

One Man company :- One man company can be a public or a private company, but it is usually a private company wherein one man holds practically the whole of the share capital of the company. In other words, it can be said that where a single man holds almost all the shares of a company such a company is called as one man company. If one man company satisfies all the conditions and requirements of incorporation as laid down in the companies Act, it becomes a legal personality.

 Generally for formation of one man company in order to meet the statutory requirements, certain persons are invited to become members who may hold a few shares. Such dummy members are usually nominees of the main shareholder who is the de-facto owner of the company and carries on the business with Limited Liability e.g. X and Y register their company as a private company with a share capital of Rs 7,00,000 divided into 70000 shares of Rs. 10/- each. X holds 69,999 shares while Y holds only 1 share. This is nothing but an example of one man Co.

Lifting OR Piercing the Corporate Veil:

A company is distinct from its members. It is a separate legal entity (Salomon v. Salomon and Co. Ltd- (1897) A.C. 22). There is thus a veil between a company and its members keeping them both separate from each other. However, sometimes it becomes necessary to lift this veil, disregard the distinct corporate entity of the company and find out the realities of the company.

The Court may investigate the real affairs, ownership etc., of the company. This is called Lifting or piercing the corporate veil In other words the Court investigates into the true state of affairs of the company.

It has been observed that though a corporation is a distinct entity, yet in reality it is an association of persons who are in fact the beneficial owners of all the corporate property.

 The corporate veil is, therefore, lifted by the Court when it ignores the company and concerns itself directly with the members or managers. It is largely in the discretion of the Courts and will depend upon the underlying social, economic and moral factors as they operate in and through the corporation.

Situations when Corporate Veil is lifted

A) To investigate the relationship between the holding company and subsidiary company. B) To investigate the number and names of members of the company. C) To investigate the true ownership of shares and controlling power over the company.

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D) To investigate lawful objects of the company. E) To investigate mismanagement and oppression by the majority. F) To investigate the character of a company where it is trading with an alien enemy or persons managing the affairs of the company are under the control of enemies or are residing in enemy country. G) To investigate into the affairs where there exists a tendency to create monopoly.

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H) To investigate the company affairs where it is used for tax evasion or to circumvent tax obligation. I) To investigate if the company is acting as an agent for its shareholders. J) To investigate the affairs, where it is formed for fraudulent purpose, to defect and circumvent the law or to defraud its creditors or to avoid valid obligation.

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