Advantages And Disadvantages Of Incorporation

Liability: Ownership of a C-Corporation is vested in its stockholders, whose liability is limited to the amount of their investment. The Corporation is liable for all of its debts, and for the actions of employees acting as agents of the organization. Creditors may lay claim against corporate assets, but cannot reach stockholders’ personal assets. Additionally, stockholders have no claim against corporate assets.

Although courts are reluctant to hold an active shareholder liable for actions that are legally the responsibility of the corporation, even if the corporation has a single shareholder, they will often do so if the corporation was markedly noncompliant, or if holding only the corporation liable would be singularly unfair to the plaintiff. The ruling is based on common law precedents. In the US, different theories, most important "alter ego" or "instrumentality rule", attempted to create a piercing standard. Generally, the plaintiff has to prove that the incorporation was merely a formality and that the corporation neglected corporate formalities and protocols, such as voting to approve major corporate actions in the context of a duly authorized corporate meeting. This is quite often the case when a corporation facing legal liability transfers its assets and business to another corporation with the same management and shareholders. It also happens with single person corporations that are managed in a haphazard manner. As such, the veil can be pierced in both civil cases and where regulatory proceedings are taken against a shell corporation.

* Limited Liability - Unlike partnerships and sole proprietorships, corporate shareholders are not liable for any of the corporation's debts.

“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).”

Woodward, S., Bird, H. & Sievers, S. (2005). Corporations Law in Principle 7th ed. Pyrmont, NSW: Lawbook Co.

This is the most common type of company and is what most people have in mind when considering whether or not to set up a company. Each shareholder’s liability is limited to the amount unpaid on the shareholding owned by them. However, the shareholder must also be aware that they run the risk of losing monies paid to the company whether in full or part payment of the shares owned by them.

As discussed earlier in the chapter, one of the primary reasons to organize a business as a corporation or as a limited liability company (LLC) is to protect the personal assets of the principals. As a general rule of corporate law, which has been a part of the U.S. legal system for over two centuries, the principals of a corporation are not personally liable for a corporation’s debts and obligations. In other words, a corporation’s principals are generally immune from personal liability for the decisions they make and the actions they undertake on behalf of a corporation. For example, assume that Corporation A contracts with Corporation B to purchase equipment valued at $500,000. If Corporation A fails to pay Corporation B for the equipment it purchased, the principals of Corporation A are not personally liable to Corporation B. Rather, Corporation A, the party in privity of contract with Corporation B, remains liable for the liability it incurred. A so-called “corporate veil” protects the principals of Corporation A, which insulates them from legal actions taken by Corporation B to

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.

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.

There is no clear framework of the rules that would cover the contingencies of a ruling to pierce the corporate veil Idoport Pty Ltd v National Australia Bank Ltd. The corporate Veil usually protects owners and shareholders from being held liable for corporate duties. Yet again a decision made by the court to lift that veil and would place the liability on shareholders, owners, administrators, executives and officers of the company without ownership interest. The purpose of this essay is to conduct an analysis on the concept of lifting the corporate veil and to review the different views on its fairness and equitability to present a better understanding of the notion, the methods used was throughout researching the numerous scholars views on the subject, case law and statutes examples, and the evidence provided by the empirical study of Ramsay & Noakes. When we discuss the lifting the corporate veil the first case that pops out is the case of Salomon V A. Salomon & Co Ltd, since the decisions of applying the corporate veil were first formed as a consequence of this case. The idea covers all of company law and distinguishes that a company is a separate legal entity from its members and directors. Furthermore, spencer (2012); have indicated that one of the core principles that followed the decision in Salomon v Salomon was the wide acceptance one man company’s. However In order to form a

This doctrine has been seen as a “two- edged sword,” reason being that at a general level while it was seen as a good decision in that by establishing that corporations are separate legal entities, Salomon 's case endowed the company with the entire requisite attributes with which to become the powerhouse of capitalism. At a particular level, however, it was a bad decision. By extending the benefits of incorporation to small private enterprises, Salomon 's case has promoted fraud and the evasion of legal obligations.

In recent times, there has been an increased incidence among large scale business organizations to structure their operations through the form of corporate groups, with many domestic and international subsidiaries, wholly owned or otherwise, with the corporate veil ensuring that each of these enjoy separate corporate legal personality and limited liability. The existence of these ‘corporate groups’, with subsidiary companies being heavily controlled by their parent companies, have necessitated interpretations and applications of existing corporate legal principles to this novel context, even in case of the basic tenets of corporate law. The circumstances associated with corporate veil piercing, through detailed consideration of conditions to treating holding and subsidiary companies as one legal unit, with associated civil liabilities, is also an issue of heated debate.

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” .

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.

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.