Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter presents an overview of company law, first by considering the company’s place within the various forms of business organisation. To get some comparative perspective on the relative merits of each type of organisation, three criteria for judging them are discussed: whether the form of business organisation facilitates investment in the business, mitigates or minimises the risk involved in the business venture, and whether it provides a clear organisational structure. Using these criteria, three forms of business organisation are analysed: the sole trader, a partnership, or a registered company. The chapter also explains the importance of the memorandum as part of the company’s constitution, as well as the distinction between private companies and public companies. Finally, it outlines the benefits of forming a company as opposed to the sole trader or a partnership.
Chapter
1. Introduction to company law
Book
Paul Davies
Introduction to Company Law provides a conceptual introduction and a clear framework with which to navigate the intricacies of company law. The book analyses the mechanisms through which the law provides an organisational structure for the conduct of business. Given that structure, the book discusses how the law seeks to reduce the costs of using it, whether these are costs for managers, shareholders as a class, non-controlling shareholders, creditors, or employees, identifying the trade-offs involved. This discussion takes in both the Companies Act 2006 and various types of ‘soft law’, notably the Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. This third edition contains two new chapters: one on liability and enforcement and the other on the social function of corporate law. Both are issues that have come to prominence in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–09.
