from http://www.investorwords.com
company
Any entity engaging in business, such as a proprietorship,
partnership, or corporation.
corporation
The most common form of business organization, and one which is
chartered by a state and given many legal rights as an entity separate
from its owners. Characterized by the limited liability of its owners,
the issuance of shares of easily transferable stock, and existence as
a going concern.
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In other words, to be a corporation the company has to have gone
through a legal process of incorporation. This will involve setting up
a charter for the regulation of management (called 'articles of
incorporation' outside the US). Note too that most countries have
government watchdogs which maintain and enforce codes of behaviour for
corporations, and have the power to impose fines and other sanctions
on corporations which violate that code, and on non-corporations which
pretend to be incorporated.
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Thus, from the same source:
incorporation
The process by which a business receives a state charter, allowing it
to become a corporation.
bylaws
The official rules and regulations which govern a corporation's
management. Drawn up at the time of incorporation, along with the
charter.
charter
A document, filed with a U.S. state by a corporation's founders,
describing the purpose, place of business, and other details of a
corporation. also called articles of incorporation.
de jure corporation
A corporation that has earned its state charter by fulfilling the
requirements for formation and is legally entitled to do business. |
