Australian corporations law
- Australian corporations law
Australian corporations law has historically borrowed heavily from English company laws. Its legal structure now consists of a single, national statute, the Corporations Act 2001. The statute is administered by a single national regulatory authority, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Meaning
A "corporation" is defined as a fictitious person created by charter, prescription or legislation. ["Butterworths Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary" (definition of "corporation").]
Australian law, like English law, recognises a kind of corporation called the corporation sole. However, there are few cases of such corporations, the corporation sole is excluded from the Australian statutory definition of corporation. [Corporations Act 2001 s 57A.]
Sources of law
Corporations law in Australia is largely governed by two statutes enacted by the Federal Parliament: Corporations Act 2001, and Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 - together called "corporations legislation". [ Corporations Act 2001 s 9; Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 s 5(1).] The corporations legislation is administered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC"), which reports to the Treasurer.
Fundamental case law doctrines of company law underpin the interpretation of the Corporations Act. [See the specialised law reports: "Australian Corporations and Securities Reports" and "Australian Company Law Cases".] Since provisions in the Act can frequently be traced back to some pioneer legislation in the United Kingdom, reference is frequently made to judgments of courts there.
Takeovers
Takeovers are regulated directly by detailed and very technical rules in Chapter 6 of the Corporations Act 2001. Corporate control transactions and restructings may also be subject to anti-monopoly, foreign investment, employment protection and special industry protection legislation. [See Renard I A and Santamaria J G, "Takeovers and Reconstructions in Australia", Butterworths looseleaf, Ch 1]
References
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
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