- Joint stock companies work by owning collective shares, as their users face unlimited liability.
- These companies are businesses that empower holders and enable them to trade shares freely.
A Joint-Stock Company is a modern solution that provides benefits like shared ownership and professional management to empower business organizations. This method can empower shareholders with perks like limiting liability, enabling access to transferable ownership and resource pooling. This innovation has the potential to revolutionize existing business models as it offers increased capital access, a scalable economy, and transparent operations. Its distinct features are beneficial, but they still have some limitations in today’s market.
What Joint-Stock Companies Do?
This company defines a firm that’s owned by its investors. This ownership structure is widely adopted by several businesses. Using this method, businesses are scaled up using collective shareholding by numerous holders. By completing its legal formalities, the private company becomes a public firm.
The aim of creating a joint-stock company is to harness profit. Its shareholders acquire profits in exchange for the number of stocks held by them. This results in restricting liabilities to the extent of a shareholder’s capital investment. These shares can be transferred without relying on other shareholders, as the transfer doesn’t have any impact on the company’s continuation.
Even factors such as death, retirement, and the insanity of a shareholder don’t affect a company’s business. To change the ownership structure, the Articles of Association and the Memorandum of Association need to be rewritten.
Types of Joint-Stock Companies
These companies are mainly classified into three types depending on their characteristics:
Registered Company
These companies abide by state and local authorities to be allowed to conduct business as per their institutional form, such as corporations, S-corporations, partnered groups, companies with limited liability, etc.
Chartered Company
Chartered companies incorporate a nation’s royal charter. These companies possess specific privileges regarding the conduct of their business operations.
Statutory Company
Statutory companies are those entities that are established after abiding by a nation’s legislature to enable public service to benefit the residents. Statutory companies have responsibilities and leverage detailed in a nation’s act.
Advantages of Joint-Stock
These companies allow a solid business formation to thrive by working collectively. Each investor in this company harnesses the benefit of its business and every shareholder acquires a piece of the company proportional to the amount they have invested in it. This ownership provides additional privileges, such as the fact that every shareholder has a say in changes that happen within the company, even without running the company themselves.
To manage the company, these shareholders elect a “Board of Directors”. Several positions on this board are filled through elections that take place every year. However, this process can vary with different companies. In this method of election, shareholders not only vote to elect the members of this board but also vote to approve or deny factors like annual reports, account setup, and budget as well.
These shareholders can also occupy a role on the board of directors when a role is vacant or unoccupied. These roles are approved by the collective consensus of the company’s holding entities to avoid any future conflict.
Conclusion
The concept of joint-stock emerged in Europe in the early 13th century, in 1606. Initially, it came into the picture as the Virginia Company of London was formed. Being the first joint firm ever to be introduced in America, it offered features like limited liability that make traditional business more profitable. Apart from so many pros and cons, these joint firms play a crucial role in funding the settlements of the original US colonies. In the United States, these companies are limited to the face value of the shares, including corporate law, to facilitate shareholder’s limited liability.
