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of a rich man, they are apt to consider attention to small matters as not for their master's honour, and very easily give themselves a dispensation from having it. Negligence and profusion, therefore, must always prevail, more or less, in the management of the affairs of such a company. It is upon this account, that joint-stock companies for foreign trade have seldom been able to maintain the competition against private adventurers.
35:
485:, which (possibly with the motive of protecting the South Sea Company from competition) prohibited the establishment of any companies without a Royal Charter. The share price rose so rapidly that people began buying shares merely in order to sell them at a higher price, which in turn led to higher share prices. This was the first
574:
The directors of such companies, however, being the managers rather of other people's money than of their own, it cannot well be expected, that they should watch over it with the same anxious vigilance with which the partners in a private copartnery frequently watch over their own. Like the stewards
472:
to supply slaves and engage in limited trade in other goods in the region for a period of thirty years. The trading started slowly and was in any case limited in extent by the terms of the assiento, but it was hoped that it would lead to breaking into the traditionally closed
Spanish markets in
727:
Over the twentieth century, companies in the UK became the dominant organisational form of economic activity, which raised concerns about how accountable those who controlled companies were to those who invested in them. The first reforms following the Great
Depression, in the
689:, which allowed investors to limit their liability in the event of business failure to the amount they invested in the company. These two features – a simple registration procedure and limited liability – were subsequently codified in the first modern company law Act, the
489:
the country had seen, but by the end of 1720, the bubble had "burst", and the share price sank from £1000 to under £100. As bankruptcies and recriminations ricocheted through government and high society, the mood against corporations, and errant directors, was bitter.
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172:, deriving from its predecessors in Roman and English law. Company law in its current form dates from the mid-nineteenth century, however other forms of business association developed long before.
52:
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that mass corporate activity could not match private entrepreneurship, because people in charge of others' money would not exercise as much care as they would with their own. As he put it,
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turned toward internal control mechanisms, such as auditing, separation of the chief executive position from the chair, and remuneration committees to place some check on excessive
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was mainly administrative, as a unified entity under which the rights and duties of all investors and managers could be channeled. The most important development, was the
210:
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had gathered pace, pressing for legal change to facilitate business activity. Restrictions were gradually lifted on ordinary people incorporating until, under the
458:, was established in 1711 to trade in the Spanish South American colonies, but met with less success. The South Sea Company's monopoly rights were backed by the
839:
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254:. Corporations at this time would essentially act on the government's behalf, bringing in revenue from its exploits abroad. Subsequently, the Company became
99:
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with
British military and colonial policy, just as most UK corporations were essentially dependent on the British navy's ability to control trade routes.
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proposed reform to allow employees to participate in selecting the board of directors, as was happening in across Europe, exemplified by the German
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In medieval times traders would typically act through private law constructs, such as partnerships. These arose at
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meant a steadily growing body of EU Directives and case law to harmonise company law within the internal market.
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with the grant of a monopoly over a specified territory. The best known example, established in 1600, was the
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ships, both with monopolies to trade. Other chartered corporations, still in existence include the
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477:, bought thousands of shares. By 1717, the South Sea Company was so wealthy that it assumed the
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has been dubbed the "father of modern company law" for his role in drafting the 1855 reforms.
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of the UK government. This accelerated the inflation of the share price further, as did the
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747:. However the UK never implemented the reforms, and from 1979 the debate shifted.
732:, ensured that directors could be removed by shareholders with a simple majority
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America. Investors in the UK, enticed by extravagant promises of profit from the
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granted it the exclusive right to trade with all countries to the east of the
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were also often involved in the regulation of trade among themselves.
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prohibition on establishing companies remained in force until 1824.
846:
Kamer van
Koophandel en Fabrieken voor Amsterdam v Inspire Art Ltd
657:
132:
867:
HA Shannon (October 1933). "The
Limited Companies of 1866–1883".
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758:. These rules applicable to listed companies, now found in the
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An
Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
28:
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whenever people acted together with a view to profit. Early
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have essentially retained the same fundamental features.
762:, have been complemented principles based regulation of
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Became the largest colonial empire in the 19th century.
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The company: A short history of a revolutionary idea
59:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
211:List of organisations with a British royal charter
905:(6th ed., Sweet and Maxwell, 1997) chapters 2–4
572:
462:, signed in 1713 as a settlement following the
234:, the government created corporations under a
68:"History of company law in the United Kingdom"
287:Company of Merchants of the Staple of England
8:
840:Centros Ltd v Erhvervs-og Selskabsstryrelsen
415:Merger of the Turkey and Venetian Companies.
299:Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands
162:history of company law in the United Kingdom
807:The South Sea Company’s slaving activities
293:Company of Merchant Adventurers of London
119:Learn how and when to remove this message
271:
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164:concerns the change and development in
7:
636:Imperial British East Africa Company
57:adding citations to reliable sources
881:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1933.tb02257.x/
534:The Charitable Corporation v Sutton
466:, which gave the United Kingdom an
140:'s depiction in 1614 of competing
25:
648:Development of modern company law
276:The British East India Company's
908:J Micklethwait and A Wooldridge
903:Principles of Modern Company Law
33:
750:Through the 1990s the focus in
44:needs additional citations for
691:Joint Stock Companies Act 1856
679:Joint Stock Companies Act 1844
654:Joint Stock Companies Act 1856
1:
828:(1776) Book V, ch 1, part III
766:activity in company affairs.
665:, then Vice President of the
227:As England sought to build a
869:The Economic Historic Review
857:General and cited references
769:The UK's integration in the
760:UK Corporate Governance Code
723:UK Corporate Governance Code
642:British South Africa Company
624:British North Borneo Company
587:African Company of Merchants
618:Eastern Archipelago Company
580:Colonialism and imperialism
954:
938:United Kingdom company law
843:2 CMLR 551 (C-212/97) and
739:In 1977, the government's
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687:Limited Liability Act 1855
651:
443:
428:Guinea Company of Scotland
365:London and Bristol Company
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244:British East India Company
220:
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168:within the context of the
142:British East India Company
901:PL Davies and LCB Gower,
600:Van Diemen's Land Company
508:Case of Sutton's Hospital
464:War of Spanish Succession
389:Royal West Indian Company
383:Providence Island Company
377:Massachusetts Bay Company
335:East India Company (HEIC)
933:History of corporate law
915:V Barnes and J Hardman,
745:Codetermination Act 1976
606:South Australian Company
526:Attorney General v. Davy
146:Dutch East India Company
138:Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom
764:institutional investors
711:Institutional investors
256:increasingly integrated
217:Mercantile corporations
917:Origins of Company Law
912:(Modern Library, 2003)
849:ECR I-10155 (C-167/01)
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281:
262:Chartered corporations
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18:UK company law history
683:separate legal person
675:Industrial Revolution
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567:The Wealth of Nations
511:(1612) 77 Eng Rep 960
401:Royal African Company
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752:corporate governance
594:Sierra Leone Company
395:Hudson's Bay Company
371:Somers Isles Company
170:history of companies
150:Hudson's Bay Company
53:improve this article
812:9 December 2012 at
630:Royal Niger Company
612:New Zealand Company
542:Whelpdale v Cookson
434:Company of Scotland
268:Chartered companies
152:(est 1670) and the
730:Companies Act 1948
699:Companies Act 2006
697:up to the present
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487:speculative bubble
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875::3. pp. 290–316.
705:Twentieth century
673:By the 1820s the
475:company promoters
460:Treaty of Utrecht
456:South Sea Company
452:chartered company
446:South Sea Company
407:Greenland Company
341:New River Company
252:Cape of Good Hope
248:Queen Elizabeth I
240:Act of Parliament
223:Chartered company
176:Medieval business
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545:(1747) 27 ER 856
537:(1742) 26 ER 642
529:(1741) 2 Atk 212
516:Keech v Sandford
500:Bubble Act 1720s
440:South Sea Bubble
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353:Virginia Company
317:Eastland Company
204:livery companies
186:Livery companies
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693:. A series of
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51:Please help
46:verification
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663:Robert Lowe
520:EWHC Ch J76
494:Prohibition
479:public debt
387:1664–1674:
156:(est 1694).
927:Categories
824:A. Smith,
709:See also:
562:Adam Smith
450:A similar
229:mercantile
196:common law
79:newspapers
794:Citations
564:wrote in
555:97 ER 426
280:in London
109:June 2017
862:Articles
810:Archived
777:See also
469:assiento
889:2590649
553:(1758)
93:scholar
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721:, and
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238:or an
232:Empire
200:guilds
188:, and
182:Guilds
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885:JSTOR
837:E.g.
100:JSTOR
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498:The
202:and
160:The
144:and
72:news
883:.
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55:by
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