АСТРАХАНСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

Кафедра иностранных языков

«COMPANIES, SHARES, SHAREHOLDERS»

(КОМПАНИИ, АКЦИИ, АКЦИОНЕРЫ)

Методическая разработка по развитию навыков аннотирования и реферирования профессионально ориентированных англоязычных текстов

(для студентов старших курсов экономических специальностей)

АСТРАХАНЬ – 2002

Составители: доцент кафедры «Иностранные

языки», к.ф.н. Т.В. Дроздова,

доцент кафедры «Иностранные языки»

Н.С. Акифьева,

доцент кафедры «Иностранные языки»

Л.М. Жигульская.

Рецензент: доцент кафедры «Иностранные языки»

Г.Н. Егупова.

Методическая разработка рассмотрена и утверждена на заседании кафедры иностранных языков 30 декабря 2001 г.

Протокол № 4.

TEXT I

COMPANIES: ORGANISATION AND OPERATION

A company is a body of persons joined together for purposes of business or trade. A company is usually formed by registration under one of the State Companies Act, but a few exist which have been formed by royal charter or by special act of parliament.

Business organisations formed as companies are most commonly limited liability companies, shareholders being limited in their liability to the amount of the capital unpaid on their shares. The company has a separate legal existence quite apart from that of its individual shareholders, and can sue and be sued in its own name.

A limited liability company may be formed as a public company or as a proprietary company. The proprietary company has a limited number of shareholders, generally not more, than fifty, excluding employees, and the rights of the shareholders to transfer their shares are restricted. a proprietary company is prohibited from inviting the public to subscribe for shares or debentures.

An exempt proprietary company, which is a proprietary company, no share in which is deemed to be owned by a public company, enjoys certain advantages. In certain circumstances, it is not required to appoint an auditor nor in certain circumstances, required to lodge financial statements with the annual return.

A proprietary company, whether exempt or non-exempt, enjoys certain advantages over a public company, although its inability to appeal to the public for funds and its restrictions on share transfers may be serious disadvantages. Proprietary companies outnumber public companies, but many are small and their shareholders are often limited to members of one family. Possible advantages of the proprietary company include the following features:

1. less formality on formation;

2. less cost involved in administration;

3. a minimum of two shareholders, whereas a public company must have at least five.

Quite commonly a proprietary company is formed to act for tax planning purposes as trustee or a family trust.

It may be noted that income tax legislation distinguishes between public and private companies. A company registered as a public company under the Companies Act is not necessarily a public company for tax purposes, and is quite possible that a proprietary company is taxed as a public company. The term ” public company ” is normally taken to refer to a company formed as such under one of the State Companies Acts or the new national companies code.

A public company has “Limited ” or “Ltd ” as the last word in its name. A proprietary company must have the word “Proprietary ” or “Pty ” appearing before “Limited ” or “Ltd ”. The public limited liability company has become the dominant form of business organisation on the economic scene, probably because it gathers together large amounts of capital more readily than single proprietorship or partnerships.

Because of its efficiency as a device for pooling the savings of many individuals, the company is an ideal means of obtaining the capital necessary for large-scale production and its inherent economics. Virtually all large businesses are public companies.

There are many more single proprietorships and proprietary companies and partnerships than public companies, but in terms of dollar volume of output public companies hold an impressive lead. The rise of the company to this commanding position has been inseparably linked with the trend towards larger factories, stores, organized research and development of new products, nationwide marketing areas and the increasing professionalism of business management.

One of the most significant characteristics of the company is its separate legal entity. The company is regarded as a legal person, having a continuous existence apart from that of its owners. By way of contrast a partnership is a relatively unstable type of organization which is dissolved by the death or retirement of any one of its members, whereas the continuous existence of a company is in no way threatened by the death of a shareholder or stockholder.

Ownership in a company is evidenced by transferable shares or stock (but note that a proprietary company has restrictions on such transferability), and the owners are called shareholders or stockholders. To administer the affairs of the company, they elect a board of directors.

The directors in turn select a managing director and other officers to carry on active management of the business. The shareholders do not own the assets of the company, nor do they owe the debts of the company. Because the company is a separate legal entity, apart from its owners, it is capable of owning property in its own name, or borrowing money and making contracts in its own right, of hiring and firing employees, and of performing all other acts necessary to the operation of the business.

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