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{{Other uses}}
{{More footnotes|date=June 2016}}
{{Companies law}}
A '''company''', abbreviated '''co.''', is a [[Legal personality|legal entity]] made up of an [[Voluntary association|association]] of people, be they [[Natural person|natural]], [[Legal personality|legal]], or a mixture of both, for carrying on a commercial or industrial enterprise. Company members share a common purpose and unite in order to focus their various [[desire|talents]] and organize their collectively available [[skill]]s or [[resource]]s to achieve specific, declared [[goal]]s. Companies take various forms such as:
* [[Voluntary association]]s which may include [[nonprofit organization]]
* [[Company (military unit)|A group of soldiers]]
* [[Companies law|Business entities]] with an aim of gaining a [[Profit (economics)|profit]]
* [[Financial capital|Financial entities]] and [[bank]]s
A company or association of persons can be created at [[law]] as legal person so that the company in itself can accept [[limited liability]] for civil responsibility and taxation incurred as members perform (or fail) to discharge their [[duty]] within the [[Common knowledge|publicly declared]] ''[[Incorporation (business)|"birth certificate"]]'' or [[Publishing|published]] [[policy]].
Because companies are legal persons, they also may associate and register themselves as companies – often known as a [[corporate group]]. When the company closes it may need a ''[[Liquidation|"death certificate"]]'' to avoid further legal obligations.
==Meanings and definitions==
A company can be defined as an "artificial person", invisible, intangible, created by or under law, with a discrete [[legal personality]], [[perpetual succession]], and a [[Company seal|common seal]].{{cn|date=October 2013}} It is not affected by the death, insanity, or [[insolvency]] of an individual member.
===Etymology===
The English word ''company'' has its origins in the [[Old French]] military term ''compaignie'' (first recorded in 1150), meaning a "body of soldiers",<ref>{{OEtymD|company}}</ref> and originally from the [[Late Latin]] word ''companio'' "companion, one who eats bread [''pane''] with you", first attested in the ''[[Salic law|Lex Salica]]'' as a calque of the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] expression *''gahlaibo'' (literally, "with bread"), related to [[Old High German]] ''galeipo'' "companion" and [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''gahlaiba'' "messmate". By 1303, the word referred to [[Guild|trade guild]]s. Usage of ''company'' to mean "business association" was first recorded in 1553,{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} and the abbreviation "co." dates from 1769.
===United Kingdom===
In [[English law]] and in legal jurisdictions based upon it, a company is a [[Legal personality|body corporate]] or corporation company registered under the [[United Kingdom company law|Companies Acts]] or similar legislation.<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/section/1 Companies Act 2006, Section 1]
</ref>
Common forms include:
* [[Private company limited by guarantee|Private companies limited by guarantee]]
* Companies without share capital (often [[Nonprofit organization|non-profit]] entities)
* [[Private company limited by shares|Private companies limited by shares]] - the most common form of company
* [[Public limited company|Public limited companies]] - companies, usually large, which are permitted to (but do not have to) offer their shares to the public, for example on a [[stock exchange]]
In the United Kingdom, a [[partnership]] is not legally a company, but may sometimes be referred to{{by whom?|date=October 2015}} informally as a company. It may be referred to as a [[Business|firm]].
===United States===
In the [[United States]], a company may be a "[[corporation]], [[partnership]], association, [[joint-stock company]], [[Investment trust|trust]], [[Mutual fund|fund]], or organized group of [[person]]s, whether incorporated or not, and (in an official capacity) any receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or similar official, or liquidating [[Law of agency|agent]], for any of the foregoing".<ref name="Black's">Black's Law and lee Dictionary. Second Pocket Edition. Bryan A. Garner, editor. West. 2001.</ref> In the US, a company is not necessarily a corporation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/company|title=Company legal definition of company|work=TheFreeDictionary.com}}</ref>
==Types==
{{for|a country-by-country listing|types of business entity}}
*'''A [[Private company limited by guarantee|company limited by guarantee]]'''. Commonly used where companies are formed for non-commercial purposes, such as clubs or charities. The members guarantee the payment of certain (usually nominal) amounts if the company goes into [[liquidation|insolvent liquidation]], but otherwise they have no economic rights in relation to the company. This type of company is common in [[England]]. A company limited by guarantee may be with or without having [[share capital]].
*'''A [[Private company limited by shares|company limited by shares]]'''. The most common form of company used for business ventures. Specifically, a limited company is a "company in which the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount individually invested" with corporations being "the most common example of a limited company."<ref name="Black's"/> This type of company is common in [[England]] and many English-speaking countries. A company limited by shares may be a
**[[public company|publicly traded company]] or a
**[[privately held company]].
*'''A company limited by guarantee with a share capital'''. A hybrid entity, usually used where the company is formed for non-commercial purposes, but the activities of the company are partly funded by investors who expect a return. This type of company may no longer be formed in the UK, although provisions still exist in law for them to exist.<ref>Companies Act 2006</ref>
*'''A [[limited liability company]]'''. "A company—statutorily authorized in certain states—that is characterized by limited liability, management by members or managers, and limitations on ownership transfer", i.e., L.L.C.<ref name="Black's"/> LLC structure has been called "hybrid" in that it "combines the characteristics of a corporation and of a partnership or sole proprietorship". Like a corporation, it has limited liability for members of the company, and like a partnership it has "flow-through taxation to the members" and must be "dissolved upon the death or bankruptcy of a member".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/llc.asp#ixzz2CEzgE239|title=Limited Liability Company (LLC) Definition - Investopedia|author=root|work=Investopedia}}</ref>
*'''An [[unlimited company]] with or without a share capital'''. A hybrid entity, a company where the liability of members or shareholders for the debts (if any) of the company are not limited. In this case doctrine of veil of incorporation does not apply.
''Less common types of companies are:''
*'''Companies formed by letters patent'''. Most corporations by letters patent are ''[[corporation sole|corporations sole]]'' and not companies as the term is commonly understood today.
*'''[[Royal charter|Charter corporations]]'''. Before the passing of modern companies legislation, these were the only types of companies. Now they are relatively rare, except for very old companies that still survive (of which there are still many, particularly many British banks), or modern societies that fulfill a quasi regulatory function (for example, the [[Bank of England]] is a corporation formed by a modern charter).
*'''Statutory companies'''. Relatively rare today, certain companies have been formed by a private statute passed in the relevant jurisdiction.
Note that "Ltd after the company's name signifies limited company, and PLC ([[public limited company]]) indicates that its shares are widely held."{{cn|date=September 2013}}
In legal parlance, the owners of a company are normally referred to as the "members". In a company limited or unlimited by shares (formed or incorporated with a share capital), this will be the [[shareholder]]s. In a company limited by guarantee, this will be the guarantors. Some [[Offshore financial centre|offshore jurisdictions]] have created special forms of [[offshore company]] in a bid to attract business for their jurisdictions. Examples include "[[segregated portfolio company|segregated portfolio companies]]" and restricted purpose companies.
There are, however, many, many sub-categories of types of company that can be formed in various jurisdictions in the world.
Companies are also sometimes distinguished for legal and regulatory purposes between '''[[public limited company|public companies]]''' and '''[[privately held company|private companies]]'''. Public companies are companies whose shares can be publicly traded, often (although not always) on a [[stock exchange]] which imposes [[Listing (finance)|listing requirements]]/[[Listing Rules]] as to the issued shares, the trading of shares and future issue of shares to help bolster the reputation of the exchange or particular market of an exchange. Private companies do not have publicly traded shares, and often contain restrictions on transfers of shares. In some jurisdictions, private companies have maximum numbers of shareholders.
A [[parent company]] is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company. The definition of a parent company differs by jurisdiction, with the definition normally being defined by way of laws dealing with companies in that jurisdiction.
==See also==
{{portal|Business and economics|Companies}}
*[[Corporate personhood]]
*[[List of company registers]]
*[[List of largest employers]]
*[[Lists of companies]] – company-related list articles on Wikipedia
*[[Types of business entity]]
==References==
<references/>
==
{{Wiktionary|company}}
{{wikiquote|Companies}}
*Dignam, A and Lowry, J. ''Company Law''. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-19-928936-3}}.
*[[John Micklethwait]] and [[Adrian Wooldridge]], ''The Company: a Short History of a Revolutionary Idea''. New York: Modern Library, 2003.
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Company|volume=6|pages=795–803|short=1}}
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