The Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 (c.12) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced the concept of the limited liability partnership into English and Scots law. It created an LLP as a body with legal personality separate from its members (unlike a normal partnership) which is governed under a hybrid system of law partially from company law and partially from partnership law. Unlike normal partnerships the liability of members of an LLP on winding up is limited to the amount of capital they contributed to the LLP.
Section 2 of the act provides that an LLP may be incorporated when two or more persons associated for the purpose of carrying on legal business subscribe their names to an incorporation document; that incorporation document, or an approved copy of it, has been delivered to the Companies Registrar at Companies House; and a statement either by a solicitor or one of the subscribers that the formalities have been complied with has also been delivered to the registrar. The incorporation document must take either the prescribed form or a form as close to the prescribed form as possible. It must contain the address of the registered office of the LLP, state the name of the LLP, state the name of the members of the LLP on incorporation, state which of those members are to be "designated members" or that all members will be "designated members" and also say whether the LLP's registered office is to be situated in England and Wales, Wales or Scotland.
Section 3 provides that once the formalities have been complied with, the registrar retains the incorporation document or a copy of it and issues a certificate of incorporation. That certificate is regarded as conclusive evidence that the incorporation formalities have been complied with.
Membership of the LLP is initially those who subscribed to the incorporation document. A person may become a new member of an LLP with the agreement of existing members and cease to be a member with their agreement as well. As with a normal partnership, a partner of an LLP is not regarded as being employed by the LLP—they are self-employed. The relationship between members is governed by an agreement between the members. If an agreement does not exist the act provides that regulations may be made to specify the default form of such an agreement. As with normal partnerships the members of an LLP are agents of the LLP, and the LLP is liable for the actions of a member when that member acts in a wrongful way or makes an omission. However, unlike a normal partnership, the members of an LLP are not jointly and severally liable for the actions of another member. This is because the LLP itself has legal personality separate from its members. If the membership of an LLP changes then the registrar must be informed within 14 days and if a member changes their address the registrar must be informed within 28 days.
Members of an LLP are subject to income tax on their income as trading income in the same way as a normal partnership. They also pay class 4 National Insurance contributions in the same way as anyone else who is self-employed. Capital gains tax applies to members of LLPs as to those in a normal partnership. Within one year of incorporation of an LLP there is an exception to stamp duty on land transferred to the LLP if the person transferring the property is a member of the LLP and that the proportions of the property are the same as those before the transaction.
LLPs are wound up and subject to insolvency in much the same way as companies. Section 14 of the act makes provision for regulations to be made applying certain provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986 to LLPs. Similarly, Section 15 makes provision for the making of regulations to apply company law or disapply company law and to apply partnership law as seem appropriate.
Complementing the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000, much of the law on LLPs is in statutory instruments made under it that apply other legislation. Most importantly, many elements of the Companies Act 2006 are applied to LLPs by regulations made in 2008 and 2009.
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations may partner to increase the likelihood of each achieving their mission and to amplify their reach. A partnership may result in issuing and holding equity or may be only governed by a contract.
A limited liability company (LLC) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a corporation. An LLC is not a corporation under state law; it is a legal form of a company that provides limited liability to its owners in many jurisdictions. LLCs are well known for the flexibility that they provide to business owners; depending on the situation, an LLC may elect to use corporate tax rules instead of being treated as a partnership, and, under certain circumstances, LLCs may be organized as not-for-profit. In certain U.S. states, businesses that provide professional services requiring a state professional license, such as legal or medical services, may not be allowed to form an LLC but may be required to form a similar entity called a professional limited liability company (PLLC).
In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by shares, the liability of members is limited to the unpaid value of shares. In a company limited by guarantee, the liability of owners is limited to such amount as the owners may undertake to contribute to the assets of the company, in the event of being wound up. The former may be further divided in public companies and private companies. Who may become a member of a private limited company is restricted by law and by the company's rules. In contrast, anyone may buy shares in a public limited company.
A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit elements of partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is not responsible or liable for another partner's misconduct or negligence. This distinguishes a LLP from a traditional partnership under the UK Partnership Act 1890, in which each partner has joint liability. In an LLP, some or all partners have a form of limited liability similar to that of the shareholders of a corporation. Unlike corporate shareholders, the partners have the power to manage the business directly. In contrast, corporate shareholders must elect a board of directors under the laws of various state charters. The board organizes itself and hires corporate officers who then have as "corporate" individuals the legal responsibility to manage the corporation in the corporation's best interest. An LLP also contains a different level of tax liability from that of a corporation.
A private limited company is any type of business entity in "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Examples include the LLC in the United States, private company limited by shares in the United Kingdom, GmbH in Germany and Austria, société à responsabilité limitée in France, and sociedad de responsabilidad limitada in the Spanish-speaking world. The benefit of having a private limited company is that there is limited liability. However, shares can only be sold to shareholders in the business, which means that it can be difficult to liquidate such a company.
Companies House is the United Kingdom's registrar of companies and is an executive agency of Her Majesty's Government, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies are incorporated and registered with Companies House and file specific details as required by legislation. All registered limited companies, including subsidiary, small and inactive companies, must file annual financial statements in addition to annual company returns, and all these are public records. Only some registered unlimited companies are exempt from this requirement.
A limited partnership (LP) is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership except that while a general partnership must have at least two general partners (GPs), a limited partnership must have at least one GP and at least one limited partner. Limited partnerships are distinct from limited liability partnerships, in which all partners have limited liability.
The Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2002 is an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly which introduced the concept of the limited liability partnership into Northern Irish law, passed two years after the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 introduced the concept into the law of England and Wales and Scots law.
There are many ways in which a business may be owned under the legal system of England and Wales.
The Companies Commission of Malaysia, is a statutory body formed under an Act of Parliament that regulates corporate and business affairs in Malaysia. The SSM was formed in 2002 under the Companies Commission of Malaysia Act 2001, assuming the functions of the Registrar of Companies and Registry of Business.
United Kingdom partnership law concerns the way that partnerships are formed or governed within the United Kingdom. Depending upon where the partnership was formed, English law, Scots law or Northern Irish law may apply in addition to statutes that create a framework across the UK. Under Scots law a partnership is a distinct legal entity and can borrow money from a bank in the name of the partnership, while English law only allows borrowing in the names of individual partners. Partnerships are a form of business association, which arises automatically when people carry on business with a view to a profit. Partners are jointly and severally liable, just as they own the property in common.
A private company limited by shares is a class of private limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, certain Commonwealth countries, and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareholders with limited liability and its shares may not be offered to the general public, unlike those of a public limited company.
The Registrar of Companies (ROC) is an office under the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs that deals with administration of the Companies Act, 2013, The Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, The Company Secretaries Act, 1980 and The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949. These officers are from Indian Corporate Law Service cadre. 'ICLS' is an organised Group A service recruitment of which is done by UPSC through Civil Service Examination since 2009 along with other services like IRS, IAS & IPS etc. There are currently 25 Registrars of Companies (ROC) operating from offices in all major states of India. Some states, such as Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, have two ROCs each. Also in some places unified ROC offices manned by senior Group A ICLS officers are located in capital cities like Jammu and Srinagar. Section 609 of the Companies Act, 1956 tasks the ROCs with the primary duty of registering companies and LLPs floated in the respective states and the union territories under their administration.
The Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 was enacted by the Parliament of India to introduce and legally sanction the concept of LLP in India. Unlike the general partnerships in India, LLP is a body corporate and legal entity separate from its partners, have Perpetual succession and any change in the partners of a LLP shall not affect the existence, rights or liabilities of the LLP.
South African company law is that body of rules which regulates corporations formed under the Companies Act. A company is a business organisation which earns income by the production or sale of goods or services. This entry also covers rules by which partnerships and trusts are governed in South Africa, together with cooperatives and sole proprietorships.
The British Virgin Islands company law is the law that governs businesses registered in the British Virgin Islands. It is primarily codified through the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004, and to a lesser extent by the Insolvency Act, 2003 and by the Securities and Investment Business Act, 2010. The British Virgin Islands has approximately 30 registered companies per head of population, which is likely the highest ratio of any country in the world. Annual company registration fees provide a significant part of Government revenue in the British Virgin Islands, which accounts for the comparative lack of other taxation. This might explain why company law forms a much more prominent part of the law of the British Virgin Islands when compared to countries of similar size.
Cayman Islands company law is primarily codified in the Companies Law and the Limited Liability Companies Law, 2016, and to a lesser extent in the Securities and Investment Business Law. The Cayman Islands is a leading offshore financial centre, and financial services form a significant part of the economy of the Cayman Islands. Accordingly company law forms a much more prominent part of the law of the Cayman Islands than might otherwise be expected.
Anguillan company law is primarily codified in three principal statutes:
the International Business Companies Act ;
the Companies Act ; and
the Limited Liability Companies Act.
A Special Limited Partnership or SLP is the Luxembourg version of the similar British Limited Partnership.
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