Corporation bodies

The three bodies of the corporation are called Executive Officers, Shareholder Meeting, and Board of Directors

Executive Officers

The executive officers oversee the daily business of the corporation. They make the daily decisions in the company. You might also say that they make the day-to-day decisions. It doesn’t actually have to be the case that the corporation is led by several executives. One is enough. On the other hand, large companies have a team of executive officers sometimes with various positions such as a President, a Treasurer, and a Secretary in order to better organize the various tasks of this body of the corporation.

Board of Directors

Policy decisions, preparations for other policy decisions for the company as well as the control and selection of the executive officers, are a matter for the Board of Directors. An example of a policy decision would be a merger with another company. In such a case the Board of Directors gathers all necessary information to help the shareholders of the corporation make decisions based on the facts. Members of the Board of Directors can simultaneously also be executive officers, but they do not have to be. They can also be shareholders of the corporation, but this is not an obligation. The Board of Directors is chosen by the shareholders, who can also deselect them.

Shareholder-Meeting

The corporation shareholders meet regularly for shareholder meetings. They have rights to dividends, voting rights, and other rights. How often a shareholder meeting must be held is codified at a state level. In addition to the regular meetings, extraordinary shareholder meetings are possible, in which the shareholders can, for example, decide on a restructuring of the corporation.

In light of this information it hardly seems possible that a corporation can be led by one person. But it is possible.

The individual entrepreneur is, in this case, the only executive officer and the only member of the Board of Directors of the corporation. The corporation at the same time does not release any shares with the result that the shareholder meeting is a one-person meeting.

The question remains: What does all this mean? What evidence is there to suggest that you should decide on the corporation as the legal form for your newly-founded company? The advantages of the corporation could provide you with the answers.