Statutory corporation

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A statutory corporation is a corporation created by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction
thus they might be ordinary companies/corporations owned by a government with or without other
shareholders, or they might be a body without shareholders which iscontrolled by national or sub-
national government to the (in some cases minimal) extent provided for in the creating legislation.

Bodies described in the English language as "statutory corporations" exist in the following countries in
accordance with the associated descriptions (where provided) :-

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Australia

• 2 Germany

• 3 India

• 4 Ireland

• 5 United Kingdom

• 6 United States

• 7 References

• 8 See also

[edit]Australia

In Australia, statutory corporations are created by Acts of state or federal parliaments. Current
statutory corporations include Australia Post,Airservices Australia, the Australian Rail Track
Corporation and the Australian Egg Corporation. The purpose of their separation from normal
government operations is to ensure profitability, and in theory, independence of decision making
from the state or national government (to ensure that decisions are made on a commercial basis
with less or no political interference.)
As statutory corporations, their regulatory and business conditions may be significantly different
from private-sector companies. An example of this in Australia is the regulatory conditions placed
on the national communications company Telstra.

A significant number of the statutory corporations are private commercial operations, a number of
which have been privatised, in part or in whole, since the 1980s: these have included the national
airline Qantas, Telstra (also previously known as Telecom Australia), and theCommonwealth
Bank of Australia.

[edit]Germany

The Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (KdöR) is a statutory corporation of Germany. An

example of a Statutory Corporation is a "Kassenärztliche Vereinigung", a body involved in the
provision of out-patient medical services in a German state.

[edit]India

Statutory corporation are public enterprises into existence by a Special Act of the Parliament. The
Act defines its powers and functions, rules and regulations governing its employees and its
relationship with government departments.

This is a corporate body created by the legislature with defined powers and functions and is
financially independent with a clear control over a specified area or a particular type of
commercial activity. It is a corporate person and has the capacity of acting in its own name.
Statutory corporations therefore have the power of the government and considerable amount of
operating flexibility of private enterprises. Few are

 Airport Authority of India

 Damodar Vally corporation
 National Highway authority of India
 Central warehousing Corporation
 Inland Waterways authority of India
 Food Corporation of India

[edit]Ireland

Main article: State-sponsored bodies of the Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, a statutory corporation is a body corporate, which is created under a
particular Act of the Oireachtas, which is expected to operate as if it were a commercial company
(with or without a subsidy from the Exchequer, depending on whether or not it would make a
profit without one). Such bodies do not have shareholders, but are typically boards appointed by
a sponsor minister. The provisions of the Companies' Acts do not typically directly apply to such
bodies, although their founding legislation may specify similar requirements. As they are not
formally companies they do not make a profit or loss, but rather a surplus or deficit.

The statutory corporation format was usually the form most state-sponsored bodies of the
Republic of Ireland took until recent years, however usual policy today is that a private limited
company by shares or public limited company incorporated under the Companies' Acts is set up
instead, with the relevant Minister holding 100% of the issued share capital. Nonetheless as of
2007 several prominent statutory corporations continue to exist, such as Radio Telefís Éireann,
the Electricity Supply Board, and Bord Gáis Éireann

[edit]United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a statutory corporation is a corporate body created by statute. It typically
has no shareholders and its powers are defined by the Act of Parliament which creates it, and
may be modified by later legislation. Such bodies were often created to provide public services,
examples including British Railways, the National Coal Board and the Post Office Corporation.
Other examples include the county councils, the National Assembly for Wales[1], Channel Four
Television Corporation and the Olympic Delivery Authority.[2] The phrase is not used to describe a
company which operates as a conventional shareholder-owned company registered under the
Companies Acts.

[edit]United States
At the state level, municipal corporations and counties are often created by legislative acts. Some
organizations such as a transit district or special purpose corporations such as a university, are
also created by statute. In some states, a city or country can be created by petition of a certain
number or percentage of voters or landholders of the affected area, which then causes a
municipal corporation to be chartered as a result of compliance with the appropriate law.
Corporations to be established for most other purposes are usually just incorporated as any
other non-profit corporation, by filing the paperwork with the appropriate agency as part of the
formation of the entity.

At the Federal level, a small number of corporations are created by Congress. Prior to the District
of Columbia being granted the ability to issue corporate charters in the late 19th century,
corporations operating in the District required a congressional charter. With limited exceptions,
most corporations created by Congress are not federally chartered, but are simply created as
District of Columbia corporations as a result of the enabling law.[citation needed]
There are a number of federally chartered corporations that still exist, some relatively famous
ones include the Boy Scouts of America, each of the Federal Reserve Banks, and the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation. The basic advantage for being federally chartered is that no other
corporation anywhere in the United States is allowed to have the same name.