Joint stock company is one of the ways to organize commercial activities. This is the legal form of an enterprise that has the ability to attract an unlimited amount of available funds through the issuance and sale of securities - shares. AO founders can be both individuals and legal entities. Those people who have acquired shares become co-owners of the enterprise, but the number of rights and opportunities that they will have depends on the percentage of their shares in relation to all shares of the enterprise. The joint-stock company acts on the basis of the law of the Russian Federation “On joint-stock companies” and the charter, which should be established by all shareholders of the enterprise.
The joint-stock company is closed (CJSC) and open (OJSC) types. Both that, and another after the registration has the full right to sell the shares. However, this sale in a closed and open joint-stock company will be carried out in a different order, which is the main difference between these two joint-stock companies.
Closed Joint Stock Company
This type includes societies whose securities, i.e. shares may be distributed only among its founders or other predetermined persons. The company does not have the right to publicly subscribe for issued shares, as well as sell them to everyone. In this joint-stock company, a certain limit is imposed on the number of shareholders themselves: under the law there can be no more than 50 people. Based on this, the authorized capital of a closed joint-stock company is much less than in a joint stock company. If one of the shareholders of the company decided to sell its shares, then first of all he should offer them to other shareholders of the enterprise. And only if they do not dare to exercise their full right to purchase these shares, the latter can be sold to third parties (this provision is definitely the charter of the company).
Public corporation
In the course of its activities, such an AO company may sell shares without any restrictions, and organization of a subscription to shares is also its right. Thanks to these opportunities, the company can significantly increase its authorized capital, as well as attract new persons to the development of its commercial activities. The sale of shares may be carried out in an unlimited number and unlimited number of individuals and legal entities, while all transactions must be carried out in accordance with legal and legislative acts of the Russian Federation. Such a public joint-stock company is also distinguished by the fact that each of its shareholders is free to dispose of its shares, and the consent of other shareholders is not required.
Every year, the company is obliged to publish an annual report, as well as information on profit, loss and its balance sheet. By law, such information is not confidential, so anyone can read it freely.
Types of shares
There are two types of shares: preferred and ordinary. Holders of preferred shares are denied the right to vote on the Board of Shareholders, for which they are guaranteed to receive dividends, the so-called income from share profits, regardless of the level of development of the enterprise. If we talk about the owners of ordinary shares, then although they receive dividends, the latter are not fixed. Their size completely depends on how successfully the enterprise is developing. At the same time, holders of ordinary shares are not deprived of voting rights on the Board of Shareholders.
The creation of a joint stock company is a justifiable step if you want to get large capital from organized activities. Here, however, it will not be possible to do without the initial capital, and it will already be rather big initially. It is worth noting that AO is not suitable for every business, but it is it that makes a big contribution to the development of the country's economy.