In Russia, a joint-stock company is the most common organizational and legal form for commercial enterprises of medium and large businesses. Moreover, large organizations are most often open-ended, while smaller ones exist as closed joint-stock companies.
A joint stock company is a commercial organization, the authorized capital of which is divided into a strictly defined number of shares. Investors (shareholders) are liable for losses related to economic activity only in the amount of the value of the shares they own.
There are two forms of joint stock companies: closed - when the total number of shareholders is less than fifty, and open - the number of shareholders is not limited and exceeds fifty. If the number of shareholders in a closed joint-stock company exceeds the limit established by law, then it must be transformed into an open one, or the number of participants again reduced.
The organizational documents of the company are its charter and articles of association. In the founding agreement, a decision is made on the creation of a company, and the charter regulates issues of financial and economic activities, management of the company, determines the composition and competence of its bodies, the number and procedure for issuing shares.
The process of creating a joint stock company is subject to state registration. Only after that the company is considered established and has the right to carry out its activities in accordance with its organizational and legal documents.
The main governing body of the company is the general meeting of all its shareholders, which decides on amending the charter, forming the board of directors and the control and auditing commission, reorganizing or liquidating the company, approving its annual financial statement on profit and loss and distributing this profit among shareholders. In turn, the bodies formed at the meeting carry out general management of the company and are accountable to the general meeting.
Doing business in the form of a "joint stock company" allows you to accumulate large funds in a short period of time, which is very convenient for the implementation of large projects.
