Published: 14 Feb 2024
Last updated: 13 Oct 2023
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The Limited Company is a separate legal; entity. Shareholders own the Company whilst the Directors make the day to day management decisions. Even minority shareholders are protected by the law. The primary objective is "the interests of the Company".
Directors are at risk. They must always act in the best interests of the Company. They must be keenly aware of any conflict of interest. They must be aware of their "fiduciary duty" towards the Company i.e. in other words they must be trustworthy. If not, the consequences can be serious. The Director can be on the receiving end of an application under the Companies Disqualification Act to disqualify him from acting as a Director.
Though a Director is not generally personally liable as he is NOT the Company, just an officer of the Company. However, if he is guilty of misfeasance, he can called upon to meet a debt personally. It can be a very narrow line between acceptable and unacceptable.
So far as Directors are concerned, they must look to the Articles of Association to establish they exact right. This, in effect, is the rule book by which the Company is bound - the Constitution.
The shareholders can intervene if they believe the Company is not being run properly and have rights to inspect the books and accounts of the Company.
If there is an impasse between shareholders, then application if necessary needs to be made to the Court, leading even to a Petition for Winding up of the Company on the basis that it is "just and equitable" to do so.
There is much scope for disagreement, but there are remedies offered by the Law. You need to be informed.