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Astatutory corporation is acorporation created bystatute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but their powers are defined in, and controlled by, 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).
InAustralia, statutory corporations are a type ofstatutory authority created by Acts of state or federal parliaments.
A statutory corporation is defined in the federalDepartment of Finance's glossary as a "statutory body that is a body corporate, including an entity created under section 87 of the PGPA Act" (i.e. a statutory authority may also be a statutory corporation).[1] An earlier definition describes a statutory corporation as "a statutory authority that is a body corporate",[2] and theNew South Wales Government's Land Registry Services defines a state-owned corporation as "a statutory authority that has corporate status".[3]
Current statutory corporations includeAustralia Post,Airservices Australia, theAustralian Rail Track Corporation and theAustralian 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.[citation needed]
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 airlineQantas,Telstra (also previously known as Telecom Australia) and theCommonwealth Bank.[citation needed]
A well known example of a statutory corporation in Austria is theAustrian Federal Computing Centre, which provides IT services to most government agencies in Austria.[4] The centre is aGmbH that was created by statute.[5][6] It carries out functions that were previously fulfilled by theMinistry of Finance.[4]
Similarly, theORF-Beitrags Service, which collects the AustrianTV licence fee, is also a limited company created by statute.[7][8][9]
Even local law enforcement in Austria is at times handled by organisations akin to statutory corporations: In the city ofLinz, the municipal government owns theOrdnungsdienst der Stadt Linz GmbH, a limited company that fulfills functions that could be compared tobylaw enforcement in the United States.[10]
A statutory corporation in Germany is called aKörperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (KdöR). An example of a statutory corporation is aKassenärztliche Vereinigung, a body involved in the provision of out-patient medical services in a German state.[11] Other examples include public broadcasters,[12] Jewish communities[13] and Christian churches established in Germany.[14][15]Sparkassen, which are publicly owned local banks, can also be considered statutory corporations depending on the jurisdiction.[16]
In Hong Kong, some corporations are incorporated by legislation. An example is theKowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, which owns the railway network and was previously also an operator. TheMTR Corporation Limited was also such a company, then named as Mass Transit Railway Corporation. Other examples include theOcean Park Corporation, and the formerIndustrial Estates Corporation andLand Development Corporation.
Statutory corporations aregovernment establishments brought 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 body corporate 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 acorporate person and has the capacity of acting in its own name. Statutory corporations therefore have the power of the government and the considerable amount of operating flexibility of private enterprises.A few are:
Features:
Which define its objectives, power and duties. It is created by a special law Of parliament. It may be established by the central government are also known as National corporations.
InIreland, a statutory corporation is a body corporate, which is created under a particularAct of the Oireachtas. Some statutory corporations are expected to operate as if they were a commercial company (with or without asubsidy from theExchequer, depending on whether or not it would make a profit without one). Such bodies do not haveshareholders, 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.
The statutory corporation format was usually the form moststate-sponsored bodies of Ireland took until recent years; however, the usual policy today is that aprivate limited company by shares orpublic 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[update], several prominent statutory corporations continue to exist, such asRaidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), theElectricity Supply Board (ESB),Bord Gáis Éireann,An Bord Pleanála, theFood Safety Authority of Ireland.
In theUnited Kingdom, a statutory corporation is acorporate body controlled by, and normally created by,statute. It typically has no shareholders and its powers are defined by theact of Parliament which creates it, and may be modified by later legislation. Such bodies have often been created to provide public services, examples includingBritish Railways, theFfestiniog Railway, theTalyllyn Railway, theNational Coal Board, the formerPost Office Corporation andTransport for London. Other examples include thelocal authorities,[17]Channel Four Television Corporation, and theOlympic Delivery Authority.[18] Statutory corporations are widely used in education: sixth form college corporations and further education corporations, the legal form ofsixth form colleges andfurther education colleges, as well as higher education corporations, the legal form of mostpost-1992 universities, are all statutory corporations created under theEducation Reform Act 1988 and theFurther and Higher Education Act 1992; a small number of older universities are also statutory corporations created under specific acts of Parliament.[19][20] The phrase is not used to describe a company which operates as a conventional shareholder-owned company registered under the Companies Acts.
A public body can have a variety of forms and is not inevitably a statutory corporation, nor is a statutory corporation necessarily a public body.[21]
At the state level,municipal corporations andcounties are often created by legislative acts. Some organizations such as atransit district or special purpose corporations such as auniversity, are also created by statute. In some states, a city or county 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 othernon-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 byCongress. Prior to theDistrict of Columbia being granted the ability to issue corporate charters in the late 19th century, corporations operating in the District required acongressional 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 theBoy Scouts of America, each of theFederal Reserve Banks, and theFederal 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.
