Corporations law or corporate law is the law concerning the creation and regulation of corporations. A corporation is a group of people which are legally treated as a person; the corporation can own property, sign contracts, sue, and be sued.

Corporate law refers to the law governing the relationships among shareholders and management. For example, corporate law can answer the question: under what circumstances may a corporation rent property from a director? Corporate law governs such areas as the duties that directors and officers have to the corporation, the occasions that require a shareholder vote, annual shareholder meetings, the number and type of shares that can be issued by the corporation, and dissolution of the corporation. Corporate law also sometimes includes securities laws, which govern the conditions under which corporations can issue shares and is aimed at preventing fraudulent offering schemes.

Corporate law does not include law that relates the corporation to third parties, such as commercial law, antitrust law, and environmental law.

In the United States corporations are regulated by both Federal and state governments and must comply with local law where it is applicable. However, they are chartered by the individual states and applicable rules, regulations, and law can vary dramatically from state to state.

See also:

European Company Statute

Corporate governance