The Companies Bill 61 of 2008 – new categories of companies

Set out below is a brief overview of the types of companies which may be formed and incorporated once the Companies Bill 61 of 2008 (“the Bill”) is enacted and becomes effective, and also an indication of the most important differences between such companies. Included in this overview is a discussion of the names of companies, the doctrine of constructive notice as it is incorporated into the Bill and reference to some of the transitional arrangements.

Clause 8 of the Bill envisages two types of companies to be formed and incorporated, namely profit companies and non-profit companies. As will be seen below, the categorisation under profit companies contains the same concepts as are currently in use, such as “private” and “public” companies, but also introduces a new concept, namely that of the state-owned company.

The concepts introduced by the Corporate laws Amendment Act 24 of 2006, namely that of “widely held” and “limited interest” companies, have been abandoned. This is to be welcomed, since these concepts only added confusion.

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