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Memorandum of Association

The formation of a public company involves preparation and filing of several essential documents. Two of basic documents are :

1. Memorandum of Association
2. Articles of Association

The preparation of Memorandum of Association is the first step in the formation of a company. It is the main document of the company which defines its objects and lays down the fundamental conditions upon which alone the company is allowed to be formed. It is the charter of the company. It governs the relationship of the company with the outside world and defines the scope of its activities. Its purpose is to enable shareholders, creditors and those who deal with the company to know what exactly is its permitted range of activities. It enables these parties to know the purpose, for which their money is going to be used by the company and the nature and extent of risk they are undertaking in making investment. Memorandum of Association enable the parties dealing with the company to know with certainty as whether the contractual relation to which they intend to enter with the company is within the objects of the company.

Form of Memorandum (Sec. 14) 

Companies Act has given four forms of Memorandum of Association in Schedule I. These are as follows :

Table B     Memorandum of a company limited by shares

Table C    Memorandum of a company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital

Table D    Memorandum of company limited by guarantee and having share capital.

Table E    Memorandum of an unlimited company

Every company is required to adopt one of these forms or any other form as near there to as circumstances admit.

Printing and signing of Memorandum (Sec. 15).

The memorandum of Association of a company shall be (a) printed, (b) divided into paragraphs numbered consecutively, and (c) signed by prescribed number of subscribers (7 or more in the case of public company, two or more in the case of private company respectively). Each subscriber must sign for his/her name, address, description and occupation in the presence of at least one witness who shall attest the signature and shall likewise add his address, description and occupation, if any.

Contents of Memorandum

1. Name clause

Promoters of the company have to make an application to the registrar of Companies for the availability of name. The company can adopt any name if :

i) There is no other company registered under the same or under an identical name;

ii) The name should not be considered undesirable and prohibited by the Central Government (Sec. 20). A name which misrepresents the public is prohibited by the Government under the Emblems & Names (Prevention of Improper use) Act, 1950 for example, Indian National Flag, name pictorial representation of Mahatma Gandhi and the Prime Minister of India, name and emblems of the U.N.O., and W.H.O., the official seal and Emblems of the Central Government and State Governments. Where the name of the company closely resembles the name of the company already registered, the Court may direct the change of the name of the company.

iii) Once the name has been approved and the company has been registered, then

(a) the name of the company with registered office shall be affixed on outside of the business premises;

(b) if the liability of the members is limited the words “Limited” or “Private Limited” as the case may be, shall be added to the name; [Sec 13(1) (1)]: Omission of the word ‘Limited’ makes the name incorrect. Where the word’

Limited” forms part of a company’s name, omission of this word shall make the name incorrect. If the company makes a contract without the use of the word “Limited”, the officers of the company who make the contract would be deemed to be personally liable [Atkins & Co v Wardle, (1889) 61 LT 23]

The omission to use the word ‘Limited’ as part of the name of a company must have been deliberate and not merely accidental. Note the following case in this regard:

Dermatine Co. Ltd. v Ashworth, (1905) 21 T.L.R. 510. A bill of exchange drawn upon a limited company in its proper name was duly accepted by 2 directors of the company. The rubber stamp by which the word of acceptance were impressed on the bill was longer that the paper of the bill and hence the word ‘Limited’ was missed. Held, the company was liable to pay and the directors were not personally liable.

(c) the name and address of the registered office shall be mentioned in all letterheads, business letters, notices and Common Seal of the Company, etc. (Sec. 147). In Osborn v The Bank of U. A. E., [9 Wheat (22 US), 738]; it was held that the name of a company is the symbol of its personal existence. The name should be properly and correctly mentioned. The Central Government may allow a company to drop the word “Limited” from its name.

2. Registered Office Clause

Memorandum of Association must state the name of the State in which the registered office of the companmy is to be situated. It will fix up the domicile of the company. Further, every company must have a registered office either from the day it begins to carry on business or within 30 days of its incorporation, whichever is earlier, to which all communications and notices may be addressed. Registered Office of a company is the place of its residence for the purpose of delivering or addressing any communication, service of any notice or process of court of law and for determining question of jurisdiction of courts in any action against the company. It is also the place for keeping statutory books of the company.

Notice of the situation of the registered office and every change shall be given to the Registrar within 30 days after the date of incorporation of the company or after the date of change. If default is made in complying with these requirements, the company and every officer of the company who is default shall be punishable with fine which may extend to Rs. 50 per during which the default continues.

3. Object Clause

This is the most important clause in the memorandum because it not only shows the object or objects for which the company is formed but also determines the extent of the powers which the comapany can exercise in order to achieve the object or objects. Stating the objects of the company in the Memorandum of Association is not a mere legal technicality but it is a necessity of great practical importance. It is essential that the public who purchase its shares should know clearly what are the objects for which they are paying.

In the case of companies which were in existence immediately before the commencement of the Companies (Amendment) Act. 1965, the object clause has simply to state the objects of the company. But in the case of a company to be registered after be amendment, the objects clause must state separately.

i) Main Objects : This sub-clause has to state the main objects to be pursued by the company on its incorporation and objects incidental or ancillary to the attainment of main objects.

ii) Other objects: This sub-clause shall state other objects which are not included in the above clause.

Further, in case of a non-trading company, whose objects are not confined to one state, the objects clause must mention specifically the States to whose territories the objects extend. (Sec. 13)

A company, which has a main object together with a number of subsidiary objects, cannot continue to pursue the subsidiary objects after the main object has come to an end.

Crown Bank. Re (1890) 44 Ch D. 634. A company’s objects clause enabled it to act as a bank and further to invest in securities land to underwrite issue of securities. The company abandoned its banking business and confined it self to investment and financial speculation. Held, the company was not entitled to do so.

Incidental acts. The powers specified in the Memorandum must not be construed strictly. The company may do anything which is fairly incidental to these powers. Anything reasonable incidental to the attainment or pursuit of any of the express objects of the company will, unless expressly prohibited, be within the implied powers of the company.

While drafting the objects clause of a company the following points should be kept in mind.

1. The objects of the company must not be illegal, e.g. to carry on lottery business.
2. The objects of the company must not be against the provisions of the Companies Act such as buying its own shares (Sec. 77), declaring dividend out of capital etc.
3. The objects must not be against public, e.g. to carry on trade with an enemy country.
4. The objects must be stated clearly and definitely. An ambiguous statement like “Company may take up any work which it deems profitable” is meaningless.
5. The objects must be quite elaborate also. Note only the main objects but the subsidiary or incidental objects too should be stated.

The narrower the objects expressed in the memorandum, the less is the subscriber’s risk, but the wider such objects the greater is the security of those who transact business with the company.

4. Capital Clause 

In case of a company having a share capital unless the company is an unlimited company, Memorandum shall also state the amount of share capital with which the company is to be registered and division there of into shares of a fixed amount [Sec. 13 (4)]. The capital with which the company is registered is called the authorized or nominal share capital. The nominal capital is divided into classes of shares and their values are mentioned in the clause. The amount of nominal or authorized capital of the company would be normally, that which shall be required for the attainment of the main objects of the company. IN case of companies limited by guarantee, the amount promised by each member to be contributed by them in case of the winding up of the company is to be mentioned. No subscriber to the memorandum shall take less than one share. Each subscriber of the Memorandum shall write against his name the number of shares he takes.

5. Liability Clause

In the case of company limited by shares or by guarantee, Memorandum of Association must have a clause to the effect that the liability of the members is limited. It implies that a shareholder cannot be called upon to pay any time amount more then the unpaid portion on the shares held by him. He will no more be liable if once he has paid the full nominal value of the share.

The Memorandum of Association of a company limited by guarantee must further state that each member undertakes to contribute to the assets of the company if wound up, while he is a member or within one year after he ceased to be so, towards the debts and liabilities of the company as well as the costs and expenses of winding up and for the adjustment of the rights of the contributories among themselves not exceeding a specified amount.

Any alteration in the memorandum of association compelling a member to take up more shares, or which increases his liability, would be null and void. (Sec 38). If a company carries on business for more than 6 months while the number of members is less than seven in the case of public company, and less than two in case of a private company, each member aware of this fact, is liable for all the debts contracted by the company after the period of 6 months has elapsed. (Sec. 45).

6. Association or Subscription Clause

In this clause, the subscribers declare that they desire to be formed into a company and agree to take shares stated against their names. No subscriber will take less than one share. The memorandum has to be subscribed to by at least seven persons in the case of a public company and by at least two persons in the case of a private company. The signature of each subscriber must be attested by at least one witness who cannot be any of the subscribers. Each subscriber and his witness shall add his address, description and occupation, if any. This clause generally runs in this form : “we, the several person whose names and addresses are subscribed, are desirous of being formed into a company in pursuance of the number of shares in the capital of the company, set opposite of our respective name”.

After registration, no subscriber to the memorandum can withdraw his subscription on any ground.