The Joint Stock Companies Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. ''c.''110) was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

that expanded access to the incorporation of

joint-stock companies A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

. Before the Act, incorporation was possible only by

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

private Act Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...

and was limited owing to Parliament's protection of the privileges and advantages thereby granted. As a result, many businesses came to be operated as

unincorporated association Unincorporated associations are one vehicle for people to cooperate towards a common goal. The range of possible unincorporated associations is nearly limitless, but typical examples are: :* An amateur football team who agree to hire a pitch onc ...

s with possibly thousands of members. Any consequent

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

had to be carried out in the joint names of all the members and was almost impossibly cumbersome. Though Parliament would sometimes grant a private act to allow an individual to represent the whole in legal proceedings, this was a narrow and necessarily costly expedient, allowed only to established companies. The 1844 Act created the

Registrar of Joint Stock Companies A company register is a register of organizations in the jurisdiction they operate under. A statistical business register has a different purpose than a company register. While a commercial/trade register serves a purpose of protection, accounta ...

, empowered to register companies by a two-stage process. The first, provisional, stage cost £5 () and did not confer corporate status, which arose after completing the second stage for another £5. However, there was still no

limited liability Limited liability is a legal status in which a person's financial liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a corporation, company or partnership. If a company that provides limited liability to it ...

and company members could still be held responsible for unlimited losses by the company.''Re Sea Fire and Life Assurance Co., Greenwood's Case'' (1854) 3 De GM&G 459 Limited liability was subsequently introduced by the Limited Liability Act 1855. The system of registration was revised by the Joint Stock Companies Act 1856. The aim of the act was to place business and economy on a surer foundation and to increase public confidence in the honesty of business.

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* * * 1844 in law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1844 History of corporate law United Kingdom company law {{UK-statute-stub

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