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A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a
statutory body A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law ( statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being empowered or delegated to set rules (for example r ...
by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in some cases minimal) extent provided for in 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).


Australia

In
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, statutory corporations are a type of statutory authority created by Acts of state or federal parliaments. A statutory corporation is defined in the government 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). An earlier definition describes a statutory corporation as "a statutory authority that is a body corporate", and the New South Wales Government's Land Registry Services defines a state-owned corporation as "a statutory authority that has corporate status". Current statutory corporations include
Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post ...
,
Airservices Australia Airservices Australia is an Australian Government owned corporation, responsible for providing safe, secure, efficient and environmentally responsible services to the aviation industry within the Australian Flight Information Region (FIR). S ...
, the Australian Rail Track Corporation and the
Australian Egg Corporation Australian Eggs (AE) is the major marketer of eggs in Australia. It is a producer-owned corporation, representing approximately 400 commercial egg producers and is based in Sydney. The activities of AE include marketing, research and development ...
. 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. 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 airline Qantas, Telstra (also previously known as Telecom Australia) and the Commonwealth Bank.


Germany

A statutory corporation in Germany is called a ''Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts'' (KdöR). An example of a statutory corporation is a '' Kassenärztliche Vereinigung'', a body involved in the provision of out-patient medical services in a German state. Other examples include public broadcasters, Jewish communities and Christian churches established in Germany.


Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, some corporations are incorporated by legislation. An example is the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, which owns the railway network and was previously also an operator. The
MTR Corporation Limited MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hon ...
was also such a company, then named as Mass Transit Railway Corporation. Other examples include the Ocean Park Corporation, and the former Industrial Estates Corporation and Land Development Corporation.


India

''Statutory corporations'' are government 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 a corporate 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: *
Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...
* Damodar Valley Corporation * National Highways Authority of India * Central Warehousing Corporation (cewacor.nic.in/) * Inland Waterways Authority of India (www.iwai.gov.in/) *
Food Corporation of India Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...
(fciweb.nic.in/) Features: # Generally financed by the central or state government. # May borrow funds from the public and government organisation through statutory sources. # They have separate legal entity. # They have to frame their own policies and procedures within the scope of state legislature. # Provide better services to public and make adequate profit. # They are autonomous in their functioning, thus, they enjoy operational flexibility. # They can recruit and appoint their employees with their service condition, since they are a corporate body. # They have to follow the special statute strictly. # There is less government interference in matters of the corporation. # The members of the corporation have limited liability. # a public corporation is public body incorporated under a separate statue 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.


Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, a statutory corporation is a body corporate, which is created under a particular Act of the Oireachtas. Some statutory corporations are expected to operate as if they were a commercial company (with or without a subsidy from the Exchequer, depending on whether or not it would make a profit without one). Such bodies do not have shareholders, 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 most state-sponsored bodies of the Republic of Ireland took until recent years; however, the usual policy today is that a
private limited company by shares A private company limited by shares is a class of private limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, certain Commonwealth countries, and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareholders with limit ...
or public limited company incorporated under the Companies' Acts is set up instead, with the relevant minister holding 100% of the issued share capital. Nonetheless, several prominent statutory corporations continue to exist, such as Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), Bord Gáis Éireann,
An Bord Pleanála (; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided majo ...
, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.


Netherlands

In the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, the term "public body" is the general denomination for
administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
s within the Dutch state or certain other types of governmental organisations.


United Kingdom

In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, a statutory corporation is a corporate body created by statute. It typically has no shareholders and its powers are defined by the Act of Parliament which creates it, and may be modified by later legislation. Such bodies were often created to provide public services, examples including British Railways, the
Talyllyn Railway The Talyllyn Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Talyllyn) is a narrow gauge preserved railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865Drummond 2015, page 17 ...
, the National Coal Board, Post Office Corporation and Transport for London. Other examples include the county councils, the National Assembly for Wales, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Channel Four Television Corporation, and the Olympic Delivery Authority.
London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 The London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 (c 12) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed following the decision of the International Olympic Committee to stage the 2012 Olympic Games in London. It is inte ...
The phrase is not used to describe a company which operates as a conventional shareholder-owned company registered under the Companies Acts. ;See also * A non-departmental public body is a classification to certain types of public bodies. ** Quango (quasi-autonomous-non-governmental organisation) is a commonly used acronym to refer to a non-departmental public body. * The Scottish public bodies is used to indicate all quangos and other organisations in Scotland. N.B. An entity described by the undefined term ''public body'' is not inevitably a ''statutory corporation''.


United States

At the state level, municipal corporations and counties are often created by legislative acts. Some organizations such as a transit district or special purpose corporations such as a university, 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 other non-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 by
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
. Prior to the
District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...
being granted the ability to issue corporate charters in the late 19th century, corporations operating in the District required a congressional 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. There are a number of federally chartered corporations that still exist. Some relatively famous ones include the
Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in ...
, each of the Federal Reserve Banks, and the Federal 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.


See also

* Government agency * Statutory authority * Crown corporation * Government-owned corporation * Regulatory agency * Non-departmental public body * Établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial * Crown corporations of Canada * Tokushu hōjin (specially designated public corporation in Japan) * Crown entity, similar bodies in New Zealand


References


Further reading

*Garnaut, Ben
Understanding statutory authorities and corporations in SA
Bulletin (Law Society of South Australia), Vol. 40, No. 4, May 2018: 10, 12. ISSN: 1038-6777. {{DEFAULTSORT:Statutory Corporation Government bodies Corporate law