History
The first kabushiki gaisha was the First National Bank of Japan, incorporated in 1873.
Rules regarding kabushiki gaisha were set out in the Commercial Code of Japan. During the American occupation following World War II, the occupation authorities introduced revisions to the Commercial Code based on the Illinois Business Corporation Act of 1933, giving kabushiki gaisha many traits of American corporations.
Over time, Japanese and U.S. corporate law diverged, and K.K. assumed many characteristics not found in U.S. corporations. For instance, a K.K. could not buy back its own stock (a restriction which still stands), issue stock for a price of less than ¥50,000 per share (effective 1982), or operate with paid-in capital of less than ¥10 million (effective 1991-2005).
On June 29, 2005, the Diet of Japan passed a new Companies Act (会社法, kaisha-hō?), which took effect on May 1, 2006. The new law greatly affected the formation and function of K.K.'s and other Japanese business organizations, bringing them closer to their contemporary counterparts in the U.S.
A complete translation into English of the new Companies Act and summary analysis is available at Japanese Law Translation
Read more about this topic: Kabushiki Gaisha
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“There is no history of how bad became better.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“Tell me of the height of the mountains of the moon, or of the diameter of space, and I may believe you, but of the secret history of the Almighty, and I shall pronounce thee mad.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)