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:
“I believe my ardour for invention springs from his loins. I cant say that the brassiere will ever take as great a place in history as the steamboat, but I did invent it.”
—Caresse Crosby (18921970)
“In the history of the United States, there is no continuity at all. You can cut through it anywhere and nothing on this side of the cut has anything to do with anything on the other side.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (18381918)
“For a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (18961940)