Articles of Association of a Company (A short note)

Articles of Association are the rules regarding internal management of a company. These rules are subsidiary to the Memorandum of Association and hence, should not contradict or exceed anything stated in the Memorandum of Association. A public limited company may adopt Table A which is a model set of articles given in the Companies Act. Table A is a document containing rules and regulations for the internal management of a company. If a company adopts Table A, there is no need to prepare separate Articles of Association. For companies not adopting Table A, a copy of the Articles of Association, stamped and duly signed by signatories to the Memorandum of Association is required for registration.

Few of the noted features of Articles of Association are:
* Acts which are beyond Articles can be ratified by the members, provided they do not violate the Memorandum.
* Articles define the relationship of the members and the company.
* Articles can be altered by passing a special resolution by the members.
* Promoters have to decide about the members who will be signing the Articles of Association of the proposed company.
One of the strengths of Articles of Association is that it focuses more on the content, rather than on the form. These may include escalation procedures, process charts showing the method or the procedure of work, an organizational chart and last but not the least a simple and straightforward flow chart for the basis of accounting of that particular organization. However, a company or an organization must remember to have a set of formal articles of association if they wish to register themselves in more than one country and must address the minimum issues which are required by the laws prevailing in a country.

• Memorandum of Association of a Company (a short note)