​English Company Law – Incorporation of Companies ( Key Summary) 
Companies (and limited liability partnerships) are founded through a formal process known as 'incorporation.' The great majority of companies are formed through registration, which entails filing certain documents with Companies House.

 A company has many of the same rights as a natural person, including the ability to engage into contracts, own property, and initiate legal processes. The members' liability will be limited in the great majority of companies. 

A company has corporate personality, which means it is a person in the eyes of the law. Where a statute so provides, or where a company is interposed in order to evade or impede the enforcement of a legal obligation, the courts can set aside a company's corporate personality. Companies might be found accountable for civil wrongdoing or guilty of criminal activity.

English Company Law – Special measures for listed or quoted companies 
It's worth noting that most public companies don't have their shares listed on the stock exchange. There are four reasons why it's vital to know if a companies are  listed or quoted: (i) Listed firms must follow a number of extra laws, including the provisions of Part VI of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as well as the FCA's rules enacted under the 2000 Act. The FCA Handbook contains these rules, the most important of which are I the Listing Rules; (ii) the Prospectus Regulation Rules; and (iii) the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules for our purposes. 

(iv)Companies having a premium listing are subject to the UK Corporate Governance Code.Companies that are quoted are subject to a variety of regulations.

​English Company Law -Listed and Quoted Companies.
​ As previously stated, public companies can trade their shares on a stock exchange, and they can become listed or quoted companies. A listed company differs from a quoted corporation in the following ways:
 
A listed company, according to the FCA Handbook, is one that has a class of securities listed on the UK's official list.
 
A quoted company is one whose share capital has been included on the official list (so most listed companies will be quoted as well) or whose share capital is officially listed in an EEA State, ( quoted not listed) or whose share capital is admitted to dealing on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq (CA 2006, s 385(2)).( quoted not listed)  The term "unquoted" refers to a firm that is not publicly traded.

​English Company Law –Unlimited Companies 
Only about 0.2 percent of all companies are unlimited. The reason there are so few unlimited companies is simple: when a company is wound up, the members' responsibility is personal and unlimited, which means their personal assets (houses, cars, bank accounts, etc.) can be confiscated and sold to pay the company's debts.

​English Company Law - Companies with a limited liability
The vast majority of companies are limited liability companies. There were around 4.2 million companies registered in the UK as of March 2019, with just 4,133 being limitless firms. If a company's members' liability is limited, the form and scope of the limitation will be determined by whether their responsibility is limited by guarantee or by shares: The members' liability in a limited-by-guarantee business is restricted to the amount mentioned in the statement of guarantee (Insolvency Act 1986, s 74(3)). When a corporation is limited by shares, the members' liability is normally restricted to the amount owed on their shares (Insolvency Act 1986, section 74(2) (d)). Members who have paid in full for their shares are generally not obligated to make any further contributions to the company. 

​English Company Law - Limited and unlimited companies 
The designations 'limited' and 'unlimited' refer to the liability of the company's members, not the company itself. As previously stated, a public company's members' liability must be limited (CA 2006, s 4(2)). If the promoters choose to form a private company, they must select whether the company's members' liability will be limited or unlimited.

 English Company Law - The differences between Public and Private Limited Companies. 

Number of companies

Public Limited Companies 
As of December 2019, there were 5,478 public companies registered in the UK (0.1 per cent of the
total number of companies)

Private limited Companies 

As of December 2019, there were 4 million private companies registered in the UK (99.9 per cent of the total number of companies)

Share capital requirement

Public Limited Companies 
Must have a share capital

Private Limited Companies 
No share capital required, but the vast majority do have a share capital

Liability of members

Public Limited Companies
Must be limited. It is impossible to create an unlimited public company


Private Limited Companies 
Can be limited or unlimited, although the vast majority
are limited

Public offering of shares

Public Limited Companies 
Can offer to sell its shares to the public at large

Private Limited Companies 
Cannot offer to sell its shares to the public at large

Stock exchange listing

Public Limited Companies 
Can list its shares (although the majority do not)

Private Limited Companies 
Cannot list its shares

Minimum capital requirement

Public Limited Companies 
Must have an allotted share capital of at least £50,000

Private Limited Companies 
No minimum capital requirement

Minimum number of directors

Public Limited Companies 
Two 

Private Limited Companies 
One

Suffix required

Public Limited Companies 
Plc 

Private Limited Companies 
Ltd

Company secretary

Public Limited Companies 
Must appoint a company secretary

Private Limited Companies 
Need not appoint a company secretary, but may do so if it chooses

The CA 2006 regulates public companies more stringently than private companies. Listed companies are regulated even more stringently by having to comply with Pt VI of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the FCA Handbook. The UK Corporate Governance Code applies to companies with a premium listing

Private and Public Companies
Companies, both public and private
When forming a company, the promoters must specify whether the company will be registered as a private or public company. A public company is one whose certificate of incorporation specifies that it is one (CA 2006, s 4(2)). Any firm that is not a public company is referred to as a private company (CA 2006, s 4(1)).
The following are the main distinctions between a public and a private company: A public company may offer to sell its shares to the general public, and to facilitate this, it may offer to sell its shares on a stock exchange, with the London Stock Exchange serving as the  major market in the United Kingdom.

This enables public companies to raise large sums of money fast (for example, Facebook's initial public offering on Nasdaq allowed them to generate almost $16 billion in one day by selling shares). Private limited companies cannot offer their shares to the general public (CA 2006, s 755(1)) or list them on the official list (Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, s 75(3) and Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Official Listing of Securities) Regulations 2001, reg 3). As a result, private companies often have a tough time obtaining adequate cash. While private businesses can be formed with a little amount of money (e.g., a single 1 pence share), public companies must have an allocated share capital of at least £50,000 (s. With only one member, both private and public businesses can be formed. A public company, on the other hand, must have at least two directors, but a private company can be created with only one (CA 2006, s 154). 

​Public companies must appoint a company secretary by law (CA 2006, s 271), although private firms are not obligated to do so (but may do so if they wish). The suffix 'Ltd' must be added to the name of private limited companies (CA 2006, s 59(1)). The suffix 'plc' is required for public companies (CA 2006, s 58(1)).

English Company Law - Companies
The mechanisms by which a company can be formed, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of conducting business through a company, are critical considerations. The focus of this discussion will be on the various types of businesses that can be established. The CA 2006 defines a variety of various types of businesses that can be classified based on particular features, such as: Is it going to be a public or private company? Is the company's members' liability to be limited or unlimited? If the company's liability is to be infinite, it must be private; the law prohibits the formation of unlimited public companies. Is there a share capital in the company? Private firms do not required to have a share capital, however the vast majority do (as of March 2019, there were 4.2 million companies established in the UK, with only roughly 150,000 without a share capital). A limited company with no share capital is referred to as a 'limited by 1. guarantee' firm. Because companies limited by share capital outnumber firms limited by guarantee, will concentrate on companies limited by share capital. Because the focus is on companies limited by shares, the first two features described above, beginning with the distinctions between public and private companies, are critical.

​Differences between Ordinary Partnership and Limited Liability Partnership 

Ordinary partnership 
Formation 
Can be formed informally by two or more persons agreeing to carry on business in
partnership

Limited Liability Partnership 
Formally incorporated by registration with the registrar of companies

Corporate Personality 
Ordinary partnerships do not have corporate personality

Limited Liability Partnership
do have corporate personality

Regulation 
Ordinary partnership regulated by partnership law, notably the PA 1890

Limited Liability Partnership regulated by company law unless LPPA 2000 states otherwise. 

Designation of Partners 
The partners of ordinary partnership are known as partners.

The partners of limited liability partnership are known as members. 

Liability of Partners 
The partners of an ordinary partnership are jointly liable for the debts of the partnership and are jointly and severally liable for its liabilities

The members of an LLP are not generally liable for the debts and
liabilities of an LLP.The LLP itself is liable

Disqualification 
The partners of an ordinary partnership cannot be disqualified from acting as a partner of an ordinary partnership

The members of an LLP can be disqualified from acting as a member of an LLP (or as a company director)