Articles of Association (law)

In corporate governance, a company's articles of association (AoA, called articles of incorporation in some jurisdictions) is a document which, along with the memorandum of association (in cases where the memorandum exists) form the company's constitution, defines the responsibilities of the directors, the kind of business to be undertaken, and the means by which the shareholders exert control over the board of directors.

A company is an incorporated body so there should be some rules and regulations formed for the management of its internal affairs and conduct of its business as well as the relation between the members and the company. Moreover, the rights and duties of its members and the company are to be recorded. This is why Articles of Association are necessary. The Articles of Association is a document that contains the purpose of the company as well as the duties and responsibilities of its members defined and recorded clearly. It is an important document which needs to be filed with the Registrar of Companies.

The term articles of association of a company, or articles of incorporation, of an American or Canadian Company, are often simply referred to as articles (and are often capitalized as an abbreviation for the full term). The Articles are a requirement for the establishment of a company under the law of India, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Pakistan and many other countries. Together with the memorandum of association, they are the constitution of a company. The equivalent term for LLC is Articles of Organization. Roughly equivalent terms operate in other countries, such as Gesellschaftsvertrag in Germany, statuts in France, statut in Poland,статут (Latin: statut) in Ukraine, Jeong-gwan in South Korea.

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