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Company Law
Kazakhstan has undertaken substantial reforms and improvements in its Company Law framework. In 1998, the government adopted the new Law “On Limited and Additional Liability Companies” dated 22 April 1998 and the Law “On Joint Stock Companies” dated 10 July 1998.
Today, Kazakhstani law recognizes the following types of legal entities:
• General partnerships;
• Limited partnerships;
• Limited liability companies;
• Additional liability companies; and
• Joint stock companies.
These entities are generally established pursuant to a foundation agreement (for more than one participant or shareholder) and a charter. The foundation agreement governs the rights and obligations of the founders prior to incorporation or establishment. Once incorporated or established, the charter generally governs the rights of participants and shareholders. The foundation agreement only governs disputes between the founders.
In terms of the responsibility and predictability of the legislative process, Kazakhstan can do much to improve the situation. The business community still feels largely cut off from the legislative process. There is no established system for vetting draft legislation with business groups nor a generalized feeling that the business community has a meaningful role to play in shaping policy reform in the Company Law area. Now that a beginning has been made, Kazakhstan could do more to make its laws accessible, transparent, and user-friendly.
(Note: This information was taken from the Bankruptcy chapter of the 1999 Kazakhstan BizCLIR report. For more information, please see the report.)
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