Model articles of association of business companies under legislation of Ukraine and the United Kingdom: comparative characteristic.

Abstract

Introduction. In 2011, the legal system ofUkraine introduced a previously unknown principle of state registration of business entities based on the model articles of association, borrowed from the law of theUnited Kingdom. It should be noted that the expected popularity inUkraine has not been achieved. At the same time, most of the major types of companies are successfully operating in theUK under the model articles of association. For this reason, the author refers to the experience of legislative regulation of model articles of association in theUK.

Recent research and publications analysis. The issue of model articles of association is rised in the scientific works of such Ukrainian academics as T. I. Brovchenko, K. V. Kovalenko, O. R. Kibenko, I. V. Lukach, and others. At the same time, the legal regulation of model articles of association in theUK after the corporate law reform2006 in domestic science was not studied and its comparative characteristic with Ukrainian legislation was not carried out.

Paper objective. The purpose of this article is to analyze the legal regulation of model articles of association in theUK andUkraine, their comparative characteristics, as well as the formulation of appropriate proposals for the improvement of domestic legislation in this area.

Paper main body. The article examines the legislative regulation of model articles of association of business companies in theUK andUkraine. It is determined that it has significant differences, in particular, in the application of model articles of association. So, section 20 of the UK Companies Act 2006 as a general rule provides default application of model articles of association, unless the founders of the company expressed another intention. The company may exclude the use of a Model Articles by indicating this in its own articles of association or by including in it provisions that in other way than the Model articles regulate corporate relations. Otherwise, the model articles of association according to section 20 of the Companies Act 2006 form part of the company's articles. InUkraine, the model articles of association of a limited liability company, pursuant to the legislation, is applied by the will of the founders, which takes the form of a decision about formation of a business entity.

Since 2008, theUKhas three sets of different Model Articles for three most common types of companies – public and private companies limited by shares, and a private company limited by guarantee. Unlike Ukrainian legislation, the British Companies Act 2006 provides the application of the amendments of model articles by regulations that were in force on the day of the company's registration. In accordance with this principle, the model articles of association provided for in Table A issued under the 1985 Companies Act and earlier versions continue to apply in theUK.

It is noted that the introduction of model articles of association inUkrainehas caused a lot of legal conflicts. It is suggested that the model articles of association for the lack of information individualizing company cannot be considered inUkraineas a company's constitution.

Conclusions of the research. The introduction of a model articles of association such as the British into the legal system ofUkraine is difficult to estimate unambiguously. Remaining it in the domestic legal system requires significant improvement of the legal regulation, in particular, the urgent regulation of the issue of application of changes introduced into the Model Articles of association by the Cabinet of Ministers.