-
13. The Calculation Regulations in the United States and England
- NYU Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
13 The Calculation Regulations in the United States and Englan d The General Situatio n The Companies Act of 194 8 in England had a total of 462 articles, along with 8 tables. Since the enactment o f the Companies Act of 1862, among man y companie s act s tha t becam e indicativ e o f a n entire era , th e Companie s Ac t o f 194 8 ha d th e mos t numerou s provisions. As a result o f the Companies Act of 1976 , Articles 127 , 147, 148 , 331, and s o forth—the provision s regarding calculatio n —were all abolished and lost their validity. There are only forty-five article s i n the Companies Act of 1976, in additio n t o "Schedules " 1 through 3 . The ful l tex t i s divide d into two parts, as follows: 1 ) accountants, accounting records, and auditors, an d 2 ) miscellaneous an d supplementary . I n Sectio n 1 , Article 12 , "Accountin g Records, " an d th e provision s relate d t o auditors in Articles 1 3 through 20 are considered th e most impor tant . As with earlier companies acts, the penalties for not adhering to these articles is imprisonment fo r less than two years, or a fine, or both. It i s m y opinio n tha t thi s i s a splendi d piec e o f legislation . I t seems particularly admirabl e tha t th e term "ever y company" ha s been used throughout and that no distinctions between companie s —such as the amount of capital, or whether a company is "listed," or "unlisted"—are made . The most importan t poin t i n Sectio n 2 180 The Calculatio n Regulation s 18 1 may b e "disclosur e o f interest s i n shares/ ' whic h ha s bee n pro vided fo r i n Articles 24 through 27 . The calculatio n regulation s i n th e Unite d State s ar e base d o n the Securitie s Ac t o f 1933, l th e Securitie s an d Exchang e Ac t (1934) , and th e Smal l Busines s Ac t o f 1958 . Eac h o f th e firs t tw o law s created a commission , an d bot h commission s hav e th e righ t t o establish regulations . Th e rule s an d regulation s promulgate d b y these commission s hav e becom e colossal . It i s a bi g job, therefore , to becom e totall y familia r wit h thes e rule s an d regulations , i n detail an d accurately . As these American rule s and regulation s ar e not necessarily par t of m y mai n subject , I will touc h o n the m onl y peripherally . Thes e laws an d regulation s ar e fa r mor e thoroug h i n term s o f socia l justice, o r i n justic e i n taxation , tha n thos e i n Japan , especiall y insofar a s thes e law s mak e n o distinctio n i n calculatio n regula tions i n regar d t o th e scal e o f a n enterprise . Specia l not e shoul d also be taken of the fact tha t a s an executive can obtain an d revie w records o f transactions , t o insur e th e completenes s an d trut h o f accounting records , these laws mandate a prison sentenc e or a fine to be imposed o n those executives who counterfeit o r alter records , or mak e fals e entrie s i n book s o f accoun t o r o n financial state ments , an d s o forth. I t i s highly admirabl e tha t th e Securitie s Ac t of 193 3 had a regulation i n regard t o a prison sentenc e of less tha n five years , o r a fine o f no t mor e tha n five thousan d dollars , o r th e imposition o f both penaltie s i n th e event o f unfair accounting. 2 Article 1 2 of th e Britis h Companie s Ac t...