Source: https://www.ohadalegis.com/anglais/with_whom.htm
Timestamp: 2019-12-07 11:42:09
Document Index: 609167912

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 277', '§ 3', '§ 2', '§ 1', 'art. 465', 'art. 861', '§ 1']

Doing Business with Whom ?
THE VARIOUS TYPES OF ECONOMIC AGENTS RECOGNIZED BY OHADA LAW
THE IMPLICATIONS OF BEING A TRADER IN A OHADA MEMBER COUNTRY
WHO HAS THE AUTHORITY TO SIGN ON BEHALF OF YOUR PARTNER'S BUSINESS ORGANISATION ?
WHERE TO GET INFORMATION ON YOUR PARTNERS IN OHADA MEMBER COUNTRIES
THE VARIOUS TYPES OF ECONOMIC AGENTS RECOGNIZED BY OHADA LAW - THE IMPLICATIONS OF BEING A TRADER IN OHADA MEMBER COUNTRIES
Ohada Law recognizes 3 types of economic agents in its business environment :
- traders operating personal businesses,
- and economic group partnerships.
These economic agents shall register in the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register and thereby acquire the status of trader in the meaning of the Uniform Act on General Commercial Law.
Except evidence to the contrary, any person registered in the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register is presumed to have the status of trader and this has some implications.
Thus, your partner shall, in the framework of his business, be governed by a specific set of rules notably in connection with :
- evidence to establish,
- his accounting obligations,
- barring by limitation,
- his right to lease renewal ,
- the payment of his debts,
- in addition to the publication formalities to be complied with in the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register mentioned hereabove.
The rules in the field of evidence to establish
Article 5 of the Uniform Act on General Commercial Law (UAGCL) : Proof of commercial transactions can be brought by any means with respect to traders.
Article 15 (UAGCL): Regurlarly kept trade books may be admitted as evidence by the judge in the framework of disputes between traders.
Article 16 (UAGCL) : In the course of a dispute settled in court, a judge may order, even as a matter of routine, the presentation of trade books, in order to extract information relating to the dispute.
Traders' accounting obligations
Traders are obliged to fulfil some accounting obligations (for more details, see Doing business in Ohada member countries with which type of business organization ? ).
Article 18 (UAGCL) : Obligations resulting from trade between traders or between traders and non-traders shall be barred after a five-year period when they are not subject to shorter limitation periods.
The right to lease renewal
Traders, whether natural or legal persons, who meet the requirements provided for, are entitled to have the lease relating to the place of business renewed.
The rules governing the payment of traders' debts
The payment of the debts of insolvent traders is governed by specific rules included in Ohada Insolvency Law providing for voluntary agreements , administration of insolvent debtors' affairs under the supervision of a court and liquidation of their property.
When your partner did not register in the Trade and Personal Credit Register, he is not entitled to claim anything in connection with the status of trader but he cannot put this forward to avoid his obligations inherent to thesaid status :
Article 39 : Natural persons and corporate bodies subject to registration in the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register who have not applied for registration within the prescribed deadline, shall not claim, until they are duly registered, the status of trader. However, they shall not rely on their failure to have themselves registered in the Register in order to avoid the liabilities and obligations inherent in that status.
WHO HAS THE AUTHORITY TO SIGN ON BEHALF OF YOUR PARTNER'S BUSINESS ORGANIZATION ?
Your partner is a trader running a personal business
- His identification : it is the number which was granted to him in the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register.
- His capacity to enter into agreements : this shall not give rise to any problem if he is not subject to any impediment preventng him from concluding contracts.
- His type of antenuptial settlement : it is of course an important data if he/she is married.
N.B. Article 7 of the Uniform Act on general commercial law provides that the spouse of a trader shall not have the statuts of trader unless he or she carries out the commercial transactions referred to under articles 3 and 4 as regular occupation and seperately from those of his/her spouse.
Your partner is a company
- Its identification : it is also the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register identification number.
<> It is a private company
- If the articles of association do not entail any provision as to the management of the company, all the partners are supposed to be managers : you will thus have several persons in front of you.
- If the articles of association do entail such provisions, you may have one or several managers appointed in them or in a subsequent deed.
>To be underlined
In his relations with third parties, the manager of a private company commits the company by all acts falling within the company's objects. If there are several managers, each of them have the same powers as if he was the company's sole manager. Any objection made by a manager to the action of another one has no effect with respect to third parties, unless it is established that they were aware of such objection (art. 277 § 3, 4 et 5 of the Uniform Act on commercial companies UACC).
<> It is a sleeping partnership
It shall be recalled that pursuant to the provisions of :
- article 298 of the UAGCL, the sleeping partnership is managed by all active partners, unless otherwise provided by the articles of association which may appoint one or more managers from among the active partners, or provide for the appointment of such manager(s) in a subsequent instrument, under the same conditions and with the same powers as in a partnership,
- article 299 : the sleeping partners must not perform any act of external management, even by virtue of a power of attorney. uw It is a private limited company Depending on circumstances, you will have in front of you one or several managers, natural or legal persons, partners or outsiders, appointed in the articles of association or in a subsequent deed.
<> It is a private limited company
Depending on circumstances, you will have in front of you one or several managers, natural or legal persons, partners or outsiders, appointed in the articles of association or in a subsequent deed.
Pursuant to the provisions of :
- article 328 § 2 and 3 of the UAGCL :
. when there are several managers, each one is seperately entitled to act on behalf of the company, save the right for each of them to object to a transaction before it is concluded,
. the objection by one manager to the acts of another manager shall have no effect on third parties unless it is established that they were aware of it ;
- article 329 § 1 and 3 of the same Uniform Act :
. in his relations with third parties, the manager shall be vested with the widest powers to act under all circumstances on behalf of the company, subject to the powers which this Uniform Act expressly confers on partners,
. any provision in the articles of association limiting the powers of managers is not demurrable to third parties .
<> It is a public limited company with a board of directors and a chairman and managing director
You will have in front of you a chairman and managing director or an assistant general manager. Indeed :
- pursuant to the provisions of article 465 of the UACC, the chairman and managing director is in charge of the general management of the company and represents it in its relations with third parties. For the performance of his duties, he is given the widest possible powers to be exercised within the limits of the objects of the company and subject to the powers expressly conferred on the general meetings or especially reserved for the board of directors by law or the articles of association.
- In addition, pursuant to the provisions of articles 470 and 472 of the same Uniform Act, the chairman and managing director may be assisted by one or several assistant general managers appointed by the board on his proposal.
In his relations with third parties, the assistant has the same powers as the chairman and managing director. Any provision of the articles of association and any decision of general mee- tings of the board of directors restricting the powers of the chairman and mana- ging director or his assistant(s) are not be demurrable to third parties acting in good faith (art. 465 and 472).
<> It is a public limited company with a board of directors and a chairman of the board
Same remarks as here-above, but you will have in front of you a general manager or an assistant general manager.
<> It is a public limited company with a managing director : it may be a sole holder company (comprising only one shareholder) or a company with several shareholders.
Same remarks as here-above, but you will have in front of you a managing director or an assistant managing director.
<> It is a joint venture :
- Its identification : a joint venture has no identification number in the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register since it must not be registered. Since the existence of the company must not be disclosed to third parties, each partner is personaly committed while entering into agreement with third parties (art. 861 § 1 of the UACC).
It shall be otherwise and there shall be an indefinite, joint and several liability :
- if one or several partners expressly behave(s) with third parties as a partner/as partners: each of the concerned shall then be liable for the others'commitments,
- or if, by interference, a partner has induced his/her contracting partner to believe that he/she intended to commit himself/herself whereas it is proved that he/she derived some profit from the transaction carried out.
Your partner is an economic group partnership
- Its identification : it is the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register identification number.
Who will you have in front of you ? Article 879 of the UACC mentions that the economic group partnership may be administered by one or more natural persons or corporate bodies, provided that, in the case of a corporate body, a permanent representative be appointed, who shall incur the same civil and criminal liabilities as if he was a director in his own name.
With this precision, the agreement or, failing that, the general meeting of the members of the economic group partnership, may freely organize the administration of the group and appoint directors whose duties, powers and conditions of dismissal shall be determined. The executive you will have in front of you shall thus depend on the choice made.
In his relations with third parties, a director commits the economic group partnership for any act relating to the object of the group. No limitation of powers in this respect may be invoked against third parties.
The basic official informations are the ones you may get from the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register which has been thoroughly updated by the Uniform Act on general commercial law as compared to the previous Trade Register in operation in most of the member countries, which was a mere register entailing information without any legal implications.
This Uniform Act aims at providing businessmen with many more informations on the legal and financial situation of their partners and enables them to take more securities. Indeed, in addition to the registration of traders (natural persons and coporate bodies), the registration of securities, ownership reserve clauses and leasing contracts has been made compulsory :
Article 19. The Trade and Personal Property Credit Register shall be :
1) for the registration of :
a) natural persons having the status of trader, within the meaning of this Uniform Act,
b) commercial companies and other corporate bodies subject to registration, as well as branches of foreign companies operating on the territory of the Contracting State, The Register shall also record entries and informations on changes in the status and legal capacity of natural persons and corporate bodies that have occured since their registration. It shall also record documents the filling of which is provided for by the provisions of this Uniform Act and by those of the Uniform Act relating to commercial companies ;
2) for entries relating to :
a) the pledging of shares ,
b) the pledging of a business, and the preferential right of the seller of the business, c) the pledging of professional equipment and motor vehicles,
d) the pledging of stocks,
e) the preferential rights of the Treasury, the Customs Administration and Social Security institutions,
f) ownership reserve clauses, g) leasing contracts.
Article 23. In accordance with the provisions of article 20 above, a National Card-Index shall be kept in each Contracting State and a Regsiter-Card-Index at the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration, each comprising an extract of each individual file in alphabetical order indicating :
1) for natural persons, their full name, the date and place of birth, nature of the activity in which they are engaged, address of their principal place of business, as well as the addresses of subsidiaries set up within the jurisdiction of the court of the registered office and outside the said jurisdiction,
2) the commercial companies and other corporate bodies : their business name, legal form, nature of activity exercised, registered capital, address of the registered office and those of subsidiaries set up within the jurisdiction of the court of the registered office and outside thesaid jurisdiction.
Article 24. In addition, the following shall automatically be mentioned in the Trade Register :
1) decisions handed down in individual bankruptcy proceedings or in insolvency proceedings,
2) decisions handing down patrimonial sanctions against managers of corporate bodies, 3) discharge decisions or amnesty orders lifting forfeitures or bans..
The information provided for under this article shall be communicated by the court which handed down the decision, or failing this, by any concerned person to the Registries of the courts within whose jurisdiction the secondary business are located.