COMM 7012 : Business and Corporations Law : Owners and Stakeholders of

Part a

In businesses, it is essential to have a better understanding of owners and stakeholders of a certain business before or after transacting with it. This makes it easy to have accountability as well as surety. In the case of FastCut, the company is seeking to know who the real members of LuSeKo are. According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, there are remedies and methods that can be used to identify companies and businesses in Australia. It is essential to first ask for the Australian Company Name or the Australian Business Name of the business to ascertain whether it is registered or not, (Polesel et al. 2018). Also, a business license number can be asked for. Secondly, one has to verify the business name by searching for the name by using Organisations and Business Names Index Search. Names and numbers used during registration are the unique hence easy identification of the company. FastCut can also use the Australian Securities and Investment Commission- ASIC Connect to extract historical information about the business as well as the names of the directors or company officers. This will provide detailed information about the business and its members or stakeholders and shareholders.

Part b

Seamus’s death creates a situation of the dilemma which will change the business’s operation and composition. Because there is a partnership, agreements were signed between the members and this will determine how the business will move forward, (McGregor and Williamson 2018). The partners may have included clauses which guide the members on the course to take in case of a partner’s death. In some cases, the agreement may dictate that the estate belonging to the deceases will be taken over by the partnership, the other members can buy the deceased shares with the help of a financial formula or lastly, a transfer of the shares to the spouse or family of the partner, (Permadi et al. 2018). It is also possible for the assets to be sold or the partnership to be dissolved in a situation where the business cannot be sustained anymore. A Partnership Act will come into play if there was no agreement. However, in this case, a business was registered thus the existence of an agreement as part of the requirements when registering a business.

Part c

One of the key aspects of a partnership is that it is not a ‘separate entity’. All business partners involved are liable for debts incurred in the business. According to Section 13 of the Partnership Act 1963, all partners are liable for all debts incurred as long as the partnership still exists. It is thus essential to know that property bought during the partnership belongs to the business. This is stipulated by Section 26 of the Partnership Act, (Bi and Smyrnos 2017). On the other hand, partners have to give a full account of all transactions and activities that he or she participates in (Section 33 (1). Basing on this, Seamus’s action of deciding to buy a bigger lawn mower makes the company indebted. As such, this makes Seamus liable for his actions. In the attempt to recover from losses, Seamus’ Shares should be used to recover the losses faced by the business.

References:

Polesel, J., Klatt, M., Blake, D. and Starr, K., 2017. Understanding the nature of school partnerships with business in the delivery of vocational programmes in schools in Australia. Journal of Education and Work, 30(3), pp.283-298.

McGregor-Lowndes, M. and Williamson, A., 2018. Foundations in Australia: Dimensions for international comparison. American Behavioral Scientist, p.0002764218773495.

Permadi, D.B., Burton, M., Pandit, R., Race, D. and Walker, I., 2018. Local community's preferences for accepting a forestry partnership contract to grow pulpwood in Indonesia: A choice experiment study. Forest Policy and Economics, 91, pp.73-83.

Bi, R., Davison, R.M. and Smyrnios, K.X., 2017. E-business and fast growth SMEs. Small Business Economics, 48(3), pp.559-576.