BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

A sole proprietorship differs from a corporation. It does not have the advantages of a corporation, such as a corporation's separate capacity to hold property, to contract, to sue and be sued, and to act as a distinct legal entity. A sole proprietor does not have the protection of the corporate veil by which the corporation's owners, the shareholders, are exempt from liability for the corporation's acts. A sole proprietorship has no legal existence separate from that of its owner. Its acts and liabilities are those of its owner. Its owner's acts and liabilities are those of the sole proprietorship. FSM v. Webster George & Co., 7 FSM Intrm. 437, 441 (Kos. 1996).

Any business entity in which any ownership interest is held by a person who is not a citizen of the FSM is a non-citizen. Island Dev. Co. v. Yap, 9 FSM Intrm. 220, 223 & n.1 (Yap 1999).

Cooperatives

In the Federated States of Micronesia Income Tax Law, 54 F.S.M.C. 111 et seq., cooperatives are not singled out in any way within the definition of business and there is no indication in the tax law that cooperatives are to be treated differently than corporations or any other forms of businesses. KCCA v. Tuuth, 5 FSM Intrm. 68, 70 (Pon. 1991).

A cooperative may be dissolved administratively by the FSM Registrar of Corporations and trustees appointed to wind up the cooperative's affairs. In re Kolonia Consumers Coop. Ass'n, 9 FSM Intrm. 297, 300 (Pon. 2000).

All violations of the FSM Regulations under which the FSM Registrar of Corporations may appoint trustees in dissolution for winding up an association's affairs are enjoinable. In re Kolonia Consumers Coop. Ass'n, 9 FSM Intrm. 297, 300 (Pon. 2000).

Cases involving a dissolved cooperative association may be consolidated and assigned a new docket number. In re Kolonia Consumers Coop. Ass'n, 9 FSM Intrm. 297, 300 (Pon. 2000).


Corporations

The Federated States of Micronesia Income Tax Law confirms that it is the nature of the services performed and the person performing the services, rather than the stated identity of the contracting party, which determines the tax treatment for the compensation under the contract. It is of no import that the "contractor" was identified as a corporation rather than as an individual when the contract makes clear that the primary services to be rendered were those of an individual and the corporation was merely a name under which the individual conducted business. Heston v. FSM, 2 FSM Intrm. 61, 64 (Pon. 1985).

The Constitution specifically bars noncitizens from acquiring title to land or waters in Micronesia and includes within the prohibition any corporation not wholly owned by citizens. Federated Shipping Co. v. Ponape Transfer & Storage (III), 3 FSM Intrm. 256, 259 (Pon. 1987).

Noncitizen corporations are those which are not wholly owned by Federated States of Micronesia citizens. Federated Shipping Co. v. Ponape Transfer & Storage (III), 3 FSM Intrm. 256, 259 (Pon. 1987).

For purposes of diversity jurisdiction under article XI, section 6(b) of the Constitution, a corporation is considered a foreign citizen when any of its shareholders are not citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia. Federated Shipping Co. v. Ponape Transfer & Storage (III), 3 FSM Intrm. 256, 260 (Pon. 1987).

The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which still exists and has governmental powers in the Republic of Palau, is now "foreign" to the Federated States of Micronesia and a corporation organized under the laws of the Trust Territory may itself be regarded as foreign for purposes of diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. U Corp. v. Salik, 3 FSM Intrm. 389, 392 (Pon. 1988).

Power to regulate the incorporation and operation of corporations falls within the constitutional power of the national government to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 376, 380 (Pon. 1990).

The Corporations, Partnership and Agency regulations were adopted pursuant to, and affect the reach of, the Trust Territory statute regulating corporations and, since those statutory provisions are part of FSM national law by virtue of the Transition Clause of the FSM Constitution, the regulations too must retain their effect until they are amended or repealed pursuant to FSM law. Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 376, 381 (Pon. 1990).

The determination of whether stockholders and directors should be protected at the expense of the general public and the employees of the corporation is a policy choice of the kind that legislatures are better equipped than courts to make. Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 376, 385 (Pon. 1990).

The de facto doctrine, which is employed by courts to treat a business as a corporation even though it has not met all legal requirements for incorporation, is of no relevance to the regulatory prohibition against the corporation engaging in business until the corporation meets minimum capital requirements. Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 376, 385 (Pon. 1990).

Regulations prescribed by the registrar of corporations have "the force and effect of law." KCCA v. FSM, 5 FSM Intrm. 375, 377 (App. 1992).

A corporation is a person who may recover damages for violation of its civil rights when it is deprived of its property interests, such as contract rights, without due process of law. Ponape Constr. Co. v. Pohnpei, 6 FSM Intrm. 114, 127-28 (Pon. 1993).

The Corporation, Partnership and Association Regulations incorporated by 37 TTC 52 (1980) remain in effect as FSM national law by virtue of the Transition Clause, FSM Const. art. XV, § 1, until they are amended or repealed by Congress. Mid-Pacific Constr. Co. v. Semes (II), 6 FSM Intrm. 180, 187 (Pon. 1993).

Corporate regulation is governed by national law unless or until the states undertake to establish corporate codes of their own. Mid-Pacific Constr. Co. v. Semes, 7 FSM Intrm. 102, 105 (Pon. 1995).

A corporation that has any foreign ownership at all is a noncitizen of the FSM for diversity purposes. Island Dev. Co. v. Yap, 9 FSM Intrm. 220, 223 (Yap 1999).

Corporations Liability

Although many family-incorporated enterprises commingle family and business affairs, the Pohnpei Supreme Court will not make a family's personal assets available to satisfy a judicially mandated monetary award because there is still limited knowledge of business laws in Pohnpei. Koike v. Ponape Rock Products, Inc., 3 FSM Intrm. 57, 70 (Pon. S. Ct. Tr. 1986).

The C.P.A. regulations mandate that corporate directors and incorporators will be held liable for the corporation's debts if the corporation engages in business without meeting the minimum capital requirements. Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 376, 385 (Pon. 1990).

The estoppel doctrine, which is applied when justice demands intervention on behalf of a person misled by the conduct of the person estopped, is not available as a defense to a board member of a corporation where the board member knowingly misled regulatory officials and creditors of the corporation. Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 376, 385 (Pon. 1990).

Any incorporator or director is liable for violations of the regulations governing incorporation unless he can prove an affirmative defense. Mid-Pacific Constr. Co. v. Semes, 7 FSM Intrm. 522, 526 (Pon. 1996).

The de facto corporation defense is insufficient as a matter of law when a company has received its corporate charter. Mid-Pacific Constr. Co. v. Semes, 7 FSM Intrm. 522, 527 (Pon. 1996).

Because a corporate principal may be held criminally liable for its agent's conduct when the agent acts within the scope of its authority for the principal's benefit, a foreign fishing agreement party may be held criminally liable for the conduct of its authorized vessel. FSM v. Ting Hong Oceanic Enterprises, 8 FSM Intrm. 166, 176 (Pon. 1997).

An authorized vessel's master's knowledge is attributable to its foreign fishing agreement party because knowledge held by an agent or employee of a corporation may be attributed to its principal. FSM v. Ting Hong Oceanic Enterprises, 8 FSM Intrm. 166, 180 (Pon. 1997).

If a board of directors, upon learning of an officer's unauthorized transaction, does not promptly attempt to rescind or revoke the action previously taken by the officer, the corporation is bound on the transaction on a theory of ratification. Asher v. Kosrae, 8 FSM Intrm. 443, 452 (Kos. S. Ct. Tr. 1998).

An officer's authority to contract for a corporation may be actual or apparent, and may result from the officer's conduct and the acquiescence thereto by the directors. The corporation may be estopped to deny the officer's authority by having accepted the benefit of the contract. Generally, an officer's authority to act for his corporation with reference to contracts is a question of fact to be determined by the trier of fact. Asher v. Kosrae, 8 FSM Intrm. 443, 452 (Kos. S. Ct. Tr. 1998).

A corporation's directors may ratify any unauthorized act or contract. A corporation's ratification need not be manifested by any vote or formal resolution of the board of directors. An implied ratification can arise if the corporate principal, with full knowledge and recognition of the material facts, exhibits conduct demonstrating an adoption and recognition of the contract as binding, such as acting in the contract's furtherance. It is well established that if a corporation, with knowledge of its officer's unauthorized contract and the material facts concerning it, receives and retains the benefits resulting from the transaction, it thereby ratifies the transaction. A corporation may not accept a transaction's benefit and at the same time attempt to escape its consequences on the ground that the transaction was not authorized. Asher v. Kosrae, 8 FSM Intrm. 443, 452-53 (Kos. S. Ct. Tr. 1998).

When the board of directors did not act promptly to rescind or revoke the agreement made by its general manager; when all its subsequent actions have been consistent with the agreement's terms; when it had knowledge of the unauthorized contract and of the material facts concerning it; when it received, retained, and continues to receive and retain the benefits resulting from the transaction; it is clear that the board of directors has ratified the agreement. The corporation may not accept the agreement's benefits and at the same time escape its liabilities. Asher v. Kosrae, 8 FSM Intrm. 443, 453 (Kos. S. Ct. Tr. 1998).

Under ordinary circumstances, a parent corporation will not be held liable for the obligations of its subsidiary. Senda v. Semes, 8 FSM Intrm. 484, 505 (Pon. 1998).

The mere fact of a loan to a subsidiary is not sufficient to confer liability for the loan on the parent. Senda v. Semes, 8 FSM Intrm. 484, 506 (Pon. 1998).

A party jointly and severally liable for a corporation's debts is not liable for contribution for a subsidiary's debt paid by a guarantor when the corporation was not a coguarantor of the subsidiary's loan. Senda v. Semes, 8 FSM Intrm. 484, 506 (Pon. 1998).

Corporations Stock and Stockholders

Par value and stated value of stock are arbitrarily chosen figures which often bear no relationship to the price paid. These figures may be considerably less than the actual value of the stock and have little significance to creditors or others seeking to determine the financial strength of a corporation in the FSM. FSM v. Ponape Builders Constr. Inc., 2 FSM Intrm. 48, 51 (Pon. 1985).

In the Federated States of Micronesia, distribution of dividends in cash or in property may be made only from earned surplus. FSM v. Ponape Builders Constr. Inc., 2 FSM Intrm. 48, 52 (Pon. 1985).

The $1,000 original capital requirement specified in part 2.7 of the Corporations, Partnerships and Associations Regulations as a condition for engaging in business is met by bona fide, irrevocable transfers of cash or property, giving the corporation capital, as contrasted to earned surplus, with a net value of not less than $1,000, so long as there is issued and outstanding authorized capital stock representing ownership of the corporation. FSM v. Ponape Builders Constr. Inc., 2 FSM Intrm. 48, 52 (Pon. 1985).

The fact that stock issued by a corporation and formerly owned by a judgment debtor has been sold to a third party at a judicial sale of the debtor's assets does not make the corporation a party to the litigation concerning distribution of the assets of the insolvent debtor for purposes of determining whether the shares were validly issued and outstanding shares of the corporation. Sets v. Island Hardware, 3 FSM Intrm. 365, 368 (Pon. 1988).

In the absence of any law or regulation in the Federated States of Micronesia which provides a specific limitation on actions to collect unpaid stock subscriptions, the applicable period is six years. Creditors of Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 157, 159 (Pon. 1989).

Where the rights of a corporation have been assigned to its creditors in previous litigation, the creditors' rights as against the shareholders or subscribers of stock in the corporation are derived from the rights of the corporation itself, and the creditors will be able to enforce the shareholders' liability only to the extent that the corporation could have enforced it before the assignation. Creditors of Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 157, 159 (Pon. 1989).

In an action to enforce an unpaid stock subscription, the statute of limitations begins to run against the creditors when it runs against the corporation. Creditors of Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 157, 159 (Pon. 1989).

When a stock subscription specifies the date of payment, including payment in installments at specified times, the corporation has no cause of action until the date specified and at that time the statute of limitations begins to run. Creditors of Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 157, 159 (Pon. 1989).

Stock subscriptions which are silent as to the date and terms of payment do not become due until a call has been issued by the corporation or, if the corporation becomes insolvent without ever issuing such a call, then the cause of action to collect unpaid subscriptions accrues when the creditors, by authority of the court, first demand payment. Creditors of Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 157, 161 (Pon. 1989).

The determination of whether stockholders and directors should be protected at the expense of the general public and the employees of the corporation is a policy choice of the kind that legislatures are better equipped than courts to make. Mid-Pac Constr. Co. v. Senda, 4 FSM Intrm. 376, 385 (Pon. 1990).

The real party in interest in a civil action is the party who possesses the substantive right to be enforced. The mere fact that a shareholder may substantially benefit from a monetary recovery by a corporation does not make the shareholder a real party in interest entitled to seek monetary recovery in a civil action. A claim of such a shareholder will be dismissed. Kyowa Sipping Co. v. Wade, 7 FSM Intrm. 93, 96-97 (Pon. 1995).

Joint Enterprise

An affidavit unsupported by factual detail is not sufficient to cast doubt on the proposition that a project manager of a joint venture, who is in charge of all activities of a corporate member of the joint venture within a state, is a managing or general agent of that corporation. Luda v. Maeda Road Constr. Co., 2 FSM Intrm. 107, 110 (Pon. 1985).

A project that has a number of acts or objectives for a limited period of time and is entered into by associates under such circumstances that all have an equal voice in directing the conduct of the enterprise, is a joint enterprise. Koike v. Ponape Rock Products, Inc., 3 FSM Intrm. 57, 65 (Pon. S. Ct. Tr. 1986).

The Pohnpei Supreme Court will apply an English principle to the situation of a joint enterprise such that when parties to a joint enterprise, or their agents, perform work on another man's property and cause damage to the other man or his property through failure to exercise due care, then they are liable. Koike v. Ponape Rock Products, Inc., 3 FSM Intrm. 57, 67 (Pon. S. Ct. Tr. 1986).

A joint venture, without the powers to sue or be sued in the name of the association and without limited liability of the individual members of the association, is not a citizen of Truk State for diversity purposes even though its principal place of business is in Truk State. International Trading Corp. v. Hitec Corp., 4 FSM Intrm. 1, 2 (Truk 1989).

A joint venture is defined as a legal entity in the nature of a partnership engaged in the joint undertaking of a particular transaction for mutual profit. Island Dev. Co. v. Yap, 9 FSM Intrm. 220, 223 (Yap 1999).

There is no statutory or decisional authority in the FSM which would permit a joint venture to be considered a citizen of the state where its principal place of business is located. Island Dev. Co. v. Yap, 9 FSM Intrm. 220, 223 (Yap 1999).

Partnership

A joint venture is defined as a legal entity in the nature of a partnership engaged in the joint undertaking of a particular transaction for mutual profit. Island Dev. Co. v. Yap, 9 FSM Intrm. 220, 223 (Yap 1999).

A general partnership is a foreign citizen for diversity purposes when a any ownership interest is held by a foreign citizen. Island Dev. Co. v. Yap, 9 FSM Intrm. 220, 223-24 (Yap 1999).

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship differs from a corporation. It does not have the advantages of a corporation, such as a corporation's separate capacity to hold property, to contract, to sue and be sued, and to act as a distinct legal entity. A sole proprietor does not have the protection of the corporate veil by which the corporation's owners, the shareholders, are exempt from liability for the corporation's acts. A sole proprietorship has no legal existence separate from that of its owner. Its acts and liabilities are those of its owner. Its owner's acts and liabilities are those of the sole proprietorship. FSM v. Webster George & Co., 7 FSM Intrm. 437, 441 (Kos. 1996).

A sole proprietorship cannot be charged as a principal if there are no acts or omissions committed by its owner, but it can be found culpable as an accessory if it is specifically charged with vicarious liability for the acts of another. FSM v. Webster George & Co., 7 FSM Intrm. 437, 441 (Kos. 1996).

When a person is liable for a business' debts because he is the sole proprietor of a business, the sale of the business to another who has agreed to assume the business' liabilities will not relieve him of liability if the creditor has not agreed to the assignment. FSM Dev. Bank v. Mudong, 10 FSM Intrm. 67, 74 (Pon. 2001).