An is a type of

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

which existed under Japanese law from 2002 until 2008. It was superseded by the on December 1, 2008. The intermediary corporation was designed to bridge the gap between

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

which work for profits and NGO and other nonprofit organizations which work for public interest. Prior to the enforcement of the law on April 1, 2002, excepting the labor union whose establishing rules were regulated under specific laws, voluntary groups such as a condo association board and hobby club were operated under informal agreements and their assets were registered with one or more of group members. However, this meant that in the absence or negligence of the goodwill by the member registering assets, group's assets could be appropriated without becoming a criminal case. While they could be reclaimed through a civil suit, this does not resolve the problem of the ownership of assets. The intermediary corporation and its associated laws were designed to protect the group's assets while limiting the potential of lawsuits against individual members. There were two types of intermediary corporations. were designed to resemble yūgen kaisha (limited companies) in formation and function, while were closer to gomei kaisha (general partnership corporations).

External links

* {{in lang, ja}
Ministry of Justice page on intermediary corporations
Japanese business law Japanese business terms Types of business entity Corporations

See also

External links