Companies Act, 2012

1 Legislation CommonsUgandaCompanies Act, 2012 Act 1 of 2012 Legislation as at 1 July 2015 FRBR URI: /akn/ug/act/2012/1/eng@2015-07-01 There may have been updates since this file was created on 20 April 2022 at 13 last checked for updates: 30 September for updatesAbout this collectionThe legislation in this collection has been reproduced as it was originally printed in the Government Gazette, withimproved formatting and with minor typographical errors corrected. All amendments have been applied directly tothe text and annotated. A scan of the original gazette of each piece of legislation (including amendments) is availablefor reference. This is a free download from the Legislation Commons, a collection of African legislation that is digitisedby and made available for is no copyright on the legislative content of this PDF copy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY ).

2 Share widely and Act, 2012 ContentsPart I Preliminary .. 11. Commencement .. 12. Interpretation .. 13. Register of Companies .. 3 Part II Incorporation of Companies and related matters .. 34. Mode of forming an incorporated company .. 3 Private Companies .. 45. Meaning of a private company .. 4 Public Companies .. 46. Meaning of a public company .. 4 memorandum of association .. 47. Requirements with respect to memorandum .. 48. Signature of memorandum .. 59. Restriction on alteration of memorandum .. 510. Mode in which and extent to which objects of company may be altered .. 5 Articles of association .. 611. Articles prescribing regulations for Companies .. 612. Regulations required in case of unlimited company or company limited by guarantee .. 613. Adoption and application of Table A .. 714. Adoption and application of Table F .. 715. Printing and signature of articles.

3 716. Alteration of articles by special resolution .. 7 Form of memorandum and articles .. 817. Statutory forms of memorandum and articles .. 8 Registration .. 818. Form for registration of a company .. 819. Registration of memorandum and articles .. 820. Lifting the corporate veil .. 821. Effect of memorandum and articles .. 822. Conclusiveness of certificate of incorporation .. 923. Re-registration of unlimited company as limited .. 924. Re-registration of private company as a public company .. 925. Consideration for shares recently allotted to be valued .. 1026. Additional requirements relating to share capital .. 11ii27. Certificate of re-registration .. 1228. Modification for unlimited company to re-register .. 12 Limited liability company becoming unlimited .. 1329. Re-registration of limited liability company as unlimited .. 1330. Certificate of re-registration.

4 14 Unlimited company becoming limited .. 1431. Re-registration of unlimited company as limited .. 1432. Certificate of re-registration .. 15 Public company becoming private .. 1533. Re-registration of public company as private .. 1534. Objection to resolution under section 33 .. 1635. Certificate of re-registration .. 16 Provisions with respect to names of Companies .. 1736. Reservation of name and prohibition of undesirable names .. 1737. Power to require company to abandon misleading name .. 1738. Prohibition on trading under misleading name .. 1839. Prohibition of improper use of limited .. 1840. Change of name .. 1841. Power to dispense with Ltd or Limited in the name of charitable organisations and other 18 General provisions with respect to memorandum and articles .. 1942. Interpretation of certain provisions in the memorandum , articles or resolutions of a company limited byguarantee.

5 1943. Alterations in memorandum or articles increasing liability to contribute to share capital not to bindexisting members without consent .. 2044. Power to alter conditions in memorandum which could have been contained in articles .. 2045. Copies of memorandum and articles to be given to members .. 2046. Issued copies of memorandum to embody alterations .. 20 Membership of company .. 2147. Definition of member .. 2148. Membership of a holding company .. 21 Reduction of number of members below a legal minimum in case of a public company .. 2149. Members severally liable for debts where a business is carried on with fewer than the required number ofmembers .. 21 Contracts and related particulars .. 2250. Form of contracts .. 2251. A company s capacity not limited by its memorandum .. 22iii52. Power of directors to bind the company .. 2253. No duty to enquire as to capacity of a company or authority of directors.

6 2354. Pre-incorporation contracts .. 2355. Documents executed .. 2356. Bills of exchange and promissory notes .. 2357. Execution of deeds abroad .. 2358. Power for a company to have official seal for use abroad .. 2459. Authentication of documents .. 24 Part III Share capital and debentures .. 2460. Registration of prospectus .. 24 Allotment .. 2461. Return as to allotment .. 24 Commissions, discounts and financial assistance .. 2562. Power to pay certain commissions; prohibition of payment of all other commissions, discounts and relatedparticulars .. 2563. Prohibition of provision of financial assistance by company for purchase of or subscription for its own or itsholding company s shares .. 2664. Special restrictions for public Companies .. 2765. Relaxation of the rule in section 63 for private Companies .. 27 Issue of shares at premium, discount and redeemable preference shares.

7 2866. Application of premiums received on issue of shares .. 2867. Power to issue shares at a discount .. 2868. Power to issue redeemable preference shares .. 29 Miscellaneous provisions as to share capital .. 3069. Power of a company to arrange for different amounts being paid on shares .. 3070. Reserve liability of a limited liability company .. 3071. Power of a company limited by shares to alter its share capital .. 3072. Notice to the registrar of consolidation of share capital, conversion of shares into stock and relatedparticulars .. 3173. Notice of increase of share capital .. 3174. Power of unlimited company to provide for reserve share capital on re-registration .. 3275. Power of a company to pay interest out of capital in certain cases .. 32 Reduction of share capital .. 3276. Special resolution for reduction of share capital .. 3277. Application to the court for a confirming order; objections by creditors and settlement of the list ofobjecting creditors.

8 3378. Order confirming the reduction and powers of the court on making that order .. 33iv79. Registration of order and minute of reduction .. 3480. Liability of members in respect of reduced shares .. 3481. Penalty for concealing the name of a creditor, etc.. 35 Variation of shareholders rights .. 3582. Rights of holders of special classes of shares .. 35 Transfer of shares and debentures, evidence of title and related particulars .. 3683. Nature of shares .. 3684. Numbering of shares .. 3685. Transfer not to be registered except on production of instrument of transfer .. 3686. Transfer by personal representative .. 3687. Transfer of shares in a single member company .. 3688. Registration of a transfer at request of the transferor .. 3789. Notice of refusal to register a transfer .. 3790. Certification of a transfer .. 3791. Duties of a company with respect to issue of certificates.

9 3892. Certificate to be evidence of title .. 3893. Transfer of title to securities without written documents .. 3894. Evidence of grant of probate .. 3995. Issue and effect of share warrants to bearer .. 3996. Penalty for impersonation of shareholder .. 3997. Offences in connection with share warrants .. 39 Special provisions as to debentures .. 4098. Provisions as to registers of debenture holders .. 4099. Rights of debenture holders and shareholders to inspect the register of debenture holders and to havecopies of a trust deed .. 40100. Liability of trustees for debenture holders .. 41101. Perpetual debentures .. 42102. Power to reissue redeemed debentures in certain cases .. 42103. Specific performance of contracts to subscribe for debentures .. 42104. Payment of certain debts out of assets subject to floating charge in priority to claims under the 42 Part IV Registration of charges.

10 43 Registration of charges with registrar .. 43105. Registration of charges .. 43106. Duty of a company to register charges created by the company .. 44107. Duty of a company to register charges existing on property acquired .. 45v108. Certificate of registration of a charge .. 45109. Endorsement of certificate of registration on debentures .. 45110. Entries of satisfaction and release of property from charge .. 46111. Extension of time to register charges .. 46 Provisions as to company s register of charges and copies of instruments creating charges .. 46112. Copies of instruments creating charges to be kept by the company .. 46113. Company s register of charges .. 46114. Right to inspect copies of instruments creating mortgages and charges and company s register of 46 Part V Management and administration .. 47 Registered office and name .. 47115. Registered office of a company.