The most striking characteristics of a company are discussed below:

(i) Corporate personality
A company incorporated under the Act is vested with a corporate personality so it bears its own name, acts under name, has a seal of its own and its assets are separate and distinct from those of its members. It is a different ‘person’ from the members who compose it. Therefore it is capable of owning property, incurring debts, borrowing money, having a bank account, employing people, entering into contracts and suing or being sued in the same manner as an individual.

(ii) Company as an artificial person
A Company is an artificial person created by law. It is not a human being but it acts through human beings. It is considered as a legal person which can enter into contracts, possess properties in its own name, sue and can be sued by others etc. It is called an artificial person since it is invisible, intangible, existing only in the contemplation of law. It is capable of enjoying rights and being subject to duties.

(iii) Company is not a citizen
The company, though a legal person, is not a citizen under the Citizenship Act, 1955 or the Constitution of India. In State Trading Corporation of India Ltd. v. C.T.O., A.I.R. 1963 S.C. 1811, the Supreme Court held that the State Trading Corporation though a legal person, was not a citizen and can act only through natural persons.

(iv) Company has Nationality and Residence
Though it is established through judicial decisions that a company cannot be a citizen, yet it has nationality, domicile and residence. In Gasque v. Inland Revenue Commissioners, (1940) 2 K.B. 88, Macnaghten. J. held that a limited company is capable of having a domicile and its domicile is the place of its registration and that domicile clings to it throughout its existence. He observed in this case:

(v) Limited Liability
The company, being a separate person, is the owner of its assets and bound by its liabilities. The liability of a member as shareholder, extends to the contribution to the capital of the company up to the nominal value of the shares held and not paid by him. Members, even as a whole, are neither the owners of the company’s undertakings, nor liable for its debts.

(vi) Perpetual Succession
An incorporated company never dies, except when it is wound up as per law. A company, being a separate legal person is unaffected by death or departure of any member and it remains the same entity, despite total change in the membership. Perpetual succession, means that the membership of a company may keep changing from time to time, but that shall not affect its continuity.

(vii) Separate Property
A company being a legal person and entirely distinct from its members, is capable of owning, enjoying and disposing of property in its own name. Their Lordships of the Madras High Court in R.F. Perumal v. H. John Deavin, A.I.R. 1960 Mad. 43 held that “no member can claim himself to be the owner of the company’s property during its existence or in its winding-up”. A member does not even have an insurable interest in the property of the company.

(viii) Transferability of Shares
The capital of a company is divided into parts, called shares. The shares are said to be movable property and, subject to certain conditions, freely transferable, so that no shareholder is permanently or necessarily wedded to a company.

(ix) Capacity to Sue and Be Sued
A company being a body corporate, can sue and be sued in its own name. All legal proceedings against the company are to be instituted in its name. A company, as a person distinct from its members, may even sue one of its own members. A company has a right to seek damages where a defamatory material published about it, affects its business.

(x) Contractual Rights
A company, being a legal entity different from its members, can enter into contracts for the conduct of the business in its own name. A shareholder cannot enforce a contract made by his company; he is neither a party to the contract, nor be entitled to the benefit derived from of it, as a company is not a trustee for its shareholders.

(xi) Limitation of Action
A company cannot go beyond the power stated in its Memorandum of Association. In order to enable it to carry out its actions without such restrictions and limitations in most cases, sufficient powers are granted in the Memorandum of Association. But once the powers have been laid down, it cannot go beyond such powers unless the Memorandum of Association, itself altered prior to doing so.

(xii) Separate Management
The members do not have effective and intimate control over its working and they elect their representatives as Directors on the Board of Directors of the company to conduct corporate functions through managerial personnel employed by them.

(xiii) Voluntary Association for Profit
A company is a voluntary association for profit. It is formed for the accomplishment of some stated goals and whatsoever profit is gained is divided among its shareholders or saved for the future expansion of the company. Only a Section 8 company can be formed with no profit motive.

(xiv) Termination of Existence       
A company, being an artificial juridical person, does not die a natural death. It is created by law, carries on its affairs according to law throughout its life and ultimately is effaced by law. Generally, the existence of a company is terminated by means of winding up. However, to avoid winding up, sometimes companies adopt strategies like reorganisation, reconstruction and amalgamation.