Business Law Library & Tracker
Shareholders & Company Control
Share rights, voting, minority protection, ownership changes and control.
Sources last reviewed 28 July 2026
Main law guides
157
Acts, regulations and codes worth reading first
Topics
60
Plain-English clusters
Published case explainers
96
Selected cases with a business lesson
Tracked updates
8
New, amended & reviewed
Plain-English explainers, not legal advice. Use the linked official source for section-level detail, and get advice for your situation.
Get legal helpMain laws
Companies Act 1993
1993 No 105
Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993
1993 No 4
Unit Titles Act 2010
2010 No 22
Co-operative Companies Act 1996
1996 No 24
Insolvency Practitioners Regulation Act 2019
2019 No 29
Cases
St Arnaud Alpine Store 2019 Ltd v Labour Inspector
For business owners, the durable lesson is about exposure rather than legal technicalities. If payroll, hours, leave, breaks and records are not properly managed, a...
A Labour Inspector of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment v Prisha’s Hospitality (2017) Ltd T/A Royal Cambridge Indian Restaurant
Employers must strictly comply with minimum employment standards, including paying at least minimum wage, providing proper holiday and leave entitlements, and...
Yan v Mainzeal Property and Construction Ltd (in liquidation)
Directors of a group company need evidence that promised support is real, sufficient and available when required. Comfort from a shareholder or related company is...
Riki Scott Steen Walls v Ulsterman Holdings Limited (In Liquidation)
The practical lesson is direct. If you are served with court proceedings, especially by liquidators, do not wait for a second warning. In this case, the defendant...
David Charles Browne v David Ross Petterson as Liquidator of Polyethylene Pipe Systems Limited (in liq)
Read this case as a caution about timing, purpose and records. It is not a broad rule that every insider payment or shareholder security is invalid. The lesson is...
Sportzone Motorcycles Limited (in liquidation) and Motor Trade Finances Limited v Commerce Commission
The practical lesson from this case is to build each fee from the event that triggers it. If a fee is charged when a loan is set up, the business should be able to...
BFSL 2007 Ltd & Ors (In Liquidation) v Steigrad
If your business buys D&O or similar liability cover, do not assume the policy limit will be freely available both to defend the claim and to pay any eventual...
Commerce Commission v Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd
For ordinary businesses, the practical lesson is not about dairy valuation theory. It is about how regulated pricing and supply obligations work in real life. If...