Companies Act

In the cases set forth below, if the court finds that the existence of a company is unallowable for securing public interests, it may, in response to a petition by the Minister of Justice, shareholders, members, creditors or any other interested parties, order the dissolution of the company:

when the company is incorporated for an illegal purpose;

when the company fails to commence its business within one year from the day of its formation or suspends its business continuously for one year or more, without justifiable grounds; or

if an executive director, an executive officer or a member who executes the business has committed an act that goes beyond or abuses the authority of the company prescribed by laws and regulations or the articles of incorporation or that violates criminal laws and regulations, if that person commits relevant act continuously or repeatedly despite receiving a written warning from the Minister of Justice.

When a shareholder, a member, a creditor or any other interested party files the petition set forth in the preceding paragraph, the court may, in response to a petition by the company, order the person who filed the petition set forth in that paragraph to provide reasonable security.

When a company intends to file the petition under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, it must make a prima facie showing that the petition set forth in paragraph (1) has been filed in bad faith.

The provisions of Article 75, paragraphs (5) and (7) and Articles 76 through 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Act No. 109 of 1996) apply mutatis mutandis to the security to be provided with respect to the petition set forth in paragraph (1) pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2).

If the petition set forth in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article is filed, the court may, at the petition of the Minister of Justice or shareholders, members, creditors or any other interested parties or ex officio, issue a disposition ordering administration by an administrator (referred to as an "administration order" in the following paragraph) or issue any other necessary provisional order with respect to the property of the company until a ruling is handed down on the petition set forth in that paragraph.

When the court issues an administration order, it must appoint an administrator in relevant administration order.

The court may, in response to a petition by the Minister of Justice or shareholders, members, creditors or any other interested parties or ex officio, dismiss the administrator set forth in the preceding paragraph.

When the court appoints the administrator referred to in paragraph (2), it may specify the amount of remuneration to be paid by the company to relevant administrator.

The administrator set forth in paragraph (2) is supervised by the court.

The court may order the administrator referred to in paragraph (2) to report the status of the property of the company and to account for the administration thereof.

The provisions of Article 644, Article 646, Article 647 and Article 650 of the Civil Code apply mutatis mutandis to the administrator set forth in paragraph (2). In these cases, the term "mandator" in Article 646, Article 647 and Article 650 of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "company".

If a court or any other government agency, a public prosecutor or an official comes to know in the course of their duties that there are grounds for filing the petition referred to in Article 824, paragraph (1) or giving the warning referred to in item (iii) of that paragraph, the entity or person must give notice to that effect to the Minister of Justice.

In the cases set forth below, the court may, in response to a petition by the Minister of Justice, shareholders, members, creditors or any other interested parties, order the prohibition of a foreign company to carry out transactions continuously in Japan or the closure of its business office established in Japan:

when the foreign company conducts business for an illegal purpose;

when the foreign company fails to commence its business within one year from the day of registration of the foreign company or suspends its business continuously for one year or more, without justifiable grounds;

when the foreign company stops payment without justifiable grounds; or

if the foreign company's representative in Japan or any other person who executes its business has committed an act that goes beyond or abuses the authority of the foreign company prescribed by laws and regulations or that violates criminal laws and regulations, and that person continuously or repeatedly commits relevant act despite receiving a written warning from the Minister of Justice.

The provisions of Article 824, paragraphs (2) through (4), and the preceding two Articles apply mutatis mutandis to the cases set forth in the preceding paragraph. In these cases, the term "preceding paragraph" in Article 824, paragraph (2), the term "paragraph (1)" in paragraph (3) and paragraph (4) of that Article, and the term "paragraph (1) of the preceding Article" in Article 825, paragraph (1) is deemed to be replaced with "Article 827, paragraph (1)", the term "Article 824, paragraph (1)" in the preceding Article is deemed to be replaced with "paragraph (1) of the following Article" and the term "item (iii) of that paragraph" in that Article is deemed to be replaced with "item (iv) of that paragraph".