# 会社法 / Companies Act — 第五百三十七条 (Article 537) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-537. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp. - Law: 会社法 (Companies Act), 平成十七年法律第八十六号 - English title "Companies Act": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第五百三十七条 (Article 537)（債務の弁済の制限） — address `art-537` - Text in force since: 2026-08-12 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-537 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-537 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第五百三十七条（債務の弁済の制限） — (Restrictions on Performance of Obligations) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-537 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-537 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-537 **第一項** 特別清算開始の命令があった場合には、清算株式会社は、協定債権者に対して、その債権額の割合に応じて弁済をしなければならない。 art-537/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-537/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-537/par-1 If an order is issued for commencement of special liquidation, a liquidating stock company must perform obligations to agreement claim creditors in proportion to the amount of their claims. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 前項の規定にかかわらず、清算株式会社は、裁判所の許可を得て、少額の協定債権、清算株式会社の財産につき存する担保権によって担保される協定債権その他これを弁済しても他の債権者を害するおそれがない協定債権に係る債務について、債権額の割合を超えて弁済をすることができる。 art-537/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-537/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-537/par-2 Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, a liquidating stock company may, with the permission of the court, perform its obligations relating to minor claims, claims secured by security interests, or other claims that are unlikely to be detrimental to other creditors even if performed in excess of the proportion of the amount of the claims. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-537/par-2: 前項 → 会社法 第五百三十七条第一項 (Article 537, paragraph (1)), art-537/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-537/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-537/par-1 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 会社法 第五百三十七条第二項（債務の弁済の制限） — https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-537/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-537/par-2 - 会社法 第九百七十六条第一項第二十九号（過料に処すべき行為） — https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-976/par-1/item-29 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-976/par-1/item-29 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 会社法 — the text in force from 2026-08-12 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/417AC0000000086/20260812_508AC0000000064), retrieved 2026-09-17 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Companies Act — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4481/tb), retrieved 2026-09-17 - This site's parser, version 223 — 会社法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-09-17