Bill: Rejected Commercial Standards Act

[GoldBlooded]

A
BILL
To

Establish a standards act for business

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:​

1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Commercial Standards Act.'
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by: Various people(s)
(4) This Act was compiled by: Sen. xEndeavour
(5) This Act has been co-sponsored by: Rep. MrFluffy

2 - Reasons
(1) Standards acts consolidate relevant laws into one place making information easier to find and reference.
(2) The Corporate Law and Shareholder Protections Act was far too specific and over-reaching than required. It has been simplified to ensure protection but also freedom (like it was so specific that I doubt anyone actually follows it).
(3) It has placed a heavier emphasis on shareholder theory as requested by the president.

3 - Consolidation
(1) The following acts of congress are rescinded:
(a) Act of Congress - Employee Protection Act
(b) Act of Congress - The Pugbandit Anti Scam act (redundant)
(c) Act of Congress - Union Reform Act (semi-redundant)
(d) Act of Congress - Economic Growth Act (redundant)
(e) Act of Congress - Cool DEC Casino Investigation Act
(f) Act of Congress - Business Transparency Act
(g) Act of Congress - Banking Act
(h) Act of Congress - Stocks Repossession Act
(i) Act of Congress - White-Collar Crack Down Act

4 - Powers of the Commerce Department
(1) The Department of Commerce is authorized to monitor financial transactions and may publish generalized reporting on transaction statistics.
(2) The Department of Commerce is afforded access to financial institution accounts on request for the purposes of monitoring them for compliance.
(3) The Department of Commerce is empowered to conduct random spot-checks of gaming machines to ensure compliance with the advertised odds. Failure to comply is considered fraudulent trading.
(4) The Department of Commerce is authorized to disband any companies in game which do not meet the requirements to be a company.
(5) The Department of Commerce is charged with investigating commerce-related white-collar crimes.
(a) Findings are referred to the Department of Legal Affairs for prosecution.
(b) Where it is unclear which department should investigate the crime, the matter will be referred to the Department of Legal Affairs.

5 - Legal Application
(1) All offences within this law are Indictable Criminal Offences.
(2) Civil damages may be sought against these offences by way of the Legal Damages Act or a succeeding Act of the same nature.

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6 - Fraud
(1) The following sections outline the definition of Fraud, its differing forms, and different punishments:

Fraud
An intentional or reckless misrepresentation or omission of an important fact, especially a material one, to a victim who justifiably relies on that misrepresentation; and the victim party or entity suffered actual, quantifiable injury or damages as a result of the misrepresentation or omission.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Electoral Fraud
Defined in the Electoral Act

Money Laundering
Any act to conceal funds illegally obtained, through commercial transactions, business deals, or any means otherwise.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Gambling Fraud
The act of fraudulently misrepresenting how a gambling activity is conducted.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

New Player Fraud
To take advantage of a new player's wealth and or resources for another's profit or advantage.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

7 - Identity Fraud
The act of fraudulently misrepresenting yourself as someone else or fraudulently claiming you have authority where you don't. There are several types of identity fraud:

Government Impersonation
The Act of fraudulently Impersonating a government official or a government employee for financial or another personal gain(s)
Fine: $1000 + Damages

False Credentials
The Act of fraudulently misrepresenting yourself or someone else as having a certification, commendation or another type of credential for personal gain.
Fine: $1000 + Damages

8 - Securities Fraud
(1) The Act of fraudulent security trade practices. There are several types of securities fraud:

Insider Trading
Buying or selling a stock based on non-public information that would substantially impact a trader’s decision to buy or sell. Any owner of a business that sells stocks of his own company has an obligation to make a reasonable attempt to, disclose this information to the shareholders, failure to do so may be considered evidence in an insider trading case.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Market Manipulation
The act of fraudulently inflating or deflating the value of a company or asset of which you have a responsibility for. Any public company which values its own total market value over $500,000 is expected to have a publicly available, detailed explanation, of how they reached that evaluation. Failure to do so may be considered evidence in a market manipulation case.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Third-Party Misrepresentation
The act of intentionally or recklessly aiding and abetting a party or entity in committing market manipulation. This also applies, to a party or entity which is not aware they might be committing market manipulation such as participants in a pump and dump scheme.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Embezzlement
The act of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, for personal gain.” An example of this law is; spending company funds for personal gain of a company of which you do not own 100%.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

9 - Tax Fraud
(1) The fraudulent non-payment or underpayment of actual tax liabilities due. There are several types of tax evasion:

Personal Tax Evasion
The act of intentionally or maliciously transferring, funds to one or more personal balances or company bank accounts with no legitimate purpose, with the result that less tax is paid.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Property Tax Evasion
The act of intentionally or maliciously transferring property to one or more persons over which they have no legal ownership without a legitimate purpose, with the result that less tax is paid.” To combat, said behaviour, a merged plot needs to be owned by the same person even after it has been merged.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

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10 - Competition
(1) Antitrust laws are regulations that encourage competition by limiting the market power of any particular firm. There are several types of anti-trust regulations:

Market Allocation
Any sort of deal wherein two or more businesses agree to allocate 'territory' to one another to prevent regional competition.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Bid Rigging
Any sort of deal wherein two or more businesses and/or persons agree to not bid against one another to minimize their losses.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Price Fixing
Any sort of deal wherein two or more businesses agree to keep prices at a certain point to avoid price competition.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Monopolization
Any sort of deal wherein two or more businesses seek to merge into a single entity or owner-subsidiary relationship that controls a disproportionately large amount of market share in any particular market. A deal wherein bidders, businesses or auctioneers enter into a deal with each other to maximize profits of auctions is hereby illegal.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Corporate Espionage
Any parties participating in, or accessory to the gathering, infiltration, or compromise of any sensitive company information that has not already been released to the public under the instruction of the company's controlling interest.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

11 - Whistleblowers
(1) A whistleblower is someone with inside knowledge of an organization who reports misconduct or dishonest or illegal activity that may have occurred within that organization. Whistleblower protections are the protections provided to whistleblowers to enable them to come forward to report misconduct without fear of retribution or personal detriment.

Whistleblower Suppression
No employer may discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, or in any other manner discriminate against a covered individual in the terms and conditions of employment of the covered individual because of any lawful act done by the covered individual to report information regarding a violation of a corporate crime.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

12 - Bribery
(1) The act of offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving an item or service of value to influence an individual holding public office or serving in a legal capacity.

Bribery
The act of offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving an item or service of value to influence an individual holding public office or serving in a legal capacity.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail + Barred from holding public office for up to 2 months.

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13 - Employee Protections
(1) Unfair dismissal - the unjust termination of an employee. (e.g. a position is made vacant without reason only to be immediately filled).
(2) Deferral of Responsibility - a worker cannot be held legally accountable where there is a deficiency in training provided by the employer, where training would reasonably be required.
(2) A worker cannot be sued for their individual actions when they are in accordance with lawful organisational directions and policy.
(a) The employer assumes all legal liability where policy is followed or the policy is unlawful.

14 - Unions
(1) This act defines 'Union' as an organized association of workers formed to protect and advance their rights and interests.
(2) Every employee of the Commonwealth of Redmont has the right to create or apply to register their own union.
(3) Unions do not have to follow a democratic structure, but are encouraged to.
(4) Employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee for being involved in a union.
(5) Employers are prohibited from involving themselves in the democratic processes of their employee's union.
(6) Employers who take action to disrupt or prevent the formation of a union, and or engage in conduct to dismantle a union, such as, but not limited to, terminating employees who try to start a union, shall be guilty of Union Busting, as defined:

Union Busting
Employers who take action to disrupt or engage in conduct to dismantle a union.
Per Offence: $2000 Fine

15 - Gaming
(1) Gaming institutions are required to display the odds of gaming machines and activities in a visible area adjacent to the machine/activity.

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16 - Structure for Public Companies
(1) The term Public Company will be defined as a company of which shares are being publicly bought and sold in a securities exchange
(2) All Public Companies will be required to create publicly viewable policies for their internal governance. All company policies must specify the internal structure of the company and the methods of appointment of its directors.
(3) The directors and executives (equivalent) of a public company, have a fiduciary duty to the shareholders and the stakeholders of the company to maximise the shareholders profits and long-term prosperity of the company.
(a) Any person with such a fiduciary duty who willingly and intentionally engages in activity that undermines their duty or the integrity of the company whose shareholders they serve, will be liable for damages to the shareholders.
(4) For a company to be privatized, the consent of the shareholders (2/3 majority) must be obtained by the purchaser for a predetermined price.
(a) Should the privatization of a company be approved, all shareholders must sell their shares to the purchase of the company at said predetermined price.

17 - Operations of Securities Exchanges
(1) The Department of Commerce is authorized to monitor the operations of any securities exchange with full access to trading channels and data.
(a) Any Commerce Department employee engaged in the regulation of securities exchanges may not hold a security for less than 30 days.
(2) Securities Exchanges will be prohibited from calculating the market prices of shares in Public Companies using any factors other than the market supply of and demand for said shares. They will be responsible for updating these prices without requiring further input from the companies of which the shares grant ownership in.
(a) Securities Exchanges must provide consistent updates to the market prices of company shares. Each company listed on an exchange must have its stock price updated at least once every 30 days.
(4) The Department of Commerce is authorized to create any additional regulations for the operations of securities exchanges. Such regulations must be for the purpose of preserving the stability of securities exchanges, and must not conflict with any section of this Act.

18 - Protections for Partial Owners of Non-Public Companies
(1) The definition of a Partial Owner of a non-public company will be a legal entity sharing ownership in a non-public company with any other legal entities.
(2) The partial owners of a company have a fiduciary duty to one-another.

19 - Additional Rights Granted to Companies
(1) All companies will be considered to be legal entities distinct from their shareholders, board members, or management.
(a) The shareholders of a public company, and the owners of a non-public company will not be liable for any damages incurred by the business decisions of the company they hold shares or ownership in. This provision will not apply to any shareholders or owners who assume management positions in the company.
(2) All companies will be able to own any asset in their own capacity, with the asset being treated as solely the property of the company, subject to the decisions of the company’s management and/or board.
(a) For the purposes of companies owning plots of land, companies may deputies any citizen to own the land in-game on their behalf. For any such citizen, ordinary plot limits and regulations will apply to plots held on behalf of a company, with plots held on behalf of a company counting towards their plot limits.

20 - Additional Rights Guaranteed to Shareholders
(1) No partial owner or shareholder in any company, may be deprived of the value of their equity or shares by any means. In the case that a company is merged into another, acquired by another, becomes a public company, or becomes a non-public company, any partial owners or shareholders will have the right to full compensation of lost value of their equity or shares in the case that they are deprived of any part of their their equity or shares.

21 - Liquidation of Companies
(1) The term Liquidation of a company will be defined as a company liquidating all of its assets, paying off all debts owed to external parties, and compensating owners or shareholders their proportional share of the company’s equity value after repayment of all external debts.
(2) A Public Company may be liquidated at the request of the holders of three-fourths or any greater proportion of the shares of the company.
(3) A non-Public Company may be liquidated at the request of the partial owners of three-fourths or any greater proportion of the company’s equity.

22 - Reporting
(1) All companies registered in-game must be submitted for registration on forums and approved by the Commerce Department.
(2) Any changes to the company's information since registration must be reflected in the original registration.
(3) All Financial Institutions must be declared as a Financial Institution in the title of the business page as either a Commercial Bank, Investment Bank, Stock Exchange, or a Credit Union.
(a) Should a Financial Institution change its classification from one type to another, it will need to update its business portal to reflect the change.

23 - Stocks
(1) If a individual/entity is inactive for more than 3 months, companies can reclaim their stocks by purchasing back all shares owned by them.
(2) This is recorded by the company informing the Department of Commerce of the share repossession, including the individual/entity's username, playtime information, and number of shares.

24 - Definitions

(1) Financial Institutions
(a) A Financial Institution is a business that deals with deposits, loans, and/or investments.
(b) There are four types of financial institutions: Commercial Banks, Investment Banks, Stock Exchanges, and Credit Unions.

(2) Definition and Characteristics of a Commercial Bank:
(a) A Commercial Bank is a Financial Institution that is privately owned.
(b) A Commercial Bank is only governed by the owner or a group of owners who may make all decisions regarding the bank and its investments, employees, and interest rates, among other business decisions.
(c) Profits of a Commercial Bank are shared among owners/shareholders.

(3) Defining Characteristics of a Investment Bank:
(a) An Investment Bank does not take deposits.
(b) An Investment Bank is allowed to brokerage stocks through Stock Exchanges.
(c) An Investment Bank is privately owned and governed, with profits shared per owner discretion.
(d) An Investment Bank may also charge for services such as financial advising or market research.

(4) Definition and Characteristics of a Stock Exchange:
(a) A Stock Exchange is the sole Financial Institution able to buy and sell securities, otherwise known as stocks.
(b) A Stock Exchange reserves the right to charge clients commissions for each transaction in order to make a profit.

(5) Definition and Characteristics of a Credit Union:
(a) A Credit Union is a Financial Institution that is governed by the members.
(b) A Credit Union must elect a leader through a democratic fashion.
(c) Profits of a Credit Union are distributed to the members of the Credit Union or reinvested back into the Credit Union through interests, services, or other costs that benefit all members of the Credit Union.