Honourable company
The term honourable company, as used in Elland, refers to a limited company which has been formed by, or which has a significant percentage of ownership by, members of recognised noble houses (a term which is itself rigorously defined under Ellish law). Honourable companies are separately registered from others in Elland, and are permitted to use the identifier HC, as opposed to the more usual CLS (company limited by shares) or, increasingly rarely, CLG (company limited by guarantee). They are also permitted some specific tax advantages; on occasion, the Royal Commissioners for Internal Revenue, Elland’s taxation authorities, have used the HCs as a test-bed for the efficacy of concessions which have later been extended to the population at large.
Eligibility for HC status is rigorously monitored by the Ellish authorities, with the process having been substantially regularised since 1970. The proportion of an HC’s share capital held by members of noble houses is not permitted to fall below 40%, and ownership of HC shares by foreign investors, either directly or through Ellish intermediaries, is not permitted under any circumstances. Loss of HC status is not irrevocable, but it cannot be recovered until five years have elapsed since the repair of the conditions which caused the eligibility to be lost. HC status is not, stricto sensu, transmissible, but provisions exist for a more favourable tax regime for CLSs which are daughter companies of HCs, whether formed as such or as the result of commercial acquisitions.
The existence of honourable companies – something which has been paralleled to a certain extent elsewhere in Messenia – and the degree of preferential treatment given to them have been strongly criticised by some economists and business analysts as a drag factor on the Ellish economy, which has underperformed for extended periods since the Long War and which continues to lag behind many of its neighbours. Most available evidence suggests that this overstates the case given the relatively low percentage of Elland’s gross national product represented by HC profits (this has not exceeded 15% since 1995).