The memorandum of association of a company is an important corporate document in certain jurisdictions.
Until recent it had to include the "object clause" which made the shareholders, creditors and those dealing with the company know what is its permitted range of operation, although this was usually drafted very broadly.
It is one of the documents required to incorporate a company in India, the United Kingdom,[2] Ireland, Canada, Nigeria, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania and is also used in many of the common law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth.
Companies incorporated prior to 1 October 2009 are not required to amend their memorandum, and for these companies the provisions which would have appeared in the memorandum but are now required to appear in the Articles, such as the objects clause and details of the share capital, are deemed to form a part of the latter.
Historically, a company's memorandum of association contained an objects clause, which limited its capacity to act.