Public corporation

A public corporation is a corporation chartered for a public purpose.

It is not the same thing as a publicly traded company sometimes known as a public company. In the United States examples of public corporations are Amtrak and the United States Postal Service. Generally speaking a public corporation is created by a statute passed by a legislature which specifically empowers the corporation to undertake a specific public purpose. In Commonwealth countries the name given to public corporations is usually Crown corporation. The notable exception is both the State-Owned Enterprise and Crown entity in New Zealand. Examples of Crown corporations include the CBC in Canada and Air Canada before it was privatized. In Japan, Japan Post is a public corporation. JR, NTT and Japan Tobacco were created after they were privatized.

See also stock exchange, stock market, public company.

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