The foundation for all upper division business courses, both tax and non-tax. Students interested in the business curriculum should take this course in the Fall semester of their second year in order to sequence upper division courses properly. The course includes a study of partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, agency law and corporations. The study of partnerships and limited partnerships involves matters of formation, property rights, fiduciary duties, dissolution and liquidation. The study of agency law is interwoven into the consideration of partnerships and corporations and is generally limited to matters of principals and agents (i.e., to agency principles applied in contractual settings). The study of corporations constitutes the predominant focus of the course and includes the formation and operation of corporations, an introduction to securities laws, proxy solicitation rules, fiduciary duties of officers, directors and majority shareholders, insider trading and antifraud provisions under federal securities laws and derivative suits.