Congressionally Chartered Organizations Background and Considerations

A congressional or federal charter is a federal statute that establishes a corporation. Congress has issued charters since 1791, although the chartering by Congress of organisations with a patriotic, charitable, historical, or educational purpose is essentially a 20th century practice. Congress has used charters to create a variety of corporate entities, such as banks, government-sponsored enterprises, commercial corporations, venture capital funds, and quasi governmental entities. Congressionally chartered corporations have raised diverse issues for Congress. This book provides an overview on Congressional and federal charters; Congressionally chartered non-profit organisations; federal government corporations; hybrid organisations with both government and private sector legal characteristics; and key principles for leveraging non-federal resources in Congressionally chartered organisations.