2. Understand where company financing comes from

In the first instance, financing is provided by shareholders and bankers.

Shareholders are the owners of the company. In exchange for the funds they contribute, they receive shares which constitute their title of ownership.

The banks from which the company borrows the amounts needed to top up the shareholders' contributions are not the owners of the company. They are merely creditors. Loans are remunerated by the payment of interest, the amounts and due dates of which are contractually fixed when the loan is granted. The contract also specifies the loan repayment schedule.

This means that the company is obliged to pay the agreed amounts on the agreed dates. If it is unable to do so, its creditors may demand that it be wound up.

In this case, the company's assets are sold to repay the debt....