The authorised capital of a company (sometimes referred to as the authorised share capital, registered capital or nominal capital, particularly in the United States) is the maximum amount of share capital that the company is authorised by its constitutional documents to issue (allocate) to shareholders. Part of the authorised capital can (and frequently does) remain unissued. This number can be changed by shareholders' approval. The part of the authorised capital which has been issued to shareholders is referred to as the issued share capital of the company.

In the United Kingdom, the concept of authorised share capital was abolished under the Companies Act 2006.

Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is the Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Mount Roskill. During the Fifth Labour Government, in office from 1999 to 2008, he served in a number of ministerial portfolios, including Minister of Defence of New Zealand, Minister of Corrections, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control and Associate Minister of Finance. He served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party between 11 November 2008 and 13 December 2011.

Goff was born and raised in Auckland. His family was relatively poor, and his father wanted Goff to enter the workforce immediately after finishing high school. Goff, however, wished to attend university, a decision that caused him to leave home when only sixteen years old. By working as a freezing worker and a cleaner, Goff was able to fund himself through university, gaining an MA (with first class honours) in political studies at the University of Auckland. In 1973, he was Senior Scholar in Political Studies, and also won the Butterworth Prize for law. While completing his MA, he lectured in Political Studies. He also briefly worked as an Insurance Workers Union organiser.