02 November 2009
As per "Accounting Standard 23" Accounting for Investments in Associates in Consolidated Financial Statements ------------------------------------------- An associate is an enterprise in which the investor has significant influence and which is neither a subsidiary nor a joint venture of the investor.
Common Meaning ---------------- Enterprise over which another enterprise exercises a degree of control which is less than the degree of control exercised over a subsidiary. In accounting, such control is typically taken to mean the ownership of at least 20 percent of voting shares, and some say in the management of the associate enterprises. Associated companies usually have interlocking directorates to ensure they have common policies and complementary objectives.