This article considers the problems of determining the subject matter of a corporate contract, assesses the cor-relation between a corporate contract and the charter of a business company according to Russian law and foreign legal orders. The corporate contract should be considered as a civil-law deal concluded on the basis of public-law permissions. The subject matter of a corporate contract is corporate rights and obligations, the pro-cedure for the exercise or non-exercise of which is established by agreement of the parties, and it is permissi-ble to include in the contract elements of other types of transactions than those expressly provided for by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Under Russian law, a corporate contract is not subordinate to the compa-ny’s charter. Compliance with the imperative requirements of the law is sufficient to recognize a corporate agreement as valid regardless of its relation to the company’s charter.