FS58
Business name suffix definition - grouped by country
Country
Suffix
Literal Translation Contract?
Australia
Pty.
Proprietary. Publicly owned,
managed, and run as a profitmaking organization.
Brazil
Ltda
Sociedade por Quotas de
Responsabiliadade Limitada.
The owners have limited liability
Brazil
S/A
Sociedades Anonimas. S/A’s
must have at least two
shareholders and they must have
paid 10% of the subscribed
capital.
Brazil
S.A
Sociedade por Acoes. Privatelyheld company.
Brazil
SCP
Sociedade em Conta de
Participacao. Partnership where
one partner is assumed
responsible for running the
business and other partners carry
the liability.
Brazil
S.C.S
Sociedade em Comandita
Simples. Limited Partnership.
Belgium
NV
Naamloze Vennootschap. Public
Limited Liability
Canada
Inc.
Incorporated. Limited Liability
Company.
Denmark
ApS
Anpartsselskab. Limited Liability
Corporation, required minimum
share capital of €27,000.
Denmark
A/S
Aktieselskap, Stock Company.
Gives owners limited liability.
Danish companies require
minimum share capital of
€67,000.
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Country
Suffix
Literal Translation Contract?
Denmark
I/S
Interessentskab. General
partnership; all partners have
limited liability.
Denmark
K/S
Kommanditselskab. Limited
partnership: at least one partner
has unlimited liability and at least
one partner has limited liability.
Finland
Oy
Osakeyhtio, All corporations in
Finland used to have this legal
structure, although now, publicly
traded companies will be “OYJ”.
France
GIE
Groupement d’interet
economique. Intercompany
syndicate. May be started with or
without capital and not necessary
to make a profit
France
SA
Société Anonym. A company
with ownership into shares.
France
SARL
Société à Responsabilité
Limitée. A limited company.
France
SAS
France
SOGEPA
Société par Action Simplif.
Simplified Stock Company.
Societe de Gestion de
Participations. A holding
company for the management of
shares. This company has been
devised by the French
government to manage its shares
into several aerospace
companies.
Greece
OE
Omorrythmos. Partnership. All
partners have unlimited liability.
Greece
SA
Societe Anonyme. A company
with ownership into shares. Must
have a share capital of €29,000.
Germany
AG
Aktiengesellschaft. Joint stock
company The required share
capital must be at least €51,000.
An AG can only become a legal
entity after being entered in the
commercial register. An AG can
own a number of GmbH’s.
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Country
Suffix
Literal Translation Contract?
Germany
GmbH
Gesellschaft mit beschrankter
Haftung. Company with limited
liability. In Germany, a GmbH
means that the company is
incorporated, but is not publicly
traded.
Italy
SAS
Societa in Accomandita
Semplice. Limited Partnership.
Italy
S.p.A
Societa per Azioni. Limited
Share Company.
Netherlands
BV
Netherlands
NV
Besloten Vennootschap. Closed
company. Limited Liability
Company Capital of at least
€18,000 is required to start a BV
naamloze vennootschap
'anonymous company'. Limited
Liability.
Norway
AS
Aksejeselskap. Private Stock
Company. Gives owners limited
liability.
Norway
ASA
Allmennaksjeselskap. Stock
Company. All publicly traded
Norwegian companies are now
incorporated in this legal
structure, but not all ASA’s are
publically traded.
Portugal
Lda
Sociedade por Quotas
Limitada. Must have at least two
shareholders, and paid in capital
of at least €2,000.
Portugal
SA
Sociedade Anonima. Share
capital minimum of €25,000, and
a minimum par value of 5 EUR
per share. There is a minimum of
5 shareholders.
South Africa
Pty.
Proprietary. Privately owned,
managed, and run as a profitmaking organization.
South Korea
Inc.
Incorporated. A legal company
with limited liability.
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Country
Suffix
Literal Translation Contract?
South Korea
Ltd
Limited. Indicates that a
company is incorporated and that
the owners have limited liability.
Spain
S.A.
Sociedad Anonima. A Public
Limited Company with at least 3
owners and €60,000 invested.
Sweden
AB
Aktiebolag. Stock Company. A
general meeting is required AB’s
are registered with the patents
and registration office.
Turkey
A.S.
Anonim Sirket. Limited Liability
Company.
Turkey
TLS
Turk Limited Sirket. Private
Limited Liability Company.
U.K.
Ltd.
Limited Indicates that a company
is incorporated and the owners
have limited liability.
U.K.
Plc
Public Limited Company.
Traded on London Stock
Exchange. More detailed
accountancy requirements.
U.S.
Inc.
Incorporated. Means a company
is Incorporated, and the owners
have limited liability In the United
States, companies can be
registered in any of the 50 states - many of the bigger corporations
are registered in Delaware due to
simpler regulations
U.S.
LLC
Limited Liability Company. In
addition to limited liability, LLC’s
offer pass through taxation
(income goes to owners before
being taxed, unlike in a
corporation).
U.S.
Ltd.
Limited. Indicates that a
company is incorporated and that
the owners have limited liability.
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Author
This paper is supplied courtesy of FisherMADE. Its complier Martin Fisher is a
business consultant formerly with The Boeing Company. He is founder and Chief
Executive Officer of the International Aerospace and Defence Network
(www.iadn.info).
Disclaimer
The views of authors are their own. The UK Defence Forum holds no corporate view
on the opinions expressed in papers or at meetings. The Forum exists to enable
politicians, industrialists, members of the armed forces, academics and others with
an interest in defence and security issues to exchange information and views on the
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UK Defence Forum papers are archived at www.ukdf.org.uk - the last three years
being accessible only to members and subscribers prior to that they are in the public
domain subject to usual conventions.
March 2004
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