There are many types of business entity defined in the legal systems of various countries. These include corporations, partnerships, sole traders and other specialized types of organization. Some of these types are listed below, by country.
For guidance, approximate equivalents in the company law of English-speaking countries are given in most cases, e.g. ? PLC (UK), ? Ltd. (UK), ? limited partnership, etc. It should be remembered, however, that the regulations governing particular types of entity, even those described as roughly equivalent, may differ to a greater or lesser extent between countries.
Inc. (Incorporated): restricted to non-profit associations
Ltd. (Limited): ? PLC (UK). The suffix Ltd. may also be used by a private company limited by guarantee, such as a charity or university (these may obtain dispensation from the Registrar of Companies to operate without the suffix).
NL (No liability): a type of mining company with no right to call up the unpaid issue price of shares
CVBA (Coöperatieve Vennootschap met Beperkte Aansprakelijkheid)/SCRL (Société Coopérative à Responsabilité Limitée): limited liability cooperative
CVOA (Coöperatieve Vennootschap met Onbeperkte Aansprakelijkheid)/SCRI (Société Coopérative à Responsabilité Illimitée): unlimited liability cooperative
EBVBA (Eenpersoons Besloten Vennootschap Met Beperkte Aansprakelijkheid)/SPRLU (Société Privée à Responsabilité Limitée Unipersonnelle): type of BVBA/SRPL with a single member
VOF (Vennootschap Onder Firma)/SNC (Société en Nom Collectif): ? general partnership
a.s., akc. spol. (Akciová spole?nost): ? PLC (UK). Minimum share capital CZK 2m (20m for IPOs). Must have a supervisory board in addition to the management board.
s.r.o., spol. s r.o. (Spole?nost s ru?ením omezeným): ? Ltd. (UK)
SCE (Societas Cooperativa Europaea): a European Cooperative (Societas Cooperativa Europaea is Latin for "European Cooperative Society").
SE (Societas Europaea): a European (Public) Limited Company (Societas Europaea is Latin for "European Company").
An SE or SCE may be created by registration in any of the EU/EEA Member States, and is subject to the European Company Statute. It may relocate its registered office to any other EU/EEA Member State with minimal formalities.
EEIG (European Economic Interest Grouping): an EU legal entity designed to enable cross-border cooperation between companies. It has unlimited liability and is not liable for corporation tax.
(proposed)SPE (Societas Privata Europaea): a European private limited company, corresponding to Ltd., GmbH, etc. This form of company is currently being proposed by the European Commission.
GmbH & Co. KG: a special type of Kommanditgesellschaft in which the general partner is a GmbH.
KGaA (Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien): limited partnership with shares
OHG (Offene Handelsgesellschaft): ? general partnership. No minimum capital, full liability of partners.
GbR (Gesellschaft Bürgerlichen Rechts): partnership under civil law. No minimum capital, full liability of partners, non-business or small-business activities only.
PartG (Partnerschaftsgesellschaft): type of partnership available to certain professions like lawyer, physician or tax consultant and similar.
Ltd. (Limited)/????: may denote either a private or public company limited by shares, or a company limited by guarantee. Under the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance (Chapter 32), the name of a Hong Kong incorporated company may be registered in either the English or Chinese language, or both.
Fa (Firma): a partnership firm for the purpose of dealing with third parties.
Koperasi: a cooperative, where the clients/customers are also the owner
Maatschap: a professional partnership, where the partners are treated as natural persons for tax and liability purposes
Persekutuan Komanditer (Dutch: CV – Commanditaire Vennootschaap): limited partnership
Perusahaan Umum (Perum), Perusahaan Jawatan (Perjan): state-owned entities e.g. Perum Peruri, Perjan Rumah Sakit Fatmawati
PP (Persekutuan Perdata): partnership
PT (PERSERO) Tbk, PT (PERSERO): state-owned or majority state-owned PT Tbk or PT, e.g. PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk
PT (Perseroan Terbatas): ? Ltd. (UK), e.g. PT Astra Honda Motor
PT Tbk (Perseroan Terbatas Terbuka or Perseroan Terbuka): ? PLC (UK). Listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, e.g. PT AKR Corporindo Tbk. Formerly also Dutch NV (Naamloze Vennootschap)
Similar to United Kingdom below, though without the class Community Interest Company. There were two forms of Company Limited by Guarantee, but only the form without a share capital is now used. Irish names may also be used, such as cpt (cuideachta phoiblé theoranta) for PLC, and Teo (Teoranta) for Ltd.
Coöperatie ("cooperative"), Onderlinge Waarborgmaatschappij ("mutual insurance company"): associations which are allowed to pay dividends to their members; liability may be full, limited (B.A.) or excluded (U.A.)
N.V. (Naamloze Vennootschap): ? PLC (UK). The name means "nameless company".
B.V. (Besloten Vennootschap): ? Ltd. (UK). The name means "secluded company".
Maatschap: ? limited liability partnership, a professional partnership where the partners are treated as natural persons for tax and liability purposes
Stichting: foundation, a society with capital but without members or shareholders. It is allowed to make a profit, but is more suited for non-commercial purposes.
Stiftelse: a foundation, with capital but without members or shareholders. It is allowed to make a profit, but is more suited for non-commercial purposes.
sp.p. (spó?ka partnerska): ? limited liability partnership. May also be denoted by the addition of i partner(zy) ("and partner(s)") to the firm's name.
Sp. z o.o. (spó?ka z ograniczon? odpowiedzialno?ci?): ? Ltd. (UK)
Spó?dzielnia: ? cooperative. Has legal personality. May also be denoted by the word Spó?dzielczy in the firm's name.
References: (Polish) Commercial Companies Code of 15 September2000 (Dz.U. No 94 item 1037 as amended); (Polish) Civil Code of 23 April1964 (Dz.U. No 16 item 93 as amended); (Polish) Law on Cooperatives of 16 September1982 (Dz.U. 2003 No 188 item 1848 as amended)
LLP (limited liability partnership): owners have the flexibility of operating as a partnership while enjoying limited liability. An LLP can sue and be sued, acquire and hold property, and have a common seal.
Ltd/Pte Ltd (private limited company): ? Ltd. (UK). Maximum 50 shareholders. There also exist "exempt private companies", being either owned by no more than 20 non-corporate shareholders, or wholly state-owned and designated by the finance minister as exempt.
Ltd (public limited company): ? PLC (UK). There also exist public companies limited by guarantee, which conduct non-profit activities; the finance minister may approve the registration of such companies without the addition of the word ?Limited? or ?Berhad? to the name.
a.s. (Akciová spolo?nos?)): ? PLC (UK). Minimum share capital SKK 1m (approx. ?25,000). Must have a supervisory board in addition to the management board.
s.r.o (Spolo?nos? s ru?ením obmedzeným): ? Ltd. (UK)
CC/BK (Close Corporation, Beslote Korporasie): Has 1–10 non-corporate members. The name must end "CC" or "BK"; registration number ends /23. Registration number and members' names must appear on all correspondence.
Private Company/Privaat Maatskappy: Has 1–50 shareholders, one or more directors. The name must end "(Pty) Ltd"; registration number ends /07. Registration number and directors' names must appear on all correspondence.
Public Company, Afrikaans: Publieke Maatskappy. Has at least 7 shareholders (unless it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of another company) and at least two directors. The company's name must end in "LTD"; its registration number ends in /06.
Section 21 Company: a non-profit organization. Registration number ends /21.
S.L.N.E. (Sociedad Limitada Nueva Empresa). Similar to S.L., it was introduced in 2003 to speed up new company registration (registration can be completed in one day). Minimum capital ?3,012.
? PLC (UK) or Inc. (US). Min. share capitalCHF 100,000. Bearer or registered shares, of a par value of min. CHF 0.01 each. Details of shareholders generally not publicly available (except for main shareholders and management shares of publicly listed companies).
? Ltd. (UK), LLC (US). Min. capital CHF 20,000. Registered shares only, of a par value of min. CHF 100 each. Name, address and share of each owner (and any changes) publicly recorded in the Official Register of Commerce (http://zefix.admin.ch/).
Company limited by guarantee. Such a company must include Limited or Ltd. at the end of its name (so cannot readily be distinguished from a private company limited by shares), unless it cannot distribute its profits. Guarantee companies are commonly used by not for profit organisations, which do not include Ltd. at the end of their names.
PLC or Ccc (public limited company, or WelshCwmni Cyfyngedig Cyhoeddus): a company whose shares may be traded publicly. Requires an authorised minimum share capital of £50,000;[1] of which it must have allotted shares to the value of at least £50,000 and a minimum of 25% must be fully paid up prior to starting business.
Unlimited company (or Welsh Anghyfyngedig). A company with share capital whose members or shareholders do not enjoy limited liability in case of the company's insolvency. It is not a requirement to use Unltd, Ultd or Unlimited after the company name, and most unlimited companies do not. Unlimited companies are exempted from filing accounts with the Registrar of Companies for public disclosure, subject to a few exceptions (unless the company was a qualified subsidiary or a parent of a limited company during the accounting period).
In the United States, the individual states incorporate most businesses, and some special types are incorporated by the federal government including national banks, federal savings banks, and federal credit unions. Federally chartered organizations are either issued a charter by Congress or are licensed for a specific operation (such as a bank) by a federal agency. (Many governmental units are specially formed public corporations and some private organizations have received a charter from Congress.) Corporations are required to file articles of incorporation with a state agency for each state they operate in. Corporations operating in the nation's capital file with the District of Columbia, but this does not make them federally chartered.
In the articles of incorporation, the corporation's name must be stated. Usually, at least one word of its name must indicate that the entity is a corporation (indicating it has limited liability) as opposed to an individual (with unlimited liability). There are also restrictions that may not be used, for example, a corporation may, in some cases, not be allowed to use a word or phrase that implies it is a government agency, and may in some cases be restricted from using certain terms referring to special businesses, e.g. most states prohibit a corporation from having the word "bank" in its name unless it is chartered as a bank or has special permission. Each state has varying requirements for forming a company and also determining what designations may and may not be used.
Although each state has its own laws regarding corporations, for federal tax purposes, the Internal Revenue Service recognizes only two types of for-profit corporation: S corporations and C corporations. Limited liability companies and limited partnerships are generally taxed on a flow-through basis, though they may elect to be taxed as corporations.
The following are the main business designations and types:
Corp., Inc. (Corporation, Incorporated): used to denote corporations (public or otherwise). These are the only terms universally accepted by all 51 corporation chartering agencies in the United States. However in some states other suffixes may be used to identify a corporation, such as Ltd., Co./Company, or the Italian term S.p.A. (in Connecticut; see under Italy). Some states that allow the use of "Company" prohibit the use of "and Company", "and Co.", "& Company" or "& Co.". In some states individuals and partnerships may register a fictitious name with the word "Company" in it. For a full list of allowed designations by state, see the table below. See also Delaware corporation, Nevada corporation, Massachusetts business trust.
LLC, LC, Ltd. Co. (limited liability company): a form of business whose owners enjoy limited liability, but which is not a corporation. Allowable abbreviations vary by state. Note that Ltd. by itself is not a valid abbreviation for an LLC, because in some states (e.g. Texas), it may denote a corporation instead. See also Series LLC.
LLLP (limited liability limited partnership): a combination of LP and LLP, allowable in some states
LLP (limited liability partnership): a partnership where a partner's liability for the debts of the partnership does not include acts of professional negligence or malpractice
LP (limited partnership): a partnership where some partners have unlimited liability and others have limited liability
PLLC (professional limited liability company): Some states do not allow certain professionals to form an LLC that would limit the liability that results from the services the professionals provide such as doctors, medical care; lawyers, legal advice; and accountants, accounting services, when the company formed offers the services of the professionals. Instead states allow a PLLC or in the LLC statutes, the liability limitation only applies to the business side, such as creditors of the company, as opposed to the service side, the level of medical care, legal services, or accounting provided to clients. This is meant to maintain the higher ethical standards that these professionals have committed themselves to by becoming licensed in their profession and not immune to malpractice suits.
Professional corporations (abbreviated as PC or P.C.) are those corporate entities for which many corporation statutes make special provision, regulating the use of the corporate form by licensed professionals such as attorneys, architects, and doctors.
"corporation", "company", "incorporated", or "limited", or an abbreviation of one of these words; may not contain the word "city", "borough", or "village" or otherwise imply that the corporation is a municipality.
"association", "bank", "company", "corporation", "limited" or "incorporated" or an abbreviation of one of these words or the equivalent in a foreign language. Corporation may not use "bank", "deposit", "credit union", "trust" or "trust company" unless it also has a license to operate one. May not use "limited liability company" or "limited company" or the abbreviations "L.L.C.", "L.C.", "LLC" or "LC"
"Corporation", "Company", or "Incorporated", or shall contain an abbreviation of one of those words; but the name may not end with the word "Company" nor the abbreviation "Co." if the final word or abbreviation is immediately preceded by "and" or any symbol for "and"
"corporation", "incorporated" or "limited" or an abbreviation of one of such words is required for closed corporations. May not contain "bank," " trust," "trustee" or "credit union" unless approved by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions.
?corporation?, ?incorporated?, ?company?, ?limited?, ?corp.?, inc.?, ?co.? or ?ltd?; If the corporation is a professional corporation, it must contain the term or abbreviation ?professional corporation?, ?p.c.?, or ?pc?.
"association," "company," "corporation," "club," "foundation," "fund," "incorporated," "institute," "society," "union," "syndicate," or "limited," (or abbreviations thereof, with or without punctuation), or words (or abbreviations thereof, with or without punctuation) of like import of foreign countries or jurisdictions (provided they are written in Roman characters or letters)
'corporation,' 'incorporated,' 'company,' or 'limited,' or the abbreviation 'corp.,' 'inc.,' 'co.,' or 'ltd.,' or words or abbreviations of like import in another language; must not be longer than 80 characters
"corporation," "incorporated," "company," "limited," or the abbreviation "corp.," "inc.," "co.," or "ltd.," or words or abbreviations of like import in another language; provided however, that if the word "company" or its abbreviation is used it shall not be immediately preceded by the word "and" or by an abbreviation of or symbol representing the word "and"
"corporation", "incorporated", "company", or "limited", or the abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co.", or "ltd.", or words or abbreviations of like import in another language
"corporation", "incorporated", "company", or "limited", or the abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co.", or "ltd.", or words or abbreviations of like import in another language.
(except for banks) "association," "church," "college," "company," "corporation," "club," "foundation," "fund," "incorporated," "institute," "society," "union," "university," "syndicate" or "limited," or one of the abbreviations "co.," "corp.," "inc.," "ltd.," or words or abbreviations of like import in other languages if they are written in Roman characters or letters
"corporation", "incorporated" or the abbreviation "Inc.," or the word "company" or the abbreviation "Co."; but if the word "company" or the abbreviation "Co." is used, it may not be immediately preceded by the word "and" or the abbreviation "&."
(except for railroad, telegraph and telephone corporations) "Corporation", "Incorporated" or "Limited", or the abbreviation of any of those words, or may contain instead the word "Company" or the abbreviation "Co." if the latter word or abbreviation is not immediately preceded by the word "and" or the symbol "&". No corporate name shall contain the phrase "doing business as" or the abbreviation "d/b/a". Only a bank or bank holding company is allowed to use any of "bank", "banker", "banking", "savings", "safe deposit", "trust", "trustee", "building and loan", "homestead", "credit union", "insurance", "casualty", "redevelopment corporation", or "electric cooperative".
words or abbreviations of words that describe the nature of the entity, including "professional association," "corporation," "company," "incorporated," "chartered," "limited," "limited partnership," "limited liability company," "professional limited liability company," "limited liability partnership," "registered limited liability partnership," "service corporation" or "professional corporation"; beginning July 12007 may also include "limited liability limited partnership"
for business corporations: Title 13-C § 401 Maine Revised Statutes; for non-profit corporations: Title 13-B § 301-A Maine Revised Statutes;
For Corporations: "Company", if it is not preceded by the word "and" or a symbol for the word "and"; "Corporation", "Incorporated" or "Limited" or abbreviations; for Limited liability companies: "limited liability company", "L.L.C.", "LLC", "L.C.", or "LC"; for Limited liability partnerships: "limited liability partnership", "L.L.P." or "LLP"; for Limited partnerships: "limited partnership", "L.P.", or "LP"; for Limited liability limited partnerships: "limited liability limited partnership", "L.L.L.P.", or "LLLP"; for Professional corporations: "chartered", "chtd.", "professional association", "P.A.", "professional corporation", or "P.C."
Maryland Code CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS § 1-502
nonprofit corporations are not required to use any of these words; for business corporations, they must use "corporation," "incorporated," or "limited," or shall contain an abbreviation of one or more of these words, or the word "company" or the abbreviation "Co." if that word or abbreviation is not immediately preceded by the word "and" or the character "&"
"corporation," "incorporated," "company" or "limited," or the abbreviation "corp.," "inc.," "co." or "ltd." or words or abbreviations of like import in another language
"corporation", "incorporated", "company", or "limited"; the abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co.", or "ltd."; or words or abbreviations of similar meaning in another language
corporation, incorporated, company, or limited, or the abbreviation corp., inc., co., or ltd., or words or abbreviations of like import in another language, except that a corporation organized to conduct a banking business under the Nebraska Banking Act may use a name which includes the word bank without using any such words or abbreviations
No specific requirements stated except that a name appearing to be that of a natural person and containing a given name or initials must not be used as a corporate name except with an additional word or words such as ?Incorporated,? ?Limited,? ?Inc.,? ?Ltd.,? ?Company,? ?Co.,? ?Corporation,? ?Corp.,? or other word which identifies it as not being a natural person
Shall contain the word "corporation," "company," "incorporated," or shall contain an abbreviation of one of those words, or shall include the abbreviation Ltd.
Shall contain the word "corporation", "incorporated" or "limited", or an abbreviation of one of such words; there is also a long list of words a business corporation is not allowed to use without additional approval from other agencies including "board of trade", "state police", "urban development", "chamber of commerce", "state trooper", "urban relocation", "community renewal", "tenant relocation", "acceptance", "endowment", "loan", "annuity", "fidelity", "mortgage", "assurance", "finance", "savings" and many others
New York State Consolidated Laws, Business Corporations Law §301; Not-For-Profit Corporations Law, §301
a corporation must contain the word "corporation", "incorporated", "company", or "limited", or the abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co.", or "ltd."; a limited liability company must contain the words "limited liability company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or "LLC", or the combination "ltd. liability co.", "limited liability co.", or "ltd. liability company"; a limited partnership that is not a limited liability limited partnership must contain the words "limited partnership", the abbreviation "L.P." or "LP", or the combination "ltd. partnership"; a limited liability limited partnership must contain the words "registered limited liability limited partnership" or "limited liability limited partnership" or the abbreviation "L.L.L.P.", "R.L.L.L.P.", "LLLP", or "RLLLP"; a registered limited liability partnership's name must contain the words "registered limited liability partnership" or "limited liability partnership" or the abbreviation "L.L.P.", "R.L.L.P.", "LLP" or "RLLP".
must contain the word "company", "corporation", "incorporated", "limited", or an abbreviation of one or more of these words; may not contain the words "limited liability company", "limited partnership", "limited liability partnership", "limited liability limited partnership", or any abbreviation of these words.
The name of the corporation which shall contain one of the words ?association?, ?company?, ?corporation?, ?club?, ?foundation?, ?fund?, ?incorporated?, ?institute?, ?society?, ?union?, ?syndicate?, or ?limited? or abbreviations thereof, with or without punctuation
For private corporations it shall contain one or more of the words ?corporation,? ?incorporated,? ?company? or ?limited? or an abbreviation of one or more of those words; shall not contain the word ?cooperative.? For non-profit corporations there is no specific requirement except the name cannot imply a purpose not dictated in its articles of incorporation and cannot contain the word "cooperative" or the phrase "limited partnership."
Oregon Revised Statutes 60.094 for Private Corporations; ORS 65.094 for Non-Profit corporations
Corporation, Corp., Company, Co., Incorporated, Inc., Limited, Ltd., Association., Fund., Syndicate or words or abbreviations of like import in languages other than English.
"corporation", "incorporated", "company", or "limited", the abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co.", or "ltd.", or words or abbreviations of like import in another language
corporation, incorporated, company, or limited, or the abbreviation, corp., inc., co., or ltd., or terms or abbreviations of like import in another language
"corporation," "incorporated," "company," or the abbreviation "corp.," "inc.," "co.," or words or abbreviations of like import in another language (provided they are written in Roman characters or letters); existing corporations which were formed using only "limited" or "ltd" are not required to change their name
"corporation," "company," or "incorporated," or shall contain an abbreviation of one of such words, and shall contain such additional words as may be required by law; shall not contain the word "lottery."
"corporation", "incorporated", "company"; the abbreviation: "corp.", "inc." or "co." or words or abbreviations of like import to the words or abbreviations listed in another language; without the written consent of the United States Olympic Committee, may not contain the words "Olympic", "Olympiad", or "Citius Altius Fortius"; without the written consent of the Division of Consumer Protection may not contain the words "university", "college" or "institute"
"corporation," "incorporated," "company," or "limited," or the abbreviation "corp.," "inc.," "co.," or "ltd.," or words or abbreviations of like import in another language; shall not have the word "cooperative" or any abbreviation thereof as part of its name unless the corporation is a worker cooperative corporation;
"corporation," "incorporated," "company," or "limited," or the abbreviation "corp.," "inc.," "co.," or "ltd."; must not include "Bank," "banking," "banker," "trust," "cooperative," or any combination of the words "industrial" and "loan," or any combination of any two or more of the words "building," "savings," "loan," "home," "association," and "society,"
"corporation", "incorporated", "company" or "limited", or the abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co." or "ltd.", or words or abbreviations of like import in another language
"corporation", "incorporated", "company" or "limited" or the abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co." or "ltd." or words or abbreviations of like import in another language
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