is the
Norwegian term for a
stock
Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...
-based
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...
. It is usually abbreviated AS, historically often written as A/S. An AS is always a
limited company
In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...
, i.e. the owners cannot be held
liable for any debt beyond the stock capital.
Public companies are called (ASA), while companies without limited liability are called (ANS).
All AS companies must have a stock capital of at least
NOK 30,000. In addition, they must have a
board of directors
A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency.
The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
, depending on the size of turnover, balance sheet total or number of employees, an
auditor. They may appoint a
managing director (MD) or chief executive (CEO). If the company has
asset
In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...
s exceeding NOK 3 million, the board must have at least three members and cannot be
chaired by the MD/CEO.
Practically all Norwegian companies have a
fiscal year from January to December, but some foreign
subsidiaries may have a different fiscal year, as is allowed, to match the parent
corporation
A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...
.
The ASA differentiates from the in that it has rules regulating its ownership. There cannot be any rules limiting the company's ownership to certain interests, and an ASA must offer a public tender to purchase stock, either new stock or from existing owners if the company is converted from an AS. Norwegian companies, both those listed on a
stock exchange
A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...
and
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
s, must be ASAs (banks, however, are exempt from certain regulation including ownership regulation). An ASA is required to have a
capital of
NOK 1 million; a board with at least 40% of its members from each
gender
Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
as well as an
auditor
An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting an ...
.
References
{{Norwegian type of company
Types of companies of Norway