In a limited company, the 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 shares or by guarantee. The former may be further divided in public companies and private companies. Who may become a member of a private limited company is restricted by law and by the company's rules. In contrast, anyone may buy shares in a public limited company. Limited companies can be found in most countries, although the detailed rules governing them vary widely. It is also common for a distinction to be made between the publicly tradable companies of the plc type (for example, the German Aktiengesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft (AG), British PLC, Czech a.s., Italian S.p.A., Hungarian Zrt. and the Spanish, French, Polish, Greek and Romanian S.A.), and the "private" types of company (such as the German GmbH, Portuguese Ltda., British Ltd., Polish sp. z o.o., the Czech s.r.o., the French s.a.r.l., the Italian and Romanian s.r.l., Hungarian kft. and Slovak s.r.o.)

Contents

1 Kinds

1.1 Private company limited by guarantee 1.2 Private company limited by shares 1.3 Public limited company

2 In specific countries

2.1 Australia 2.2 Brazil 2.3 Canada 2.4 India 2.5 Nigeria 2.6 South Africa 2.7 United Kingdom 2.8 United States 2.9 Zimbabwe

3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Kinds[edit] Private company limited by guarantee[edit] Main article: Private company limited by guarantee This is a company that does not have share capital, but is guaranteed by its members, who agree to pay a fixed amount in the event of the company's liquidation. Charitable organisations are often incorporated using this form of limited liability. Another example is the Financial Conduct Authority. In Australia, only an unlisted public company can be limited by guarantee.[1] Private company limited by shares[edit] Main article: Private company limited by shares Has shareholders with limited liability and its shares may not be offered to the general public. Shareholders
Shareholders of private companies limited by shares are often bound to offer the shares to their fellow shareholders prior to selling them to a third party.[2] Public limited company[edit] Main article: Public limited company A public limited company can be publicly traded on a stock exchange; this is similar to the U.S. Corporation
Corporation (Corp.) and the German Aktiengesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft (AG). In specific countries[edit] Australia[edit] The private company equivalent in Australia
Australia is the Proprietary Limited company (Pty Ltd). An Australian company with only Limited or Ltd after its name is a public company, such as a company listed on the ASX. Australia
Australia does not have a direct equivalent to the plc. A shareholder in a limited company, in the event of its becoming insolvent (equivalent to insolvency in the United Kingdom) would be liable to contribute the amount remaining unpaid on the shares (usually zero, as most shares are issued fully paid). "Paid" here relates to the amount paid to the company for the shares on first issue, and should not be confused with amounts paid by one shareholder to another to transfer ownership of shares between them. A shareholder is thus afforded limited liability. Brazil[edit] In Brazil, a limited company is registered as any other type of company. To found it, you must pay an accountant to research the name of your future business to check if it wasn't already registered, then the accountant contacts the offices responsible for giving you the CNPJ (the national code for company identification), which are the commercial joint of the state and the IRS. After that the Ltda. or Lda. (rarely used) suffixes can be placed after the companies name or with Cia. (abbreviation for companhia, company in Portuguese): [company name] & Cia. Ltda. Canada[edit] In Canada, a person wishing to register a limited company must file Articles of Incorporation
Articles of Incorporation with either their provincial government or the federal government.[3] India[edit] In India, there are three types of limited company: a public limited company, a private limited company, and a one-person company. A company's liability may be limited by shares, in which case the liability of the company's members is limited to the amount of the shares held by them, or it may be limited by guarantee, in which case the liability is limited to a predetermined amount the company's members have agreed to contribute if the company is dissolved with outstanding liabilities. A private limited company is a limited company incorporated under the Companies Act 2013
Companies Act 2013 (or one of its predecessor acts), with a minimum paid-up share capital (if any) of ₹1 lakh (US$1,500), with an article that restricts the transfer of its shares; it may have between two and two hundred members, and its name ends with "Private Limited" (abbreviated Pvt Ltd). A public limited company must have a paid-up share capital of at least ₹5 lakh (US$7,700), and at least seven members; its name ends "Limited" (abbreviated Ltd). A one-person company (OPC) is a private company with similar proprietorship and privileges to a private limited company, but with fewer requirements; this type of company may have only one director and member.[4] Latest Updates: No Minimum Paid up Capital – Earlier the business organisations which wanted to take up a company as the preferred form of business organisation had to fulfil the requirement of minimum paid-up share capital of not less than ₹ 5 lakhs in case of public company and ₹1 lakh in case of private companies by way of Section 2(71) and 2(68) respectively. However, after in the recent Companies Amendment Act 2015, this requirement is scrapped, and a company can go ahead with its incorporation without fulfilling this criterion. Nigeria[edit] In Nigeria, there are two types of limited companies namely: a company limited by guarantee and a company limited by shares. The company limited by shares is further divided into two namely a Private limited company (Ltd.) and a Public limited company
Public limited company (Plc.) In Nigeria shareholders of limited companies are only liable for the amount of money they contributed to the company, All Nigerian companies regulated by the CAMC ( Company
Company and Allied Matters Commission). South Africa[edit] In South Africa, the term "Proprietary Limited", abbreviated "(Pty) Ltd", is used to refer to a private limited company. All South African companies are regulated by the CIPC (Companies and Intellectual Property Commission).[5][6] United Kingdom[edit] The registration of companies in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom is done through Companies House, which operates offices in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast. Prior to 1 October 2009, the registration of companies in Northern Ireland was the responsibility of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (a department of the devolved government). On the commencement of the Companies Act 2006, Northern Ireland's previously distinct company law was repealed and the new companies code instituted by that Act was extended to Northern Ireland. United States[edit] In the United States, corporations have limited liability and the expression corporation is preferred to limited company. A "limited liability company" (LLC) is a different entity. However, some states permit corporations to have the designation Ltd.[7] (instead of the usual Inc.) to signify their corporate status. A Limited company[8] must file annual tax returns ("corporation" tax returns) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Zimbabwe[edit] In Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe the term "(Pvt) Ltd" refers to a private company limited by share capital. All private entities are regulated by the Registrar of Companies in Harare. See also[edit]

Company
Company formation (UK) Limited liability partnership
Limited liability partnership (LLP) Share capital Types of business entity Unlimited company Yūgen gaisha

References[edit]

^ "Australian Limited Companies". Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-15.  ^ More detailed information on Private Limited Company
Company Archived 2013-04-09 at Archive.is
Archive.is Retrieved 2013-02-28 ^ "Incorporate in Canada, Alberta, BC, Ontario and SK, Business Registration, Incorporation Services". Retrieved 5 November 2016.  ^ "Companies Act 2013" (PDF).  ^ A Beginners Guide to CIPC[permanent dead link] ^ "Private Company
Company ((Pty) Limited) and Close Corporation". Retrieved 5 November 2016.  ^ Driska, Jan. "Delaware LLC". Archived from the original on 2014-08-14.  ^ "UK Limited Company
Company Formation". www.companiesmadesimple.com. Retrieved 2017-05-11. 

External links[edit]

Limited liability company
Limited liability company UK Business Link

Authority control

GN