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Worldwide Company Accounts Filing Requirements

In which countries are companies required to file accounts?

All Companies are required to file accounts in:

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China (PRC), Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Greece, Greenland, India, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Spain , Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom.

Most Companies are required to file accounts in:

Argentina, Belarus, Bolivia , Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Gibraltar, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland (Eire), Japan, Kenya, Korea, South, Luxembourg, Malta, Morocco, Netherlands, Philippines, Serbia & Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia), Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, St. Helena, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara.

Some Companies are required to file accounts in:

Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Botswana, Canada, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Germany, Honduras, Hong Kong (SAR), Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Libya, Macedonia, Malaysia, Martinique, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Reunion Island, Sri Lanka, St. Martin (French), Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uzbekistan.

Only Public Companies are required to file accounts in:

Bermuda , Ethiopia, Ghana, Isle of Man, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United States Of America (USA), Zambia, Zimbabwe.

No Company is required to file accounts in:

Afghanistan, Alderney (Channel Isl.), American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Ascension Island, Bahamas, Belize, Benin , Bhutan, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad , Comoros, Congo, Dem Rep Of (formerly: Zaire), Congo, People’s Rep. Of, Cook Islands, Cuba, Cyprus (Turkish Rep. Of Northern), Cyprus, Rep. Of, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Fiji, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey (Channel Isl.), Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Rep. Of, Guyana , Haiti, Iraq, Ivory Coast (Cote D’Ivoire), Jersey (Channel Isl.), Kiribati, Korea, North, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho , Liberia, Macau, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mayotte, Micronesia, Fed. States Of, Mongolia, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niger, Niue, Norfolk Island, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Saipan, Samoa (formerly Western Samoa), San Marino, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, St. Barthelemy, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Tahiti (French Polynesia), Tajikistan, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkmenistan, Turks & Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, US Virgin Islands (USVI), Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna Islands, Yemen.

Type of Company required to file accounts

For details of which types of company are required to file financials in each country please see below.

Country	Extension	Company structures and description	File financials?
Aruba	AVV	Aruba Vrijgestelde Vennootschap. Aruba Exempt Company. This type of company is intended for non-residents of Aruba: and such a company pays no taxes (but must instead pay an annual registration fee of AFl 500, or about US$280). Registered or bearer shares may be issued, and preference shares are also allowed. Minimum share capital is AFl 10,000. There are no financial statements that are required to be filed, but there must be representation by a local Aruban company (usually a Trust Agent).	None
Australia	P/L	Pty. Ltd. Proprietary Limited Company.	Some
	PC Ltd	Public Company Limited by Shares	Some
Austria	AG	Aktiengesellschaft. Translates to "stock corporation". Minimum share capital is ATS 1 million. Par value of each share must be ATS 100, ATS 500, or a multiple of ATS 1,000. As in Germany, an Austrian AG must have both a Vorstand and an Aufsichtsrat.	All
	EEG	Eingetragene Erwerbsgesellschaft Professional Partnership	All
	GesmbH	See GmbH. This abbreviation is only used in Austria (not Germany or Switzerland).	All
	GmbH	Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung. Translates to "Company with limited liability." In Austria, this is often GesmbH, although this abbreviation is not used in Germany or Switzerland. In Austria, there must be at least two founding shareholders of a GmbH. Insurance companies and mortgage banking companies are not permitted to exist in this form. Minimum share capital is ATS 500,000, and at least half of this must be raised in cash. Minimum par value is ATS 1,000 per share. No citizenship or residence requirement for shareholders exists, and shareholders can be other companies. A general meeting must be held at least annually. If an Austrian GmbH controls companies with 300 or more employees, or if the company has more than 300 employees itself, there must be a supervisory board, which must be at least three members, one of whom represents the workers. The supervisory board must meet at least three times per year.	All
	KG	Kommanditgesellschaft. A partnership under a legal name. There must be two partners, at least one limited and at least one unlimited partner. The limited partner's liability is listed in the commercial register.	All
	OHG	Offene Handelsgesellschaft. Partnership, with at least two partners. Partners have unlimited liability.	All
Bahamas	ELP	Exempted Limited Partnership. Has one or more limited partners, and one general partner, which must be a resident of the Bahamas or a company incorporated in the Bahamas. Cannot conduct business in the Bahamas, but may conduct business elsewhere. Usually set up for tax purposes.	None
	LDC	Limited Duration Company. A company, but it has a life of 30 years or less. Sometimes, these companies can be clasified as partnerships in the United States.	None
Belgium	B.V.	Besloten Vennootschap. Limited liability company.	All
	BVBA	Besloten Vennootschap met Beperkte Aansprakelijkheid Flemish language equivalent of the SPRL. It means that the company is a private limited company. Capital must be at least BEF 750,000, with at least BEF 250,000 paid up.	All
	CVA	Commanditaire Vennootschap op Aandelen. Limited partnership with shares. Flemish language equivalent to the French language SCA	All
	GCV	Gewone Commanditaire Vennootschap. Limited Partnership. The Flemish language equivalent to the French language SCS.	All
	NV	Naamloze Vennootschap. This is Flemish (Dutch): In Belgium, many companies use both NV and SA (the French language equivalent).	All
	SA	Société Anonyme, the Dutch language equivalent is NV. Initial capital must be BEF 2.5 million, and must be fully paid up upon incorporation.	All
	SCA	Societe en commandite par actions. Limited partnership with share capital.	All
	SPRL	Société Privée à Responsabilité Limitée. French language equivalent to BVBA -- see that definition for more information.	All
Belgium & France	SCS	Societe en Commandite Simple.	All
Botswana	Prp. Ltd.	Private company limited by shares.	Some
Brazil	Ltda	Sociedade por Quotas de Responsabiliadade Limitada. Means the owners have limited liability.	Most
	S.A.	Sociedade por Ações. Privately-held company	Most
	S.C.S.	Sociedade em Comandita Simples. Limited Partnership	Most
	S/A	Sociedades Anônimas. In Brazil, there must be at least two shareholders of an S/A, and they must have paid in cash at least 10% of the subscribed capital. The Capital must be deposited with the Bank of Brazil or other approved entity of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission. Annual accounts must be published.	Most
	SCP	Sociedade em Conta de Participacão. This is a partnership where there is one partner assumed responsible for running the business. The other partners carry liability, but they do not have to be revealed.	Most
Bulgaria	AD	Aktzionerno Druzhestvo. Limited Liability company, can be publicly-traded.	All
	EOOD	Ednolichno Druzhestvo s Ogranichena Otgovornost. Limited liability company. Requires only one shareholder.	All
	KD	Komanditno drushestwo. Partnership	All
	KDA	Komanditno drushestwo s akzii. Partnership with shares.	All
	OOD	Druzhestvo s Ogranichena Otgovornost. Limited liability company. Requires at least 2 shareholders. Minimum share capital is 5000 leva (2500 Euro).	All
Canada	Inc	Incorporated. Limited liability	Some
	Ltée.	Limitée. French language equivalant of Ltd. (Limited). Indicates that a company is incorporated and that the owners have limited liability.	Some
	NT	iNTermediary. Indicates that a company is a financial intermediary. However, companies are not required to use this abbreviation in their name if they are a financial intermediary -- it's merely a description.	Some
Chile	Srl	Sociedad de responsabilidad limitada, Limited Liability company	Most
China		Youxian zeren gougsi is a Private Limited Company.	No
		Gufen youxian gougsi is a joint-stock company.	Most
Colombia & Peru	S. en C.	Sociedad en Comandita. Limited Partnership	Some
Croatia	d.d.	dionicko drustvo. Joint stock company.	All
	d.o.o.	drustvo s ogranicenom odgovornoscu. Limited Liability company.	All
	j.t.d.	javno trgovacko drustvo. Unlimited liability company.	All
	k.d.	komanditno drustvo. Limited Partnership.	All
Cyprus		Private Limited Company
		General Partnership
		Limited Partnership
Czech Republic	v.o.s.	verejna obchodni spolecnost. General partnership. Partners are fully liable.	Most
	A.S.	akciova spolecnost. Joint stock company. Owners have limited liability. Share capital must be at least CZK 1 million. The company must put at least 20% of the capital into a reserve fund, which is funded by after-tax profits. The accounts must be audited annually. There must be at least three members on the board of directors, and each member must be a Czech citizen or resident.	Most
	k.s.	komanditni spolecnost. Limited partnership. One partner must have unlimited liability, although other partners can carry limited liability.	Most
	spol s.r.o.	spolecnost s rucenim omezenym, limited liability company. This type of company cannot trade on the stock exchange, but owners have limited liability up to their unpaid deposits. This type of company must have share capital of at least CZK 100,000, and each shareholder must contribute at least CZK 20,000. A reserve fund of at least 10% of the share capital must be created from the profits. There is a maximum of 50 shareholders. Directors must be Czech citizens or residents. An annual audit is usually not required.	Most
Denmark	A/S	Aktieselskap, translates to "stock company", and gives the owners limited liability. Danish companies require minimum share capital of DKK 500,000.	All
	AmbA	Andelsselskab.	All
	ApS	Anpartsselskab. Limited liability corporation, required minimum share capital of DKK 200,000.	All
	ApS & Co. K/S	Similar to a K/S, but the entity with unlimited liability is a company (ApS) instead of an individual.	All
	I/S	Interessentskab. Used in Denmark. General partnership; all partners have unlimited liability.	All
	K/S	Kommanditselskab. Limited partnership: at least one partner has unlimited liability and at least one partner has limited liability.	All
	KA/S	Kommanditaktieselskab. Limited partnership with share capital	All
East Germany	VEB	Volkseigner Betrieb. Term for East German companies before Reunification. They were all either shut down, or converted into AGs or GmbHs by the Privitization Agency (Treuhandanstalt).	Some
Ecuador	CA	compania anonima	None
Estonia	A.S.	Aktsiaselts, Joint Stock company.	All
	OÜ	Osaühing. Private limited liability company. Minimum capital of EEK 40,000. This type of company doesn't trade on the stock exchange (as those are of the AS variety).	All
	RAS	Riiklik Aktsiaselts. State (owned) Joint Stock company.	All
Finland	AB	Aktiebolag. In Finland, many companies use both this Swedish abbreviation and the Finnish language Oy designation, since Finland is a bilingual country. In Finland, an AB is only private (Apb is the public equivalent).	All
	Apb	Publikt Aktiebolag. Public limited company. This is the Swedish language equivalent to the more commonly used Oyj in Finland. Finland is technically bilingual, so this could be used, but is not likely.	All
	Kb	Kommanditbolag. Limited partnership. This is a Swedish term, and since Finland is technically bilingual, this abbreviation can be used there, although the Ky designation is more common.	All
	Ky	Kommandiittiyhtiö. Limited Partnership.	All
	Oy	Osakeyhtiö. All corporations in Finland used to have this legal structure, although now, publicly traded companies will be OYJ (julkinen osakeyhtiö).	All
	OYJ	julkinen osakeyhtiö. Used by publicly-traded companies in Finland.	All
France & French	EURL	Enterprise Unipersonnelle à Responsabilité Limitée. Sole proprietorship with limited liability.	Most
	GIE	Groupement d'intéret économique. Economic Grouping of Interest. Two or more persons or entities form an alliance with the goal of facilitating or developing economic activity of the members.	Most
	SA	Société Anonyme.	Most
	SC	Société civile. Partnership with full liability.	Most
	SNC	société en nom collectif. General Partnership	Most
	sp	Societe en participation.	Most
	Sarl	société à responsabilité limitée. Used in France and other French speaking countries. Private company.	Most
Germany	AG	Aktiengesellschaft. Translates to "stock corporation." In Germany, all publicly traded companies are AG's, but not all AG's are publicly traded. AG's have two sets of boards -- the Vorstand, which usually consists of the CEO, CFO and other top management, and an Aufsichtsrat, which translates to "supervisory board," which has the function of overseeing management and representing the shareholders. German law prohibits individuals from being members of both boards. AG's in Germany require a minimum of DM 100,000 share capital and at least five shareholders at incorporation. Minimum par value for shares is DM 50.	Some
	e.V.	eingetragener Verein. Non profit society/association.	Some
	GbR	Gesellschaft burgerlichen Rechts. Partnership without a legal name. Mainly used for non-commercial purposes. Partners have full liability.	Some
	GmbH	Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung. Translates to "Company with limited liability." In Germany, a GmbH means that the company is incorporated, but it is not publicly traded (as public companies must be AG's). GmbH's are essentially partnerships without a legal name, and there must be at least two partners. There must be nominal capital of at least DM 50,000. Subsidiaries of AG's can be GmbH's.	Some
	GmbH & Co. KG	Like a KG, but the entity with unlimited liability is a GmbH instead of a person. (See the KG entry for more information).	Some
	KG	Kommanditgesellschaft. A partnership under a legal name. There must be two partners, at least one limited and at least one unlimited.	Some
	KGaA	Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien. A Limited Partnership that has shares.	Some
	OHG	Offene Handelsgesellschaft. Partnership with a legal name, and must have at least two partners. Partners have unlimited liability.	Some
Greece	AE	Anonymos Etairia. Limited company. Must have a board of three to nine members.	All
	EE	Eterrorrythmos. Limited liability partnership.	All
	EPE	Etairia periorismenis evthinis. Limited liability company.	All
	OE	Omorrythmos. Partnership. All partners have unlimited liability.	All
	SA	Société Anonyme. A Greek SA must have share capital of GRD 10 million.	All
Hungary	Bt	Betiti társaság. Limited liability partnership.	Most
	Kft	korlátolt felelösségû társaság. Limited liability company. Similar to the German GmbH, this type of company offers limited liability, although the shares cannot trade publicly. Requires only one shareholder. Minimum share capital is HUF 1 million.	Most
	Kkt	közkereseti társaság, General Partnership. All partners have unlimited liability.	Most
	Kv	Közös vállalat. Joint Venture	Most
	Rt	Részvénytársaság. Stock Company. All Hungarian publicly-traded companies are incorporated via this structure. However, an Rt doesn't necessarily mean that a company is publicly traded, and Rt companies may have as few as one shareholder. However, there are three board members required. Minimum share capital is HUF 10 million.	Most
Iceland	hf	Hlutafelag. Limited liability company.	Most
Indonesia	PMA	Penenaman Modal Asing. Foreign joint venture company.	Some
	PMDN	Penanaman Modal Dalam Negeri. Domestic Capital investment company	Some
	PT	Perseroan Terbuka. Limited liability company.	Some
Ireland	PrC	Private Company limited by shares.	Most
Italy	sa	Societá in accomandita per azioni. Limited partnership with shares.	All
	SApA	Societa in Accomandita per Azioni.	All
	SAS	Societá in Accomandita Semplice. Limited Partnership.	All
	SNC	Società in Nome Collettivo. General Partnership.	All
	SpA	Società per Azioni. Limited share company.	All
	Srl	Società a Responsabilità Limitata, limited liability company.	All
Ivory Coast	SA	Société Anonyme. Requires a minimum of seven shareholders. Each share must have a par value of at least 5000 CFA Francs,	None
Japan	KK	Kabushiki Kaishi. Joint Stock Company	Most
Luxembourg	SA	Société Anonyme. There is a minimum of two shareholders, and a minimum share capital of LUF 1.25 million.	Most
	Sarl	société à responsabilité limitée. Private company -- must have share capital of at least LUF 500,000, and 100% must be paid up on formation. Requires a minimum of one director and two shareholders.	Most
	SENC	Société en Nom Collectif. General Partnership	Most
	SOPARFI	Société de Participation Financiére. Holding company.	Most
Malaysia	Sdn Bhd	Sendirian Berhad. Limited Liability Company.	Some
Mexico	A. en P.	Asociación en Participación. Joint venture	Some
	A.C.	Asociación Civil Civil Association of a non-commercial nature.	Some
	S. de R.L.	Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada. Limited Partnership	Some
	S. en N.C.	Sociedad en Nombre Colectivo. General Partnership	Some
	SA	sociedad anónima. Mexican SA's require a minimum capital of N$50,000. At least 20% of this must be paid-in at the time of incorporation. There is a minimum of 2 shareholders, but no maximum. Ordinary shareholder meetings can be called with 1/2 of the shares voting, and extraordinary meetings require a 3/4 vote. Shareholder meetings must take place in the city where the company is located, but board meetings can be abroad. 5% of annual profits must be allocated to a reserve until the reserve totals 20% of the capital.	Some
	SA de CV	In Mexico, SA's can have either fixed or variable capital; this abbreviation is used for those with variable capital.	Some
	Srl	Sociedad de responsabilidad limitada, and this type of limited liability company is really not that common in Mexico. A minimum of N$3,000 is required.	Some
Morocco	SA	Société Anonyme. SA's must have at least seven shareholders and a share capital of at least 10,000 dirhams, with each share having a minimum par value of 1000 dirhams.	Most
Netherlands	B.V.	Besloten Vennootschap. Limited liability company. Capital of at least 40,000 NLG is required to start at BV.	Most
	C.V.	Commanditaire Vennootschap. Limited Partnership. One partner must have unlimited liability, and the others can have limited liability.	Most
	CVoA	Commanditaire Vennootschap op Andelen. Limited Partnership, with shares	Most
	NV	Naamloze Vennootschap. All publicly traded Dutch companies are NV's, but not all NV's are publicly traded. Dutch NV's require 100,000 NLG share capital or more.	Most
	VOF	Vennootschap onder firma. General partnership.	Most
Netherlands Antilles	B.V.	Besloten Vennootschap. Limited liability company. Many companies incorporated in the Netherlands Antilles are merely shells created for tax purposes.	None
	NV	Naamloze Vennootschap. In the Netherlands Antilles, many foreign companies establish subsidiaries to shelter taxes.	None
Norway	AL	Andelslag. Co-operative society. Note: this was formerly written as A.L. and A/L, but recent financial law reform has dictated that periods and slashes should no longer be used.	All
	ANS	Ansvarlig selskap. Trading partnership.	All
	AS	Aksjeselskap, translates to "stock company," and gives owners limited liability. In Norway, publicly traded companies now use the ASA notation, and no longer use this notation. Private companies still use this AS notation. An AS requires minimum share capital of NOK 100,000, of which at least 50% must be paid up at incorporation.Note: this was formerly written as A.S. and A/S, but recent financial law reform has dictated that periods and slashes should no longer be used.	All
	ASA	Allmennaksjeselskap. Stock company. This acronym was chosen because Aas is a very common surname in Norway, which might have created some confusion. Since 1996, all publicly traded Norwegian companies are now incorporated in this legal structure, but not all ASA's are publicly traded. Note: this was formerly written as A.S.A. and A/S/A, but recent financial law reform has dictated that periods and slashes should no longer be used.	All
	DA	Selskap med delt ansar. Limited Partnership Note: this was formerly written as D.A. and D/A, but recent financial law reform has dictated that periods and slashes should no longer be used.	All
	KS	Kommandittselskap. Limited partnership: at least one partner has unlimited liability and at least one partner has limited liability. Note: this was formerly written as K.S. and K/S, but recent financial law reform has dictated that periods and slashes should no longer be used.	All
Peru	EIRL	Empresa Individual de Responsabilidad Limitada. Personal business with limited liability.	Some
Poland	SA	Spolka Akcyjna. Stock company	All
	SC	Spólka prawa cywilnego. Partnership with all partners having unlimited liability.	All
	SK	Spólka komandytowa. Limited liability partnership.	All
	Sp. z.o.o.	Spólka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia. Limited liability company, privately-held.	All
Portugal	ACE	Agrupamento Complementar de Empresas. Association of businesses	All
	Lda	Sociedade por Quotas Limitada. Must have at least two shareholders, and paid in capital of at least 400,000 Escudos (800 Euros)	All
	SA	Sociedad Anónima. Share capital minimum of PTE 5 million, and a minimum par value of PTE 1000 per share. There is a minimum of 5 shareholders. Companies are registered in the Commercial Registry.	All
	SGPS	Sociedade gestora de participações socialis. Holding Enterprise.	All
Romania	SA	Societate pe actiuni. Limited liability company, can be publicly-traded. Can be set up by one or more shareholders (but not more than 50) and must have a minimum capital of RL 2 million (about $100.00). At present, capital contributed by a foreign investor is converted to lei at the prevailing market exchange rate in effect at the time the capital is contributed for accounting purposes only. Companies may maintain bank accounts in foreign currency. The registered capital is divided into equal shares whose value cannot be less than RL 100,000 (about $5.00 USD) each.	All
	SCA	societate in còmandita pe actiuni. Limited liability partnership with shares.	All
	SCS	societate in comandita simpla. Limited liability partnership.	All
	SNC	societate in nume colectiv. General Partnership.	All
	Srl	societate cu raspondere limitata. Limited-liability company, privately-held. Can be set up by one or more shareholders (but not more than 50) and must have a minimum capital of RL 2 million (about $100.00). At present, capital contributed by a foreign investor is converted to lei at the prevailing market exchange rate in effect at the time the capital is contributed for accounting purposes only. Companies may maintain bank accounts in foreign currency. The registered capital is divided into equal shares whose value cannot be less than RL 100,000 (about $5.00) each.	All
Slovakia	A.S.	Akciova Spolocnost, Joint stock company	Most
Slovenia	d.d.	Delniska druzba. Stock company -- all publicly traded companies must have this structure. Must have capital of SIT 3 million, and each share must have par value of SIT 1,000. Minimum of five shareholders.	Most
	d.n.o.	Druzba z neomejeno odgovornostjo. Partnership -- all partners have unlimited liability.	Most
	d.o.o.	Druzba z omejeno odgovornostjo. Limited Liability company. Must have a share capital of at least SIT 1.5 million, and each partner must invest at least SIT 10,000.	Most
	k.d.	Komanditna druzba. Limited Partnership -- there must be at least one limited partner and one unlimited partner.	Most
	k.d.d.	Komanditna delniska druzba. Limited Partnership with shares.	Most
	td	Tiha druzba. Sole proprietorship.	Most
South Africa	Bpk	Beperk	Public
Spain	S.C.	sociedad en commandita. General Partnership.	All
	SNC	General Partnership	All
	Srl	Sociedad Regular Colectiva	All
Suriname	NV	Naamloze Vennootschap. All publicly traded companies are NV's, but not all NV's are publicly traded. NV's require SRD 5000 (USD 1785) share capital or more.	None
Sweden	AB	Aktiebolag. Stock company -- can be publicly-traded or privately-held. In Sweden, privately-held AB's must have capital of at least SEK 100,000 upon incorporation. AB's are also required to allocate at least 10% of the profits for reserves per year until reserves are at least 20% of the start-up capital. Publicly-traded AB's in Sweden must have capital of at least SEK 500,000. There must be at least three board members for Swedish AB's. An Annual General Meeting is required. AB's are registered with the Patents and Registration Office (Patent- och Registreringsverket, or PRV). The Swedish automobile and aircraft manufacturer SAAB is actually an acronym -- Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget. Aktiebolaget is sometimes used instead of Aktiebolag, since the definite article is appended to the end of the word in Swedish (Aktiebolaget means THE stock company whereas Aktiebolag means just Stock Company).	All
	HB	Handelsbolag. Trading Partnership	All
	Kb	Kommanditbolag. Limited partnership. There must be at least one partner with unlimited liability, although some partners can have limited liability. In Sweden, all Kommanditbolags must be registered with the Patents and Trademark Office. Annual reports must be filed annually, and if there are more than 10 employees, then the annual accounts must be audited, and if there are more than 200 employees, the annual reports must be filed with the Patents and Trademark office.	All
Switzerland	AG	Aktiengesellschaft. Translates to "stock corporation." In Switzerland, AG's must have at least CHF 100,000 share capital, and each share must be at least CHF 0.01 par value. When a Swiss entity registers as an AG, 3% of the capital must be paid to the authorities as a Tax if the share capital is equal to or more than CHF 250,000. There must be three shareholders (although they can be nominees). An annual audit is required, and an annual directors meeting and shareholders meetings must be held in Switzerland.	Public
	GmbH	Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung. Translates to "Company with limited liability." In Switzerland, a GmbH cannot have shares, and the owners of the company are entered into the commercial registry. Nominees can be used for anonymity.	Public
Turkey	A.S.	Anonim Sirket, a limited liability company	Most
	Kol. SrK	Kollektiv Sirket. Unlimited liability partnership.	Most
	Kom. SrK	Komandit Sirket. Limited liability partnership.	Most
	TLS	Türk Limited Sirket. Private Limited Liability Company	Most
Uruguay	SAFI	Sociedad Anonima Financiera de Inversion. Offshore company.	Most
USA	Corp.	Corporation Same meaning as Incorporated.	None
	d/b/a	Doing Business As. Used often by individuals who want to have a business name, but don't want to incorporate. Companies also use this designation when they operate under a name other than the owner's personal name or or the name of a filed corporation/LLC.	None
	Inc.	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 various regulations. Incorporation in the United States is very easy, and can be done for minimal fees.	None
	LLC	Limited Liability Company. Not really a corporation, and not really a partnership; it's something different altogether. Most states require there to be two people to form an LLC, but some states allow only one. An LLC has limited liability (hence the name), and unlimited life (i.e., the charter does not expire). In the United States, Corporations typically pay taxes, then distribute the profits via dividends, and the recipients must pay taxes on the dividends. An LLC allows for pass through taxation, which means that the income a company makes goes directly to the owners on their tax forms (even if the profits were not distributed). LLC's may have several different classes of stock.	None
	LLP	Limited Liability Partnership.	None
	N.A.	National Association. Used by Banks in the United States as a way of getting the word national into their name, which is a legal requirement under certain banking regulations.	None
Various	IBC	International Business Company. Used for offshore companies, in places such as Bahamas, Turks & Caicos Islands, etc.	None
	Ltd.	Limited. Used in the UK and many former British colonies, as well as in other countries such as Japan. Indicates that a company is incorporated and that the owners have limited liability. This can also be used in the United States, and has the same meaning as Inc.
	PLC	Public Limited Company Means what it says -- it is publicly traded, and the owners have limited liability. Used in the UK, Ireland, and elsewhere. In the UK, a PLC must have at least UKP 50,000 in authorized capital, with UKP 12,500 paid up. This abbreviation is not used by United States companies (except by foreign companies.)
	Pty.	Stands for Proprietary. Used in South Africa, Australia and elsewhere.
Venezuela	S.A.I.C.A.	Sociedad Anónima Inscrita de Capital Abierto. Open Capital Company