Aktiengesellschaft
The term is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (where it is equivalent to a société anonyme or a società per azioni) and South Tyrol[a] for companies incorporated there.Shares in other types of German companies (e.g., GmbH or a cooperative) are called Anteile (parts-of) rather than Aktien.Since the German commercial law (§ 19 Handelsgesetzbuch) requires all corporations to specify their legal form in their name, in order to inform the public of the limits on their liability, all German (required by § 4 Aktiengesetz) and Austrian stock corporations include Aktiengesellschaft or AG as part of their name, frequently as a suffix.The supervisory board is generally controlled by shareholders, although employees may have seats, depending on the size of the company.Some German AGs have management boards which determine their own remuneration, but that situation is now relatively uncommon.
Corporate lawAnguillaAustraliaCanadaCayman IslandsSouth AfricaUnited StatesVietnamEuropean UnionFranceGermanyCompanyConglomerateCooperativeCorporationHolding companyJoint-stockPartnershipGeneralLimitedLimited liabilityPrivate limitedShell corporationShelf corporationSole proprietorshipCorporate formsby jurisdictionSocietas (SE)Societas cooperativa (SCE)Societas privata (SPE)Societas unius personae (SUP)Economic interest grouping (EEIG)Charitable incorporated organisation (England and Wales) (CIO)Scottish charitable incorporated organisation (SCIO)Community interest company (CIC)Industrial and provident society (IPS)Limited company (Ltd.)by guaranteeby sharesproprietarypublicUnlimited companyBenefit corporationC corporationLimited liability company (LLC)Low-profit LLCSeries LLCLimited liability limited partnership (LLLP)S corporationDelaware corporationstatutory trustMassachusetts business trustNevada corporationAktiebolag (AB)Ansvarlig selskap (ANS)Aktieselskab (A/S)Aksjeselskap (AS)Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH)Kabushiki gaisha (K.K.)Naamloze vennootschap (N.V.)Osakeyhtiö (Oy)Société à responsabilité limitée (SARL)more...Business judgment ruleCorporate governanceDe facto and estoppel corporationsInternal affairs doctrineTag-along rightDrag-along rightPiercing the corporate veilRochdale PrinciplesUltra viresBeneficial ownershipCivil procedureContractCorporate registersRegistered agentGermanshareholdersstock marketsociété anonymesocietà per azioniSouth Tyrolpublic limited companyincorporatedjoint-stock companyℛ︁ℳ︁liabilityFrenchItalianRomanshCode of ObligationsSociedad AnónimaNaamloze VennootschapAkciová společnostAktieselskabOsakeyhtiöKabushiki gaishalaw reformsOccupation of JapanIllinois corporate lawBerhadAksjeselskapПубличное акционерное обществоakcionarsko društvoAkciová spoločnosťAktiebolagAnonim ŞirketSociedade AnónimaGesellschaft mit beschränkter HaftungVolkseigener BetriebS.A. (corporation)Colin Mayer