Aktiebolag

Aktiebolag (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈakːˈtsɪəbʊlɑːɡ], "stock company") is the Swedish term for "limited company" or "corporation". When used in company names, it is abbreviated AB (in Sweden), Ab (in Finland), or A/B (for some older companies), roughly equivalent to the abbreviations Ltd and PLC. The governmental authority responsible for registration of limited companies in Sweden is called Bolagsverket (the Swedish Companies Registration Office).

Sweden

All aktiebolag are divided into two categories: private limited companies and public limited companies. The name of a private limited company may not contain the word publikt ("public") and the name of a public limited company may not contain the word privat or pvt ("private").

Public

A public limited company (publikt aktiebolag) is legally denoted as "AB (publ)" in Sweden or "Abp" in Finland. A Swedish public limited company must have a minimum share capital of 500,000 Swedish kronor and its shares can be offered to the general public on the stock market. The suffix "(publ)" is sometimes omitted in texts of an informal nature, but according to the Swedish Companies Registration Office, "the name of a public limited company must be mentioned with the term (publ) after the business name in the articles of association and elsewhere", unless it is clearly understood from the company’s business name that the company is a public limited company.