Aksjeselskap is the Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 term for a stock

Stock

The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...

-based company

Company

A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...

. It is usually abbreviated AS or A/S, especially when used in company names. An AS is always a limited company

Limited company

A limited company is a company in which the liability of the 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. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...

, i.e. the owners cannot be held liable

Legal liability

Legal liability is the legal bound obligation to pay debts.* In law a person is said to be legally liable when they are financially and legally responsible for something. Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law. See Strict liability. Under English law, with the passing of the Theft...

 for any debt beyond the stock capital. Public companies

Public company

This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...

 are called Allmennaksjeselskap

Allmennaksjeselskap

Allmennaksjeselskap , or ASA, is the Norwegian term for a public limited company. "ASA" or "asa" is added to the company name of all Norwegian companies registered as Allmennaksjeselskap....

 or ASA while companies without limited liability are called Ansvarlig selskap

Ansvarlig selskap

An ansvarlig selskap is a Norwegian company model, mainly used in small-to-medium businesses, in which the company's individual owners are held personally liable for any outstanding debts acquired by the company...

 or ANS.

All AS companies must have a stock capital of at least NOK

Norwegian krone

The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...

 30,000. In addition they must have a board of directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 and, depending on the size of its turnover, balance sheet total, or number of employees, an auditor. They may choose to have a Managing Director. If the company has asset

Asset

In financial accounting, assets are economic resources. Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset...

s exceeding NOK 3 million, the board must have at least three members and the Managing Director cannot be Chairman of the Board

Chair (official)

The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...

. Though not required by law, practically all Norwegian companies have a fiscal year running from January to December, though some foreign subsidiaries may have a different fiscal year to match the corporation

Corporation

A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...

.