Limited liability company
A limited liability company shall be a company, the registered capital of which shall be made up of predetermined contributions of its members. The minimum amount of the company´s registered capital shall be 5 000 euros. A limited liability company may be established by one party and the maximum number of members of a limited liability company shall be 50. An individual may be the sole member of not more than three companies. It is a capital company, which means that its assets are separate from the assets of its members. The company shall be liable for the breach of its obligations with its entire property. Each member´s liability for the company´s obligations shall be limited to the not paid part of his contribution registered in the commercial register. Any monetary contribution must be paid up by no less than 30% prior to the filing of the request of registration of the company into the commercial register. The aggregate value of the paid-up contributions shall be no less than 2 500 euro. In the event that the company is established by a sole founder, the company may be registered in the commercial register only after its registered capital shall have been fully paid up. This form of company eliminates the risk arising from unlimited liability.
General commercial partnership
A general commercial partnership shall be a partnership, in which two or more parties conduct business under a common business name and bear joint and several liability for the obligations of the partnership with all their properties. It is not possible for a general commercial partnership to be established by a single person, even if it is a legal person. Due to the fact that the partners are liable for the company’s liabilities, the business risk is the same as in the case of a natural person’s business on the basis of a trade license. The law does not prescribe a minimum value of the company’s share capital.
Limited partnership
A limited partnership shall be a partnership, in which one or more partners bear limited liability for the partnership´s obligations up to their outstanding contribution(s) registered in the commercial register (limited partners) and one or more partners bear unlimited liability with their entire properties (general partners). The limited partner shall make a contribution to the partnership for the amount specified in the memorandum of association, which however shall not be lower than 250 euros. The contribution shall be paid up by the date specified in the memorandum of association or, if not specified, without undue delay following the incorporation of the partnership or, as appropriate, following his joining the partnership. Only the general partners, who are the statutory body of the company, shall be entitled to manage the partnership. Other matters shall be decided jointly by general and limited partners by a majority of votes, unless the memorandum of association provides otherwise.
Joint-stock company
A joint-stock company shall be a company, the registered capital of which is composed of a certain number of shares of a certain nominal value. The company shall be liable with its entire property for any breach of its obligations. The shareholder shall not bear any liability for the obligations of the company. The share capital of the company is the sum of the nominal values of all shares issued by the company. The minimum amount of registered capital is 25 000 euros unless special legislation requires a higher amount (e.g. banks, insurance companies, securities dealers). The shareholders do not participate in the management of the joint-stock company and participate in the management of the company through the general meeting of the company. However, a share as a transferable security allows them to transfer their share in the company to another person relatively easily and thus represents an investment tool. A joint stock company can be a private joint stock company or a public joint stock company. A public limited company is a company in which all or part of its shares have been admitted to trading on a regulated market situated or operating in one of the contracting states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
A simple joint-stock company
A simple joint-stock company is a company whose share capital is divided into a certain number of shares with a certain nominal value. The company shall be liable with its entire property for any breach of its obligations. The shareholder shall not bear any liability for the obligations of the company. The minimum share capital of a simple joint-stock company is 1 euro. Prior to the establishment of the company, the entire value of the share capital must be subscribed and all deposits repaid. The share capital can be divided into any number of shares, with a minimum value of 1 cent. The company may be established by one or more persons. A simple joint-stock company is a simplified form of joint-stock company that has more simple conditions for its internal organization (e.g. the supervisory board is not a mandatory body, the company’s bodies can be elected for an indefinite period and especially such a company could take decisions of shareholders outside the general meeting). The shares of such a company must be registered on name and must be in book-entry form; Information on shareholders in the scope of data entered in the register of shareholders (with the exception of the personal identification number of a shareholder – natural person) is published on the website of the central depository, which maintains a register of shareholders for a simple joint-stock company.