Aktiengesellschaft
Meaning of the word. The German word "Aktiengesellschaft" is a compound noun made up of two elements: "Aktien" meaning an acting part or share, and "Gesellschaft", meaning company or society. English translations include "share company", or "company limited by shares", or joint-stock company. In German, the use of the term "Aktien" for shares is restricted to "Aktiengesellschaften". Shares in other types of German companies (e.g. GmbH) are called "Anteile" (parts-of) rather than "Aktien". Legal basis. In Germany and Austria, the legal basis of the AG is the German "Aktiengesetz" (abbr. AktG; "shares law") or the Austrian "Aktiengesetz  (abbr. AktG). 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. In Switzerland, the Company Limited by Shares ("Aktiengesellschaft" in German, "société anonyme" in French, "società anonima" in Italian, "societad anonima" in Romansh) is defined in Title Twenty-Six of the Code of Obligations, Article 620. Article 950 specifies that the business name must indicate the  legal form. Structure. German AGs have a "two-tiered board" structure, consisting of a supervisory board ("Aufsichtsrat") and a management board ("Vorstand"). The supervisory board is generally controlled by shareholders, although employees may have seats, depending on the size of the company. The management board directly runs the company, but its members may be removed by the supervisory board, which also determines the management board's compensation. Some German AGs have management boards which determine their own remuneration, but that situation is now relatively uncommon. The general meeting is the supreme governing body of a Swiss company limited by shares . It elects the board of directors ("Verwaltungsrat" in German) and the external auditors. The board of directors may appoint and dismiss persons entrusted with managing and representing the company. Similar forms. The equivalent terms in other countries include the following, which mostly mean literally either "share company/society" or "anonymous company/society".