Corporate law / AG

The German public limited company or corporation, known as the Aktiengesellschaft (AG), is a form of corporation with its own legal personality (legal entity). Similar to a corporation in the United States, capital is divided into shares, which are held by the respective owners. A minimum capital of 50,000 euros is required to form an AG. As with the GmbH, liability is limited to the company’s share capital, so that the shareholders are protected against personal claims by creditors.

The shareholders together form a representative body of the AG and attend the Annual General Meeting. The voting rights of the individual shareholders are determined by the amount of their respective shareholdings. Other bodies of the AG are the Supervisory Board and the Management Board.

As an alternative to the German AG, there exists a EU-recognized comparable corporate entity called the SE (Societas Europaea). However, this entity choice has become less attractive since the European Court of Justice ruled that all corporations are free to move and settle within the European Union in 2012, meaning that the special SE legal form is not needed in order for an AG to do business in other European countries.

Overall, there are many special features to consider when founding and managing an AG, which our corporate lawyers are very familiar with. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions on the subject of public limited companies.