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There is often some confusion over the meaning of the term public company. A public company is a reference to a public limited company, which is a company permitted to offer its shares to the general public. This should not be confused with a state-owned company, which is a company owned by the government for the benefit of the general public.
public company
More information on the words discussed in the video, including sound files, examples of usage, common mistakes and encyclopaedic information, can be found in TransLegal's Legal English Dictionary.
Hi, I'm Jonathan. Welcome to TransLegal's lesson of the week.
This week I'm going to help clear up a common mistake made by non-native English speakers.
There is often confusion over the term public company. Now a public company is actually a reference to a legal term which is a public limited company and this is a company that is permitted to offer its shares to the general public. This could be also by way of the stock exchange although note that companies which are on a stock exchange are often referred to as either listed or quoted companies.
A public company should also be distinguished from a private company, also referred to as a private limited company. This is a company which is not permitted to offer its shares to the general public, but both public and private companies operate in what is known as the private sector.
A public company should not be confused with what is known as a state-owned company. So a public company is a public limited company but it's not a state-owned company.
Now a state-owned company is a company which is owned by the government for the benefit of the general public, but the difference there is that it operates in the public sector and you can certainly understand why people get confused with the term public company.
Thank you for listening and please feel free to submit any comments in the comments section below and we'll get back to you.
The differencie between a state owned company, a public limited company and a private limited company is quite clear from your lesson. My question is: I know plc, p.l.c., PLC, P.L.C., stand for public limited copany, what stands for private limited company? Thank-you for clearing this up.
Lylian. Thanks for your comment. It is correct that the various forms of “plc” denote a public limited company (in the UK). A private limited company is denoted by the term “Limited” or “Ltd” e.g. Alpha Limited or Beta Ltd.
Hi dear Jonathan! First of all, I wish to thank you very much for this help on line!!! It is very useful to add “MOVING IMAGE” in order to learn and reinforce ESP terms!!! This free gift you give us all teachers who are working on Legal English is highly appreciated!!! Being an Ilec preparation and Legal English facilitator in a small South American country,such as Uruguay is, I feel all these learning opportunities are EXCELLENT!!!
!!
All my best vibes to you, family and colleagues….and this fascinating project hoping you can keep at it along 2011 and well beyond
Grace from Uruguay
Dear Mr. Bryce,
Thank you so much for your lesson.
I am Huong Nguyen, from Vietnam. I have only one question would need your explanation:-
Is the term of “public company” mentioned in your lesson explained pursuant to English law?
If your answer is No, please explain the case to me that in some countries (i.e. Vietnam), a company being under the JSC form is permitted to issue shares to the general public and to be listed in the stock exchange. On the contrary to JSC, a limited company is not permitted to issue shares to the general public and absolutely, a limited company is not recognized as a public company. To that extent, is that a confusion of legal term “public company”?
Much appreciate your attention to my concern.
Best regards,
Huong Nguyen
Huong. Thank you for your comment. Under English and US law (and the law of numerous other jurisdictions) there are three basic corporate forms: “private” companies (which are usually owned by a relatively small number of shareholders and not permitted to offer shares to the general public), “public” companies (which are permitted to offer shares to the general public but do not necessarily need to be listed on a stock exchange) and “listed” companies (whose shares are listed on a stock exchange). All of the above are “limited” companies, meaning that the shareholders of the company have limited liability i.e. they are not personally liable for the debts of the company other than for the value of their investment in the company.
Nice and clear. Thanks!
Thanks. clear..