A (abbreviated KG, ; from + ) is the German name for a

limited partnership A limited partnership (LP) is a type of partnership with general partners, who have a right to manage the business, and limited partners, who have no right to manage the business but have only limited liability for its debts. Limited partnership ...

business entity In law, a legal person is any person or legal entity that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, lawsuit, sue and be sued, ownership, own property, and so on. The reason for the term "''le ...

and is used in German, Belgian, Dutch,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n, and some other European

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

systems. In

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, it is called a '' gōshi gaisha''. Its name derives from the commenda, an early Italian medieval form of

. In

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, it is legally called ''commanditaire vennootschap'' (CV) or ''Persekutuan Komanditer'', derived from colonial Dutch administration.

Description

Partnerships may be formed in the legal forms of General Partnership (, GbR), or specialized in trading (, OHG), or

Limited Partnership A limited partnership (LP) is a type of partnership with general partners, who have a right to manage the business, and limited partners, who have no right to manage the business but have only limited liability for its debts. Limited partnership ...

(''Kommanditgesellschaft'', KG). In the OHG, all partners are fully liable for the partnership's debts, whereas in the KG there are general partners (''Komplementär'') with unlimited liability and limited partners (''Kommanditisten'') whose liability is restricted to their fixed contributions to the partnership. Although a partnership itself is not a legal entity, it may acquire rights and incur liabilities, acquire title to real estate and sue or be sued. For example, a ''

Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. It is a ...

& Compagnie KG'' (GmbH & Co. KG) is a limited partnership with, typically, the sole general partner being a limited liability company. It can thus combine the advantages of a partnership with those of the limited liability of a corporation. A dormant partnership (''stille Gesellschaft'') comes into existence when a person makes a contribution to an existing enterprise (company, partnership, sole proprietorship) and shares in the latter's profits. The dormant partner has no liability for the debts of the enterprise; in case of insolvency of the enterprise he is a creditor with the portion of his contribution not consumed by losses. Strictly speaking, the dormant partnership is nothing more than an 'undisclosed participation'. A Civil-Law Association is not a legal entity and cannot sue or be sued. It is often used for single joint ventures (e.g. construction projects) and comes to an end when the joint project has been completed. A Private Foundation (''Privatstiftung'') constitutes a conglomeration of property having legal personality but no shareholders; its activities involve managing its own funds and assets for the beneficiaries.

References

{{Authority control German business law Law of Austria Partnerships Types of business entity Law of Switzerland