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A proprietary company is a form of corporation in Australia and South Africa that is either limited or unlimited. However, unlike a public company there are, depending on jurisdiction, restrictions on what they can and cannot do.
In Australia, a proprietary company is defined under section 45A(1) of the Corporations Act.
The Act puts certain restrictions on proprietary companies such as not permitting them to have more than 50 members (shareholders). Another important restriction relates to fundraising. A proprietary company must not engage in fundraising that would require a disclosure document such as a prospectus, offer information statement, or profile statement to be issued (section 113(3)). The Corporations Act states in which circumstances a company must issue a prospectus when attempting to raise funds. This means that a Proprietary company must not offer its shares to the public.
Section 45A of the Act also distinguishes proprietary companies as either "large proprietary" or "small proprietary". The differences here relate to issues such as operating revenue, consolidated gross assets, and the number of employed persons.
Large proprietary companies are required to appoint an auditor and lodge appropriate financial statements with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
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Under Australian law, a proprietary limited company, abbreviated as 'Pty Ltd' is a business structure that has at least one shareholder with a limited number of shares. Its counterparts include the public Limited company (Ltd.) and the Unlimited Proprietary company (Pty.) with a share capital.
Under the governing Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), a proprietary company must either be:
The proprietary limited or unlimited company must have at least one shareholder and must have no more than 50 non-employee shareholders and at least one director who must live in Australia. A secretary can be appointed (Sect. 204A), that must be at least 18 years of age. One person may simultaneously hold the positions of company director and secretary.
Proprietary limited companies are also classified as "large" or "small". A proprietary company is classified as small only if it meets at least two of the following criteria:
Most large proprietary companies have to lodge audited accounts. Small proprietary companies only have to prepare audited financial statements if ordered to do so by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) or members holding five percent of voting shares and, in some cases, if controlled by a foreign company.
Proprietary companies have the word "Proprietary" in their name, thus Relays Proprietary Limited, abbreviated to Relays Pty Ltd or Relays P/L.
To help identify companies more uniquely and concisely, many countries have a company number which does not change if the company changes its name.