Company Limited By Guarantee Article Index for
Company
Website Links For
Company
 

Information About

Company Limited By Guarantee




In British or Irish Company Law , a company limited by guarantee is an alternative type of Corporation used primarily for Non-profit organisations that require Legal Personality . A Guarantee company does not have a share Capital , but has members who are guarantors instead of Shareholder s. The guarantors give an undertaking to contribute a Nominal amount (typically £1) towards the winding up of the company in the event of a shortfall upon cessation of Business . It cannot distribute its Profit s to its members, and is therefore eligible to apply for Charitable status if necessary.

Like a private limited company, a company limited by guarantee must include the suffix "Limited" in its name, unless specifically excluded by law.

Common uses of guarantee companies include Club s, membership organisations (including Students' Unions , sports associations (such as the PGA European Tour ), workers' Co-operatives , other Social Enterprise s, Non-governmental Organization s (NGOs) and charities (such as Oxfam ). The railway infrastructure provider Network Rail , domain name registry Nominet UK , the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) and IXP LINX ( London Internet Exchange ) are also companies limited by guarantee. Australia also has companies limited by guarantee, Cricket Australia being one example.

When incorporating multi-stakeholder organisations, this form is sometimes preferred over the Industrial And Provident Society because company law allows multiple classes of member with separate voting constituencies.

SEE ALSO