Under Australian law, a
proprietary limited company (abbreviated as 'Pty Ltd') is a business structure that has at least one
shareholder and up to 50, where the liability of shareholders is limited to the value of shares. Its counterparts include the
public limited company (Ltd) and the Unlimited Proprietary company (Pty) with a share capital. Under the Australian
Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), a proprietary company must be either – • Proprietary Limited (Pty Ltd) company,
limited by shares, where
shareholders are afforded more protection when it comes to the level of
liability they face for company debts; or •
Unlimited Proprietary (Pty) company with a share capital, similar to its limited company (Ltd or Pty Ltd) counterpart, but where the members' or shareholders' liability is not limited. The proprietary limited or unlimited company must have at least one shareholder, no more than 50 non-employee shareholders, and at least one director who must live in Australia. A secretary can be appointed (sec.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: • It has assets of less than $25 million at the end of a financial year. • It has fewer than 100 employees at the end of a financial year. • It has a gross operating revenue of less than $50 million for the
financial year. 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
Australian Securities & Investments Commission or members holding five percent of voting shares and, in some cases, if controlled by a foreign company. ==Company names==