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Explanation: Sociedade Anonima and Sociedade Aberta are two completely different concepts. S.A. is the abbreviation for sociedade anónima. There is no abbreviation for sociedade aberta.
A sociedade anónima is one of the common corporate forms in civil law countries. The primary distinction between them and other types of limited liability company is that their share capital is divided into shares with a fixed par value. I normally use the EN-UK term public limited company to translate sociedade anónima.
A sociedade aberta is a company the shares of which are freely traded on a regulated market. The EN term open company does exist and in the UK is defined as a company that is not a close company. Broadly a close company is a company that:
is under the control of:
five or fewer shareholders, or
any number of shareholders, if they are directors, or
more than half the assets of which would be distributed to five or fewer shareholders, or to shareholders, who are directors, in the event of the winding up of the company, the shares of which are freely traded on a regulated market.
So a sociedade aberta and an open company are pretty similar.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 21 hrs (2012-02-12 12:03:05 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Reply to Asker's note: WIDR, you have not understood what BES is saying. It is saying two things. (1) that it is a sociedade anónima (S.A.) and (2) that is listed on the Lisbon Securities Market, i.e. a sociedade aberta (open company). Generally speaking companies listed on a Portuguese market must be socioedades anónimas. The converse on not true though, i.e. not all sociedades anónimas are so listed. The term public company is source of confusion, you could use the term listed company, rather than open company.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 23 hrs (2012-02-12 13:46:07 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Reply to Asker#2: What I am saying is that the words chosen by the author of the BES text can be improved upon.
www.millenniumbcp.pt/.../archive/.../ing_inf_financeira__42... Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
Banco Comercial Português, S.A., a public company (sociedade aberta) having its registered office at Praça D. João I, 28, Oporto, registered at the Commercial ...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 7 mins (2012-02-11 14:44:21 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
sociedad anónima = limited liability company
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 11 mins (2012-02-11 14:47:47 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Portuguese: sociedade anónima = limited liability company
sociedade aberta = publicly traded/listed company
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 11 mins (2012-02-11 14:48:14 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
translatorscafe.com/tcterms/EN/thQuestion.aspx?id=7904725 Apr 2011 – Presidente do conselho geral e de supervisão de sociedade aberta ... S.A., Sociedade Aberta: ≈ publicly traded corporation or listed company ...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 14 mins (2012-02-11 14:50:38 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
sociedade anónima: US English: incorporated company; British English = limited liability company
David Hollywood Local time: 02:05 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 69
Notes to answerer
Asker: thank you
29 mins confidence:
PLC Public Limited Company
Explanation: HIH
Douglas Bissell Portugal Local time: 06:05 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 40
Explanation: Sociedade Anonima and Sociedade Aberta are two completely different concepts. S.A. is the abbreviation for sociedade anónima. There is no abbreviation for sociedade aberta.
A sociedade anónima is one of the common corporate forms in civil law countries. The primary distinction between them and other types of limited liability company is that their share capital is divided into shares with a fixed par value. I normally use the EN-UK term public limited company to translate sociedade anónima.
A sociedade aberta is a company the shares of which are freely traded on a regulated market. The EN term open company does exist and in the UK is defined as a company that is not a close company. Broadly a close company is a company that:
is under the control of:
five or fewer shareholders, or
any number of shareholders, if they are directors, or
more than half the assets of which would be distributed to five or fewer shareholders, or to shareholders, who are directors, in the event of the winding up of the company, the shares of which are freely traded on a regulated market.
So a sociedade aberta and an open company are pretty similar.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 21 hrs (2012-02-12 12:03:05 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Reply to Asker's note: WIDR, you have not understood what BES is saying. It is saying two things. (1) that it is a sociedade anónima (S.A.) and (2) that is listed on the Lisbon Securities Market, i.e. a sociedade aberta (open company). Generally speaking companies listed on a Portuguese market must be socioedades anónimas. The converse on not true though, i.e. not all sociedades anónimas are so listed. The term public company is source of confusion, you could use the term listed company, rather than open company.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 23 hrs (2012-02-12 13:46:07 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Reply to Asker#2: What I am saying is that the words chosen by the author of the BES text can be improved upon.
MARK ROBERTSON Local time: 06:05 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 87
Notes to answerer
Asker: Except that now the portuguese banks are calling themselves "Sociedade Aberta" http://www.bes.pt/SITEBES/cms.aspx?plg=3E6E6647-BE8A-45D5-93CD-E626C30EDFD9 which I have discovered they themselves as "public company". I think it is a new designation.
Asker: sorry, I left out some words: ..which they themselves translate as " public company".
Reference information: . O que é uma Sociedade Aberta?
São Sociedades Abertas, aquelas que:
- se tenham constituído através de oferta pública de subscrição dirigida especificamente a pessoas com residência ou estabelecimento em Portugal;
- sejam emitentes de acções ou de outros valores mobiliários que confiram direito à sua subscrição ou à aquisição de acções que tenham sido objecto de oferta pública de subscrição dirigida especificamente a pessoas com residência ou estabelecimento em Portugal;
- sejam emitentes de acções ou de outros valores mobiliários que confiram direito à subscrição ou aquisição, que estejam ou tenham estado admitidos à negociação em mercado regulamentado situado ou a funcionar em Portugal;
- sejam emitentes de acções que tenham sido alienadas em oferta pública de venda ou de troca em quantidade superior a 10% do capital social, dirigida especificamente a pessoas com residência ou estabelecimento em Portugal;
- resultem de cisão de sociedade aberta ou que incorpore por fusão, a totalidade ou parte do seu património. http://www.cmvm.pt/cmvm/apoio ao investidor/faq/pages/faq_sa...
Teresa Borges Belgium Works in field Native speaker of: Portuguese PRO pts in category: 8
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2
