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ÉVÉNEMENTIEL / ARRIVAGE

Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

S.A. vs. SARL (in Switzerland)

English translation:

Don't translate them

    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2013-03-26 09:54:07 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Mar 22, 2013 15:48
11 yrs ago
11 viewers *
French term

S.A. vs. SARL (in Switzerland)

French to English Bus/Financial Business/Commerce (general)
Dear Translation colleagues,
I'm afraid that I'm having some trouble distinguishing between these two terms: SA and SARL into English.
I've seen on multiple websites they have been translated interchangeably as LTD, PLC and LLC.
I'm in a pickle because I just don't know which to use, or if there is a real equivalent here.
Thanks for any help you can give!
Best!
Elizabeth
Proposed translations (English)
5 +11 Don't translate them
4 -1 PLC vs. Ltd
Change log

Mar 22, 2013 16:58: writeaway changed "Field (specific)" from "Accounting" to "Business/Commerce (general)"

Discussion

jmleger Mar 22, 2013:
SA vs SARL The Société Anonyme requires a higher paid-in capital than the Société à Responsabilité Limitée (which means it is more for larger companies). But the corporate structures are quite different in the US and in Europe, so there are no real equivalents. All that counts is that they are both incorporated entities, i.e. corporations

Proposed translations

+11
7 mins
Selected

Don't translate them

They have no exact equivalents, and I assume they're parts of company names, which should not be translated.
Peer comment(s):
agree Nikki Scott-Despaigne : You should not translate them, or at least not by substituting a UK apparent equivalent. That would amount to conferring UK legal attributes upon a Swiss corporate structure.
59 mins
agree writeaway : and with Nikki
1 hr
agree Trudy Peters
1 hr
agree Daryo : dangerous thing to do, gives a first impression it's a UK company, maybe never to be corrected later.
1 hr
agree Jane Proctor (X)
2 hrs
agree John Holland
2 hrs
agree AllegroTrans : although I would not translate them, I would give an explanation in brackets
3 hrs
agree Simon Charass : Do not translate. They are part of the company’s registered and legal name.
4 hrs
agree papier : agree with Nikki, although I find that an explanation like Jmlegger gave could fit next to both acronyms and be useful to the readers.
11 hrs
agree Mary Holihan
23 hrs
agree Sheila Wilson : Depending entirely on the context, these can sometimes be omitted altogether (not in a formal reference to the company though, and certainly not in a contract), but they can't be translated.
1 day 2 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Wonderful! This, of course, is the most obvious answer but was like an apple hanging out of reach. Of course for SEO purposes I would have liked to put an equivalent sa (Swiss ltd) or SARL (Swiss llc) -or something like that, but clearly, it's a bad ide"
-1
17 mins

PLC vs. Ltd

S.A is considered to be a public limited company according to the link below
SARL is - private limited company
So I think these abbreviations are appropriate.
Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.A._(corporation)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_%C3%A0_responsabilit%C3%A9_limit%C3%A9e

Peer comment(s):
neutral writeaway : it's often part of the name of a company and for English speakers, translating them isn't a great idea. I can imagine that other issues are present when translating into Bulgarian.
51 mins
neutral AllegroTrans : I think it's OK to give these equivalents but ONLY after first giving the original (and adding the "translation" in brackets and NOT using the English abrreviations)
3 hrs
neutral Nikki Scott-Despaigne : Yes, but only as I indicate in my comment to Phil "or at least not by substituting them...", thus in brackets, as a footnote with a "roughly equal to" sign etc.
20 hrs
disagree Jay Gonzalez : here's my super late contribution: I agree you shouldn't translate them (think of how it's profile would look in Bloomberg). The Swiss Government at least gives an understanding of the concepts: http://bit.ly/Swiss_SA_Limited_Company
2721 days
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