ARTICLE
7 February 1995

Public Limited Company Formation - Legal Requirements

LD
Linklaters De Bandt

Contributor

Linklaters De Bandt
Belgium Employment and HR
The legal requirements for setting up a public limited company ("société anonyme") can be summarized as follows:
1.	Minimum capital requirement: BEF 1,250,000 to be fully 
	subscribed at incorporation. A minimum of 25% of the capital 
	must be paid in at incorporation with an absolute minimum of 
	BEF 1,250,000;
	
2.	Capital contributions may consist of cash or any asset with an 
	economic value. The shares issued in consideration for the 
	capital contributions may be in registered or in bearer form;
3.	Minimum number of shareholders: two, which may be legal or 
	natural persons. There are no restrictions as to the shareholders' 
	citizenship or place of residence. In most public limited companies 
	which are part of an international group, all but one shares in the 
	company are owned by the ultimate parent company or another group 
	company, while the remaining share is owned by an individual or a 
	group company;
4.	Minimum number of directors: three. Directors are usually natural 
	persons, even though legal persons may be appointed as director. 
	There are no restrictions as to the directors' citizenship or 
	place of residence;
5.	An auditor must be appointed to review the company's financial 
	statements if two of the following criteria are exceeded: 
		(i) annual turnover (not including VAT): BEF 170 million, 
		(ii) balance sheet total: BEF 85 million, 
		(iii) total number of employees: 50. 
	The appointment of an auditor is also required when the company 
	has more than 100 employees. The above criteria must be assessed 
	on a consolidated basis (i.e., taking into account the parent 
	company). The auditor must be a member of the Belgian Institute 
	of Certified Auditors.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

For further information contact Didier Leclercq on + 32.2. 517.94.23.
© Mondaq Ltd 1995 Tel +44 171 820 7733

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