Selskap med begrenset ansvar shortened to BA is a Norwegian term for a corporation comparable to a limited liability company

Limited liability company

A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...

. Meaning literally Company with limited liability, it is a type of corporate structure used in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 for limited companies based on a co-operative structure.

Legal framework

Unlike the aksjeselskap

Aksjeselskap

Aksjeselskap is the Norwegian term for a stock-based company. It is usually abbreviated AS or A/S, especially when used in company names. An AS is always a limited company, i.e. the owners cannot be held liable for any debt beyond the stock capital...

 (AS), a regular stock

Stock

The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...

-based limited company, the BA is structured either as a Særlovsselskap, a company founded under a particular act of legislature or as a cooperative

Cooperative

A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...

.
In the latter case, the limitations and legal framework is set out in the [Limited Liability Companies Act] of 1997 ss 1-1(3).3, a Norwegian Act of Parliament relating to limited liability companies covering: "companies formed in order to promote the members' consumer or professional interests or companies formed to secure employment for the members"

Difference from an AS company

The most notable difference between a regular limited company (AS) and a BA is that while the distribution of profits in an AS in general follows the ownership (N% of the shares receive N% of the distributed profits), the distribution of profits in a BA must in general follow the members shares of the revenues of the company. Typically someone representing N% of the revenues of a BA company will receive N% of the profits (standard consumer co-operative distribution of profits). The Legislation Department of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police have indicated that a minor percentage of profits distributed based upon ownership may still be accepted.

Usage

The most prominent uses of BA companies are in local Coop

Coop NKL

Coop NKL BA is a Norwegian cooperative retailing company. Coop NKL is owned by 177 local cooperative associations in Norway and has more than one million members and who actually operate that stores. The company has its headquarters in Oslo...

 retail cooperatives and the agriculture cooperatives

Agricultural cooperatives in Norway

The Agricultural cooperatives in Norway consists of 13 companies, each organised as independent farmer owned cooperatives. They cover four different areas for the farmers: refining and sale of produce, financial services, breeding and insemination, and retail of agricultural equipment. All the...

. Formerly a number of state enterprises

Public property

Public property is property, which is dedicated to the use of the public. It is a subset of state property. The term may be used either to describe the use to which the property is put, or to describe the character of its ownership...

 were BA companies, including the Norwegian State Railways, the Postal Service and Postbanken

Postbanken

Postbanken is a Norwegian bank that is part of the DnB NOR Group. The bank offers its services through the Norwegian post offices.-History:...

. All of these have been converted to AS's.