ABvsAS— What's the difference?

AB (Aktiebolag) and AS (Aktieselskab) are both public limited liability company forms. They are structurally similar but governed by different national laws.

At a glance

AttributeABAS
Full nameAktiebolagAktieselskab
LanguageSwedishDanish
Entity typepublic limited liabilitypublic limited liability
LiabilityLimitedLimited
OwnershipPublic (can list shares)Public (can list shares)
Countries2 jurisdictions7 jurisdictions

Key differences

StructureBoth are public limited liability company forms with limited liability. The primary difference is jurisdiction — they are governed by separate national laws with different formation requirements, minimum capital rules, and governance structures.

Where each is used

AB only

LT · LithuaniaSE · Sweden

AS only

CZ · CzechiaDK · DenmarkEE · EstoniaLV · LatviaNO · NorwaySK · SlovakiaTR · Türkiye

Normalizing AB and AS in your data

When deduplicating company records, both suffixes are noise — “Acme AB” and “Acme AS” should resolve to the same entity. The Ambect API strips either suffix at the legal_suffix stage and records it separately:

Both normalize to the same canonical
// "Acme AB" → canonical: "acme"
// "Acme AS" → canonical: "acme"

Frequently asked questions

What is the main difference between AB and AS?

Both are public limited liability company forms, but they originate in different jurisdictions and operate under different national laws with distinct formation, capital, and governance requirements.

Is AB the same as AS?

They are structurally similar — both are public limited liability company with limited liability — but they are distinct legal forms governed by different national laws.

Which countries use both AB and AS?

AB and AS are used in different jurisdictions and do not overlap.

How does Ambect normalize AB and AS?

The Ambect API strips both suffixes at the `legal_suffix` pipeline stage, recording each as `legal_type` in the response. This means "Acme AB" and "Acme AS" both normalize to the canonical token "acme", enabling cross-suffix deduplication.

Explore each suffix

Need to normalize AB and AS records across the same dataset? The Ambect API handles both in a single call.

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