Naamloze vennootschap

Naamloze vennootschap (correctly abbreviated NV) or (in the French Community of Belgium) Société anonyme (SA) is a type of public company defined by business law in the Netherlands, Belgium, Indonesia (where it is known as perseroan terbatas, correctly abbreviated PT and allows for private companies), and Suriname. The company is owned by shareholders, and the company's shares are not registered to certain owners, so that they may be traded on the public stock market.

The phrase literally means "nameless partnership" or "anonymous venture" and comes from the fact that the partners (the shareholders) are not directly known. This is in contrast to the term for a private limited company, which is called besloten vennootschap (an "exclusive" or "closed partnership", one in which stock is not for sale on open markets).

Each naamloze vennootschap is a legal entity in the Netherlands, Belgium, Aruba, Curaçao, Suriname, Sint Maarten and Indonesia. A minimum of €45,000 (€61,500) paid in capital is required to register a Dutch (Belgian) nv.