Every legal form in Brazil, each with its abbreviation, the kind of entity it is, liability and typical use where they are well established, and the values the Prometiam company object returns.
This guide lists the 17 legal forms the Prometiam dictionary knows for Brazil: what each is called, how it is abbreviated, what kind of entity it is and how it appears in the company object. Use it to read the legal_form of a company registered in Brazil, or to decode a form you meet in a contract or on an invoice. It is a general reference, not legal advice.
Coverage and limits for Brazil: company records only (no officers or partners, no contacts, no registry-compliance signal, no VAT number, no insolvency notices); commercial legal persons only (LTDA, S.A., simple societies, single-member limited companies, public and mixed-capital companies, cooperatives), sole proprietors (empresário individual, MEI included), non-profit entities, public bodies, branches of foreign companies and every other natural-person form are never served; judicial recovery, bankruptcy, liquidation and intervention are read from the register’s special situation and show in the company status. Contains data from the Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica (CNPJ), Receita Federal do Brasil, published as open data (CC BY). Adapted by Prometiam.
| Form | Abbreviation | Kind | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empresa Pública | - | Public limited company (joint-stock company) | Empresa pública, a public company. |
| Sociedade de Economia Mista | S.A. | Public limited company (joint-stock company) | Sociedade de economia mista, a mixed-capital company. |
| Sociedade Anônima Aberta | S.A. | Public limited company (joint-stock company) | Sociedade anônima aberta, a listed corporation, abbreviated S.A. |
| Sociedade Anônima Fechada | S.A. | Public limited company (joint-stock company) | Sociedade anônima fechada, a closely held corporation. |
| Sociedade Empresária Limitada | Ltda. | Private limited company | Sociedade limitada, the limited liability company, abbreviated Ltda. |
| Sociedade Empresária em Nome Coletivo | - | General partnership | A general partnership (sociedade em nome coletivo, empresária). |
| Sociedade Empresária em Comandita Simples | - | Limited partnership | A limited partnership (sociedade em comandita simples, empresária). |
| Sociedade Empresária em Comandita por Ações | - | Partnership limited by shares | Sociedade em comandita por ações, a partnership limited by shares. |
| Cooperativa | - | Cooperative | A cooperative (sociedade cooperativa). |
| Empresa Individual de Responsabilidade Limitada (de Natureza Empresária) | EIRELI | Private limited company | A single-member limited company (empresa individual de responsabilidade limitada), abbreviated EIRELI. Sole proprietors (empresário individual, MEI included) are never served. |
Every company object carries four legal-form fields: legal_form (the standard abbreviation, null when the form is not mapped), legal_form_family (the cross-country family, so a private limited company compares across countries), local_legal_form (the register’s own value or code as stored) and local_legal_form_name (the register’s name for it, where it publishes one). Each form below shows the values the API returns for it.
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer rk_live_..." \ "https://api.prometiam.com/functions/v1/risk-api/companies/search?country=BR&name=<company name>" # each result carries, for example: # "legal_form": "State-owned enterprise (empresa pública)" # "legal_form_family": "public_limited_company"
Private limited company: a company with its own legal personality whose owners are, as a rule, not personally liable for its debts and whose shares are not offered to the public.
Sociedade limitada, the limited liability company, abbreviated Ltda.
Ltda.legal_form Ltda., legal_form_family private_limited_company, local_legal_form 2062A single-member limited company (empresa individual de responsabilidade limitada), abbreviated EIRELI. Sole proprietors (empresário individual, MEI included) are never served.
EIRELIlegal_form EIRELI, legal_form_family private_limited_company, local_legal_form 2305Ltda.legal_form Ltda., legal_form_family private_limited_company, local_legal_form 2240EIRELIlegal_form EIRELI, legal_form_family private_limited_company, local_legal_form 2313Public limited company (joint-stock company): a company with its own legal personality and share capital whose owners are, as a rule, not personally liable; the family of forms that can usually raise money from the public.
Empresa pública, a public company.
legal_form State-owned enterprise (empresa pública), legal_form_family public_limited_company, local_legal_form 2011Sociedade de economia mista, a mixed-capital company.
S.A.legal_form S.A., legal_form_family public_limited_company, local_legal_form 2038Sociedade anônima aberta, a listed corporation, abbreviated S.A.
S.A.legal_form S.A., legal_form_family public_limited_company, local_legal_form 2046Sociedade anônima fechada, a closely held corporation.
S.A.legal_form S.A., legal_form_family public_limited_company, local_legal_form 2054General partnership: the owners run the business together and, as a rule, answer personally for its debts.
A general partnership (sociedade em nome coletivo, empresária).
legal_form General partnership (empresária), legal_form_family general_partnership, local_legal_form 2070legal_form Simple general partnership, legal_form_family general_partnership, local_legal_form 2259Limited partnership: at least one partner answers without limit for the debts, the others only up to what they contributed.
A limited partnership (sociedade em comandita simples, empresária).
legal_form Limited partnership (empresária), legal_form_family limited_partnership, local_legal_form 2089legal_form Capital and industry partnership, legal_form_family limited_partnership, local_legal_form 2100legal_form Simple limited partnership, legal_form_family limited_partnership, local_legal_form 2267Partnership limited by shares: a hybrid in which the managing partners are liable without limit and the other owners hold shares.
Sociedade em comandita por ações, a partnership limited by shares.
legal_form Partnership limited by shares, legal_form_family partnership_limited_by_shares, local_legal_form 2097Cooperative: an organisation owned and run by its members.
A cooperative (sociedade cooperativa).
legal_form Cooperative, legal_form_family cooperative, local_legal_form 2143legal_form Consumer cooperative, legal_form_family cooperative, local_legal_form 2330Civil partnership: a company under civil rather than commercial law, often used for property holding, farming or professional practices.
legal_form Simple partnership (sociedade simples pura), legal_form_family civil_partnership, local_legal_form 2232See the Brazil company data API guide for the register behind these records and the free CNPJ lookup to try an identifier. For the register states that go with these forms, read company status in Brazil. All countries: company legal forms.
Search by name or identifier and read legal_form, legal_form_family and local_legal_form on every result, or filter a bulk list by family.
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