Ltd. (Private Limited Company)

The Ltd. (Private Limited Company) is a British corporation that was long considered an alternative to the German GmbH due to its low capital requirements. Before Brexit, many founders from Germany used the UK-Limited to operate a limited liability company with just 1 GBP of share capital. Important keyword: Limited commercial register. In Germany, the Ltd. always remains a foreign legal form; it is therefore registered not as a separate company but as a branch in the commercial register (HRB), e.g., 'XYZ Ltd. – Branch Germany'. Liability limitations and representation rules continue to be governed by British law. However, since Brexit 2021, there is legal uncertainty: A UK-Limited without an actual administrative seat in the United Kingdom loses its recognition as a corporation in the EU and can automatically be reclassified as a general partnership (oHG) or civil-law partnership (GbR), leading to personal liability for the partners. Those who wish to establish or continue a Ltd. today should either maintain a genuine place of business in the UK or timely convert into a GmbH or UG (haftungsbeschränkt).

The API provides commercial register entries of branches of British Private Limited Companies (Ltd.) in Germany. Available data includes company name with legal form suffix, HRB number, register court, managing directors, capital structure, and chronological changes—essential for quickly and transparently assessing liability and compliance risks of a UK-Ltd. in Germany post-Brexit.