What is the difference between WLL and EST?
Hi,
I would like to know the difference between 'ABC Trading Company WLL' and 'ABC Trading EST'.
I think EST means 'establishment[' but I don't understand why do they use the EST in the company name instead of WLL.
Can anyone explain to me what's the difference between that?
Thank you!
In Arabic, Establishment is often described as "Mahel" and W.L.L. as "Shirka"
Mahel is old and informal system of business and Shirka more formal and legalized system of business.
Qatar used to have mostly Mahel system but during the past around 15 years, it has successfully switched over to Shirka form of business. Now you would hardly find any Mahel in the market, may be less than 5%.
W.L.L. = With limited liability Company, shared (owned) by at least 2 people.
Est= Establishment, meaning a personal entity of SINGLE person or family (often inheritors).
In a W.L.L., your liability is restricted to the quantity of shares that you hold in the company, e.g. 25% share holder,
meaning that, a holder of 25% shares in the W.L.L. Company is entitled to the profit of 25% or loss of 25%. In case of loss, his liability is restricted to 25% and his personal assets remain safe (away from the loss).
In the case of Establishment, the single owner is liable for profit of up to 100% or loss up to 100%. In addition, his responsibility is not limited to 100%, rather, if the loss is more than 100%, his personal assets, like, house, shares, car etc. can become liable to settle the loss. Therefore his liability in an Establishment becomes unlimited (without any limit).