# Business questions regarding the letters at the end of company names (AG, NV etc)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-questions-regarding-the-letters-at-the-end-of-company-names-ag-nv-etc/139735>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 1, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-questions-regarding-the-letters-at-the-end-of-company-names-ag-nv-etc/139735 "2002-12-01T04:25:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DrLiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DrLiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrLiver)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-questions-regarding-the-letters-at-the-end-of-company-names-ag-nv-etc/139735/1 "2002-12-01T04:25:08Z")

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Ok, so I’m doing a reaserch on Gucci for a international business course and I have some difficulty figuring out what those letter mean

NV, AG, SA

Like in Channel SA, Gucci Group NV, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA and Compagnie FinanciEre Richemont AG  
Is that particular to each company, like for example if the name is too long they just take the first letters of the last words , or is this financial jargon? if its financial stuff, what other combination of letters can be found and what do they mean?

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**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-questions-regarding-the-letters-at-the-end-of-company-names-ag-nv-etc/139735/2 "2002-12-01T05:06:21Z")

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They denote corporate status. Here is a list:  
[http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/cfba.html](http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/cfba.html)

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**Author:** ![DrLiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DrLiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrLiver)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-questions-regarding-the-letters-at-the-end-of-company-names-ag-nv-etc/139735/3 "2002-12-01T05:23:50Z")

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cool! that’s exactly what I was searching for!

thanks!