Shamḥ

A shamḥ (Arabic: شمح, IPA: [ʃæmħ] ; an abbreviation of شركة محدودة sharikah maḥdūdah; lit. "limited company") is a type of legal entity under the corporate law of the Arab Union. It is the most common form of business incorporation, offering proprietors protection from personal liability with no minimum capital requirement.

While the name makes no reference to form of ownership, a sharikah maḥdūdah is always privately owned, equivalent to private limited companies in the UK and many other Commonwealth countries. The shamḥ is limited either by share ownership or by guarantee: any sole proprietorship or general partnership may incorporate as a shamḥ, allowing the principal(s) to continue commercial activity as before while incurring liability only to the extent of their investment (if share-limited) or as defined (if guarantee-limited). The proprietor otherwise operates as an unincorporated, and thus fully liable, commercial entity; no alternative category of incorporation exists for a privately owned venture or sole proprietorship, thus representing a broad range of business structures, sizes, practices, etc.