Main Characteristics of British Limited Liability Partnership

• There must be at minimum of two members
• At minimum, two of the members must be designated members
• A registered office address in the country of registration is required
• The name of the members of a limited liability partnership are available on the public records
• Accounting records must be maintained and kept at the registered office address
• Annual accounts and annual returns must be submitted to the companies registrar
• Although itself is not the subject to corporate taxation, a limited liability partnership must file an annual informational of its tax return
• A limited liability partnership must be a commercial venture operating for the business profit

• All of the members to enjoy the limited liability
• The liability of the members is limited to the amount of their investment into a partnership
• Unlike a company, which may only trade within the objects stated in its memorandum of association, a limited liability partnership has unlimited capacity
• An LLP provides the more flexible management structure
• A limited liability partnership is transparent for the tax purposes and will be taxed in a similar way to a partnership, with members being taxed individually on their ownership of the limited liability partnership's income or gains
• The less public scrutiny, because the partnership agreement remains the confidential
• The easier manipulation of the ownership in between partners
• The easier changes of the membership
• No administration relating to the issue and allotment of membership
• Easier expression of administration, roles and the management in a partnership agreement

Of all the legislation of the last few years, the creation of limited liability partnerships is one of the most interesting: -

Limited liability generally the essence of a limited liability partnership for practical purposes is as a vehicle to contain a partnership of any size where partners may be at risk from the careless or accidental negligence of a colleague. For example, partners in international accountancy firms would be protected from personal liability if a claim was successfully pursued by a major client. Partners in a construction business would be protected if a new building collapsed, causing high level claims against them.

Protection for a non-active lender a limited liability partnership may also be appropriate for a partnership where some partners are not actively involved. They might have once been called "sleeping" partners. This will suit both a company and an individual lender.