A review of the concept of “functional equivalent” in translation: business entity types in Spain and in the United States

Following a review of the concept of ‘functional equivalent’ from the perspective of comparative law and of translation studies, the paper discusses the need to use functional equivalents in the translation of business entity types. For this purpose, I first examine the existing correspondences between the most common business entity types in Spain and in the United States, through the analysis and comparison of several regulatory elements in each of the two business systems, namely formation requirements, legal personality, tax obligations, business capital structure, owner’s liability, distribution of management tasks and transferability of ownership interest. In its second part, the paper discusses the implications from the lack of equivalence for the translation of business entity types in different types of texts. The analysis of a series of examples evidences that alternative translation strategies, such as the use of a neutral term or of the original term, may better contribute to maintaining the discursive function of references to business entity types in particular translation settings.