Company formation process in Sri Lanka
3 min read
Sri Lanka, the jewel of South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea. An impressive nation for foreign investors to set their businesses. Keeping aside the past civil conflicts, Sri Lanka is now moving forward with global trade, commerce, and social welfares. Now the country is performing far better than a few other neighboring nations in the field of education, technology, and business fields. Numerous companies are forming every now and then in this nation. Thanks to the visionary governmental initiatives that are in favor of businesses. However, in order to form a company, the nation asks for several company formation processes. Sri Lankan trade and corporate authorities have implemented these steps during the company registration process in order to ensure the legal business process and minimize any unfair or illegal trade progression.
So, what are these company formation processes in Sri Lanka?
Business investors need to consider some primary regulatory procedures if ready to run a business in Sri Lanka. This article gives a wider illustration of how a foreigner can start a business in Sri Lanka.
Naming the company and location setup
- At the very first stage of company formation, a unique name must be chosen for the company.
- Submit the form that have included your company name choices to the department of company registrar.
- You can reserve the company name you have selected, which remains valid for the next three months after applying.
- The applicant at this point has to pay a charge of 1000 Sri Lankan rupees for registering the company name.
- It takes 2 to 3 working days to process and handover the business name approval letter.
Setup business premises
- Find out commercial premises for your business
- Get approval, and sign premises agreements to abide any terms and conditions
- Provide the address detail to the company MoA or other business registration form were ever asked.
Prepare and submit recommended registration documents
- Carefully fill-up all company registration forms
- Collect MOA form from the authority, carefully fill up and submit it to the company registrar along with other relevant forms and documents.
- Once done with registration process, company registration authority in Sri Lanka publishes full company details at a particular schedule.
- This published company information generally includes company address, office contact number, business registration number, type of the company.
Recruiting a company secretary
- A new company in Malaysia must have a licensed company secretary to meet the company formation criteria.
- It must be noted that the owner cannot be the company secretary of his or her own business.
- This designation is compulsory if the business turnover is more than three million. However, if less than that amount, a company secretary is not mandatory.
- The duty of a company secretary typically includes company managements, He/she also manages confidential paperwork and carries out registration procedures. The secretary also acts as a liaison between the company and relevant government regulatory bodies.
SEC approvals
- Getting SEC approval is not mandatory for all businesses in Sri Lanka. However, this approval is needed in some cases, particularly if the company has public shares.
In the case of a private limited company, the registration process in Sri Lanka roughly takes 20 to 25 days. During this period of time, the company registrar authorities carry out all the governmental and incorporating formalities. S & F consulting firm Ltd. is a renowned business consulting firm that give consult you regarding company registration processes in Sri Lanka. The professionals here are well experienced to lead you through a new corporate beginning in Sri Lanka.