Company Registration

The Ministry is responsible for the registration and maintenance of documents which are specified by various statutes. These relate to Companies, Incorporated Societies, Charitable Trusts, Unit Trusts, Friendly Societies, Credit Unions, Building Societies and Industrial and Provident Societies.

To find out more begin by visiting the Companies Office website.

The Companies Register

Companies with limited liability provide a framework for investment in business. They help foster confidence in businesses by governing the relationships between investors (shareholders), directors and creditors and by giving stakeholders a clearer picture of who and what they are dealing with. A Companies Register that records basic details about every company helps build this confidence.

The New Zealand Companies Register is an electronic register where company information and documents can be filed and viewed online at Companies Office website.

The register is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Information about Incorporated Societies, Charitable Trusts and Other Entities

The Companies Office has a separate website for Incorporated Societies and Charitable Trusts, where informaiton on about what information and services are available.

Information about Other Entities

Go to the Companies Office website.

Forms

All forms needed for manually registering a company, and for post-registration maintenance (such as address changes) are available online. Go to the Companies Office website.

Fees

A full list of fees can be found at on the Companies Office website.

Within the Ministry

The Companies Office (Business Services Branch) is responsible for maintaining the Register of Companies and other organisations. The Regulatory and Competition Policy Branch is responsible for policy advice on business law which sets out basic legal frameworks for doing business.