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1. How to use this manual
Begin with a practical question, move to the mapped provisions, and finish by checking the current official filing route.
Subject: Orientation and legal framework
Act references: Practice orientation
Key point: Practice notes explain a workflow; the expandable statutory blocks show the relevant provisions in English.
2. Sources and hierarchy of authority
A reliable opinion distinguishes enacted law, regulations, administrative procedure and the English translation.
Subject: Orientation and legal framework
Act references: s. 1; s. 247; s. 248; s. 249; s. 250; s. 251
Key point: The official Dhivehi Gazette text of Law No. 7/2023 is the primary enacted source.
3. Scope and objectives of the Act
The Act supplies the lifecycle framework for formation, registration, operation and dissolution while aiming at simpler rules and transparent registers.
Subject: Orientation and legal framework
Key point: The Act governs formation, registration, operation and dissolution of companies in the Maldives.
4. Registration and separate legal personality
Registration creates a separate legal entity with perpetual succession, ownership of its assets and capacity to sue and be sued.
Subject: Orientation and legal framework
Act references: s. 23; s. 24; s. 25
Key point: The certificate records the company's name, number, type and registration date.
5. Transitional position and current-law check
The former Act was repealed, existing companies continued, and transition periods did not preserve inconsistent constitutional provisions indefinitely.
Subject: Orientation and legal framework
Act references: s. 241; s. 242; s. 243; s. 244; s. 245; s. 246
Key point: Companies registered under the former law continued under the new Act.
6. Company types and classification map
The Act recognises four company types, while foreign investment operates as an additional classification cutting across private and public companies.
Subject: Choosing the company vehicle
Act references: s. 3; s. 4; s. 5; s. 6; s. 7; s. 8
Key point: The four company types are private, public, government and local authority companies.
7. Private company
A private company may have one to 50 members, one or more directors and no public offer of its shares.
Subject: Choosing the company vehicle
Act references: s. 4; s. 9; s. 10; s. 11
Key point: The share capital consists of one or more shares.
8. Public company
Public-company status is tied to authority or an intention to seek authority to offer securities to the public and carries additional governance requirements.
Subject: Choosing the company vehicle
Act references: s. 5; s. 12; s. 13; s. 14
Key point: The constitution must expressly state that the company is public.
9. Government company
A government company is wholly Government-owned and formed by Presidential decree or statute, with the Companies Act operating alongside its constituting instrument.
Subject: Choosing the company vehicle
Act references: s. 6; s. 15; s. 16; s. 17; s. 18
Key point: All shares forming the capital are registered in the name of the Government.
10. Local authority company
A local authority company is formed by one or more councils for economic activities within council jurisdiction and basic-needs responsibilities.
Subject: Choosing the company vehicle
Key point: Ownership and purpose derive from the council framework in section 7.
11. Foreign investment company
Any direct or specified indirect foreign participation can bring a private or public company within the foreign-investment classification.
Subject: Choosing the company vehicle
Act references: s. 8
Key point: The classification captures a company with any share registered to a foreign individual or entity.
12. Foreign company re-registration
A foreign legal entity may operate through re-registration, but must obtain the relevant authorisation, appoint a qualified Maldives-resident agent and maintain change reporting.
Subject: Choosing the company vehicle
Act references: s. 33; s. 34; s. 35; s. 36; s. 37
Key point: A foreign company must not conduct activity in Maldives without the required registration.
13. Pre-incorporation decision map
Good formation work begins before the application: activity, ownership, control, capital, constitutional protections and regulatory dependencies must be settled first.
Subject: Formation and registration
Key point: Registration requires a reserved name, company type, address, capital/share information, constitution and director particulars.
14. Company name selection and reservation
A company name must be available, accurate, non-misleading and compliant with the Act, Regulation and business-name rules.
Subject: Formation and registration
Act references: s. 66; s. 67; s. 68; s. 69; s. 70; s. 71; s. 72; s. 73; s. 74
Key point: The name must reflect the true nature of the company and must not be misleading or prohibited.
15. Registering a private company
A private-company filing should be the final expression of an agreed ownership and governance structure, not the starting point for those decisions.
Subject: Formation and registration
Act references: s. 20; s. 21; s. 23; s. 24; s. 25
Key point: The application identifies the reserved name, type, registered address, capital and agreed initial share distribution.
16. Registering a public company
Public-company formation requires the Companies Act registration workstream and a separate securities-law workstream for any public offer.
Subject: Formation and registration
Act references: s. 12; s. 13; s. 14; s. 20; s. 21; s. 23; s. 24; s. 25; s. 171; s. 172; s. 173
Key point: The constitution expressly identifies public-company status.
17. Registering Government and local authority companies
Formation must reconcile the Companies Act application with the instrument and approvals that create or authorise the public body company.
Subject: Formation and registration
Act references: s. 15; s. 16; s. 20; s. 22; s. 23; s. 24; s. 25
Key point: A Government company may be established by decree or statute and registered under the Act.
18. Re-registering a foreign entity
Re-registration preserves the foreign entity while placing its Maldives operation, agent and information within the local register.
Subject: Formation and registration
Act references: s. 33; s. 34; s. 35; s. 36
Key point: Foreign investment authorisation precedes re-registration.
19. Foreign-company agent: role and exposure
The agent is more than a postal contact: the Act assigns responsibility to the Registrar and personal liability in respect of enforcement against the foreign company.
Subject: Formation and registration
Key point: The agent must be an individual aged at least 18, ordinarily resident in Maldives and free of the specified disqualifications.
20. Certificate and day-one corporate housekeeping
The first post-registration work should convert a certificate into a functioning, evidenced corporate organisation.
Subject: Formation and registration
Act references: s. 23; s. 24; s. 25
Key point: The certificate is evidence of incorporation and its registration date.
Section 231 — Register of Companies
A guide to the provision and how its parts fit together.
Overview of the provision
Information in the register
This provision requires the Registrar to maintain company identity and address details, including former names, the constitution and amendments, members, directors and Managing Director, and secretary information. It also requires separate information on Significant Beneficial Owners, disqualified directors, seals and charges. For a re-registered foreign company, it covers home and Maldivian registration details and addresses, authorised investment activities and duration, the local agent, and the company information in section 34(a)(2).
Inactive and dissolved companies
The register must also record inactive companies and companies designated for dissolution, including their liquidators. For dissolved companies, subsection (m) requires the information in paragraphs (a)–(g) to be retained for five years from dissolution. This is the information-retention rule in this subsection; it should be read alongside the separate name-retention provision in section 215.
Provision references
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (a) the name of the company, including any former name, the type of company, date of registration, registration number, registered address and service address, as specified in Chapter Six of this Act;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (b) the Constitution of the company specified in Chapter Four of this Act, including every amendment made to the Constitution;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (c) information relating to the members of the company, as specified in Chapter Seven of this Act;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (d) information relating to the directors and Managing Director of the company, as specified in Chapter Eight of this Act;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (e) information relating to the Secretary of the company, as specified in section 141 of this Act;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (f) information relating to the Significant Beneficial Owners of the company, as specified in Chapter Eleven of this Act;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (g) information relating to persons disqualified from acting as directors under section 118 of this Act;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (h) the seal of the company, as specified in section 60 of this Act;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (i) information relating to charges, as specified in section 174 of this Act;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (j) in relation to a foreign company re-registered in the Maldives under section 33 of this Act— (1) the name of the company, including any former name, its registration number, date of re-registration, re-registration number, registered address and service address in the Maldives; (2) the foreign investment activities for which the company is authorised and the duration of that authorisation; (3) information relating to the agent of the company in the Maldives, as specified in section 35 of this Act; and (4) information relating to the company specified in section 34(a)(2) of this Act;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (k) information relating to inactive companies, as specified in section 208 of this Act;
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (l) information relating to companies designated for dissolution under Chapter Thirteen of this Act and the liquidator appointed to carry out the winding up; and
In accordance with this Act, the Registrar shall maintain a Register of Companies in which the following information shall be separately maintained in respect of companies registered under this Act— (m) the information specified in paragraphs (a) to (g) in relation to dissolved companies, for a period of 5 years from the date of dissolution.
This page is a general research and practice aid. The translations used in this manual are unofficial. Verify the official Dhivehi legislation, amendments and current procedures before relying on any entry. Read our sources and verification guidance and contact a lawyer at Sulthan & Amhar for advice on your circumstances before relying on this material or taking action.