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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The former Act was repealed, existing companies continued, and transition periods did not preserve inconsistent constitutional provisions indefinitely.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 251 — Definitions
A guide to the provision and how its parts fit together.
Overview of the provision
Company relationships, decisions and residence
This provision defines terms used throughout the Act, unless the context calls for another reading. A holding company holds all or a majority of a subsidiary's shares to an extent giving it a controlling interest. The subsidiary definition also looks at control over director appointments, at least 50% of general-meeting voting rights, at least 50% of allotted shares, or entitlement to at least 50% of dividends. The separate subsidiary-chain paragraph means that if A is B's subsidiary and B is C's subsidiary, A is also treated as C's subsidiary. A special resolution is a decision made under section 112. Selling securities to the public means sale to the general public in a regulated market under the Securities Act, covering shares, bonds, debentures and other securities. Ordinary residence here means staying in the Maldives for at least 183 days during any 12-month period.
Documents and professional roles
Notarisation involves a Public Notary's seal and signature applied under the Legal Profession Act and its regulations; a notarised document is one authenticated that way, and a Public Notary is a person authorised to practise in that role. Attestation instead concerns the prescribed “certified true copy” stamp, and an attested copy is a document stamped as a true copy of its original. A firm means the specified accountancy or audit firm under the Chartered Accountants Act, or a law firm under the Legal Profession Act. A law firm is a partnership registered with the Bar Council as such, while a legal practitioner is someone licensed under the Legal Profession Act.
Officers, addresses and public institutions
The Registrar is the presidential appointee under section 218, and the Registrar's register is the section 231 register. A service address is the registered section 78 address of a company, member, director or secretary for the Registrar's communications and legal notices or documents from others about matters under the Act. Directors are qualified individuals appointed under the Act and constitution; the board can mean all directors, a group meeting quorum, or the sole director. The Ministry and Minister are those responsible for economic policies, while the Ministry of Finance is the ministry responsible for financial policies. A council is an island, atoll or city council established under the Decentralization Act.
References to other legislation
The definitions identify the Penal Code as Law No. 9/2014, Decentralization Act as 7/2010, Legal Profession Act as 5/2019, Business Registration Act as 18/2014, Securities Act as 2/2006 and the Foreign Investment Act reference as 25/79. Each defined reference includes amendments and a replacement law enacted within the former law's scope on repeal. These definitions therefore need to be read as continuing legislative references, rather than assuming that the original numbered enactment alone always governs.
Provision references
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (a) “Holding Company” means a company that holds all or a majority of the shares of another company, being its subsidiary, to such extent as to have a controlling interest in that company; (b) “Special Resolution” means a decision made by a company in accordance with section 112 of this Act; (c) “Notarisation” means the affixing of the seal and signature of a Public Notary to a document in accordance with the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives and regulations made under it relating to practice as a Public Notary; (d) “Notarised Document” means a document to which the seal and signature of a Public Notary have been affixed in accordance with the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives and regulations made under it relating to notarisation; (e) “Registrar” means the Registrar of Companies appointed by the President under section 218 of this Act; (f) “Register of Companies” or “Registrar’s Register” means the register specified in section 231 of this Act; (g) “selling shares to the public” means the sale to the general public, in a regulated market under the Maldives Securities Act, of shares, bonds, debentures or any other type of securities; (h) “a person ordinarily resident and residing in the Maldives” means a person who stays in the Maldives for 183 days or more during any period of 12 months; (i) “Firm” means an accountancy firm or audit firm referred to in section 41(g) of Law No. 13/2020 (Chartered Accountants Act of the Maldives), or a law firm referred to in the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives; (j) “Attestation” means the affixing of a “certified true copy” stamp to a document in accordance with the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives and regulations made under it; (k) “Attested Copy” means a document stamped as a true copy of the original in accordance with the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives and regulations made under it; (l) “Ministry” means the Government ministry for the time being responsible for implementing economic policies; (m) “Minister” means the Minister of the Government ministry for the time being responsible for implementing economic policies; (n) “Ministry of Finance” means the Government ministry for the time being responsible for implementing financial policies; (o) “Maldives Penal Code” means Law No. 9/2014 (Maldives Penal Code), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal; (p) “Decentralization Act” means Law No. 7/2010 (Maldives Decentralization Act), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal; (q) “Legal Profession Act” means Law No. 5/2019 (Maldives Legal Profession Act), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal; (r) “Business Registration Act” means Law No. 18/2014 (Business Registration Act), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal; (s) “Maldives Securities Act” means Law No. 2/2006 (Maldives Securities Act), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal; (t) “Foreign Investment Act” means Law No. 25/79 (Foreign Investment Act of the Maldives), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal; (u) “Local Council” or “Council” means an Island Council, Atoll Council or City Council established under Law No. 7/2010 (Maldives Decentralization Act); (v) “Law Firm” means a partnership registered as a law firm with the Bar Council of the Maldives in accordance with the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives; (w) “Legal Practitioner” means a person licensed to practise law under Law No. 5/2019 (Maldives Legal Profession Act); (x) “Subsidiary Company” or “a subsidiary of another company (a holding company)” means a company in relation to which the holding company— (i) controls the appointment of directors to the Board of Directors of that company; (ii) controls at least 50% of the voting rights of members entitled to vote at a general meeting of that company; (iii) holds or owns in its name at least 50% of the shares allotted from the share capital of that company; or (iv) is entitled to receive at least 50% of the dividends of that company. (2) For the purposes of this Act, if a company (Company A) is a subsidiary of another company (Company B), and the latter (Company B) is a subsidiary of another company (Company C), the first company (Company A) shall be construed as a subsidiary of the last-mentioned company (Company C). (aa) "Service Address" means the address established by the company, or a member, director, or secretary of the company in accordance with Section 78 of this Act, which is registered with the Registrar. This address is designated for receiving notices, legal documents, and other communications sent by the Registrar, as well as for receiving legal notices and documents from other parties communicating with that individual or entity regarding matters specified in this Act. (bb) "Directors" refers to individuals appointed as directors of the company in accordance with this Act and the company’s constitution, who fulfill the qualifications set forth in Section 115(a) of this Act. (cc) "Board of Directors" means: (1) All directors of the company; or (2) A number of directors not less than the required legal quorum; or (3) The sole director, where the company has only one director. (dd) "Public Notary" refers to any individual authorized to practice as a public notary under the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (a) “Holding Company” means a company that holds all or a majority of the shares of another company, being its subsidiary, to such extent as to have a controlling interest in that company;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (x) “Subsidiary Company” or “a subsidiary of another company (a holding company)” means a company in relation to which the holding company— (i) controls the appointment of directors to the Board of Directors of that company; (ii) controls at least 50% of the voting rights of members entitled to vote at a general meeting of that company; (iii) holds or owns in its name at least 50% of the shares allotted from the share capital of that company; or (iv) is entitled to receive at least 50% of the dividends of that company.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (2) For the purposes of this Act, if a company (Company A) is a subsidiary of another company (Company B), and the latter (Company B) is a subsidiary of another company (Company C), the first company (Company A) shall be construed as a subsidiary of the last-mentioned company (Company C).
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (b) “Special Resolution” means a decision made by a company in accordance with section 112 of this Act;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (g) “selling shares to the public” means the sale to the general public, in a regulated market under the Maldives Securities Act, of shares, bonds, debentures or any other type of securities;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (h) “a person ordinarily resident and residing in the Maldives” means a person who stays in the Maldives for 183 days or more during any period of 12 months;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (c) “Notarisation” means the affixing of the seal and signature of a Public Notary to a document in accordance with the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives and regulations made under it relating to practice as a Public Notary;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (d) “Notarised Document” means a document to which the seal and signature of a Public Notary have been affixed in accordance with the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives and regulations made under it relating to notarisation;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (dd) "Public Notary" refers to any individual authorized to practice as a public notary under the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (j) “Attestation” means the affixing of a “certified true copy” stamp to a document in accordance with the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives and regulations made under it;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (k) “Attested Copy” means a document stamped as a true copy of the original in accordance with the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives and regulations made under it;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (i) “Firm” means an accountancy firm or audit firm referred to in section 41(g) of Law No. 13/2020 (Chartered Accountants Act of the Maldives), or a law firm referred to in the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (v) “Law Firm” means a partnership registered as a law firm with the Bar Council of the Maldives in accordance with the Legal Profession Act of the Maldives;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (w) “Legal Practitioner” means a person licensed to practise law under Law No. 5/2019 (Maldives Legal Profession Act);
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (e) “Registrar” means the Registrar of Companies appointed by the President under section 218 of this Act;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (f) “Register of Companies” or “Registrar’s Register” means the register specified in section 231 of this Act;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (aa) "Service Address" means the address established by the company, or a member, director, or secretary of the company in accordance with Section 78 of this Act, which is registered with the Registrar. This address is designated for receiving notices, legal documents, and other communications sent by the Registrar, as well as for receiving legal notices and documents from other parties communicating with that individual or entity regarding matters specified in this Act.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (bb) "Directors" refers to individuals appointed as directors of the company in accordance with this Act and the company’s constitution, who fulfill the qualifications set forth in Section 115(a) of this Act.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (cc) "Board of Directors" means: (1) All directors of the company; or (2) A number of directors not less than the required legal quorum; or (3) The sole director, where the company has only one director.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (l) “Ministry” means the Government ministry for the time being responsible for implementing economic policies;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (m) “Minister” means the Minister of the Government ministry for the time being responsible for implementing economic policies;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (n) “Ministry of Finance” means the Government ministry for the time being responsible for implementing financial policies;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (u) “Local Council” or “Council” means an Island Council, Atoll Council or City Council established under Law No. 7/2010 (Maldives Decentralization Act);
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (o) “Maldives Penal Code” means Law No. 9/2014 (Maldives Penal Code), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (p) “Decentralization Act” means Law No. 7/2010 (Maldives Decentralization Act), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (q) “Legal Profession Act” means Law No. 5/2019 (Maldives Legal Profession Act), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (r) “Business Registration Act” means Law No. 18/2014 (Business Registration Act), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (s) “Maldives Securities Act” means Law No. 2/2006 (Maldives Securities Act), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal;
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— (t) “Foreign Investment Act” means Law No. 25/79 (Foreign Investment Act of the Maldives), together with all amendments made to it, and includes any new law enacted within the scope of that law upon its repeal;
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.