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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The former Act was repealed, existing companies continued, and transition periods did not preserve inconsistent constitutional provisions indefinitely.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.
Registrar inspection and commercial confidentiality
The Registrar may inspect on evidence-based reasonable grounds of contravention, while designated commercial secrets receive limited statutory confidentiality.
Explanation and core rules
Inspection can extend to registered/service addresses, office or place of business and information gathering. The Registrar may stop an unlawful act and pursue Chapter Fifteen action where the statutory basis exists. Obstruction is a criminal offence under the Act/Penal Code route. Commercial-secret protection is subject to investigative-body access and Court orders. Public-register disclosure under section 232 should be considered when collecting personal information.
Step-by-step procedure
- Verify inspector identity, authority, scope and record the visit.
- Preserve and provide lawfully required information without obstruction.
- Maintain privilege and commercial-secret logs and seek directions where boundaries are disputed.
- Remediate any identified contravention.
- Record copies provided, questions and outcomes.
Documents and evidence
- Inspection authority/notice
- Response and document log
- Privilege/commercial-secret schedule
- Interview notes
- Remediation plan and correspondence
Points requiring care
Particular care is needed to avoid destroying, altering or withholding records after notice, as well as marking every document confidential without identifying a lawful basis or handling protocol.
Related Act provisions
Section 230 — Power of Inspection
Overview of the provision
This provision permits the Registrar or a designated person to inspect a company's registered address, service address, office or business premises and obtain information where evidence gives reasonable grounds to believe the Act has been breached. If such evidence-based grounds arise during inspection, the Registrar may stop the unlawful act and proceed against the responsible person under Chapter Fifteen. Obstructing the authorised inspection is itself an offence under that Chapter. The inspection and intervention powers are therefore tied to stated evidential grounds.
Provision references
(a) Where the Registrar has reasonable grounds, based on evidence, to believe that any person has contravened a provision of this Act, the Registrar or a person designated by the Registrar may inspect the registered address, service address, office or place of business of the company concerned and obtain information.
(b) Where, in the course of an inspection under subsection (a), the Registrar has reasonable grounds, based on evidence, to believe that a contravention of this Act has occurred, the Registrar may stop the unlawful act and take action against the person responsible in accordance with Chapter Fifteen of this Act.
(c) A person who obstructs an inspection carried out by the Registrar or a person designated by the Registrar under this section commits an offence. Action shall be taken against that person in accordance with Chapter Fifteen of this Act.
Section 232 — Public Publication of the Register
Overview of the provision
This provision makes specified register information free to the public, including the identity and address information in section 231(a), inactive and winding-up information, and the names and permanent and service addresses of members, directors, Managing Director and secretary. For re-registered foreign companies it includes the specified company registration and address details and local agent's name and addresses; for dissolved companies, the name, registration number and dissolution date. Other register information must be made accessible through the regulatory procedure on payment of the prescribed fee. Ordinary members of a listed company are excluded from the free member-information disclosure in subsection (a)(2).
Provision references
(a) The Registrar shall make the following information contained in the Register specified in section 231 of this Act publicly available without charge— (1) the information specified in section 231(a), (k) and (l);
(a) The Registrar shall make the following information contained in the Register specified in section 231 of this Act publicly available without charge— (2) the name, permanent address and service address of the members of the company specified in section 231(c);
(a) The Registrar shall make the following information contained in the Register specified in section 231 of this Act publicly available without charge— (3) the name, permanent address and service address of the directors and Managing Director of the company specified in section 231(d);
(a) The Registrar shall make the following information contained in the Register specified in section 231 of this Act publicly available without charge— (4) the name, permanent address and service address of the Secretary of the company specified in section 231(e);
(a) The Registrar shall make the following information contained in the Register specified in section 231 of this Act publicly available without charge— (5) in relation to a foreign company re-registered in the Maldives under section 231(j), the name, date of re-registration, re-registration number, registered address and service address of the company, together with the name, permanent address and service address of its agent in the Maldives; and
(a) The Registrar shall make the following information contained in the Register specified in section 231 of this Act publicly available without charge— (6) the name, registration number and date of dissolution of a dissolved company specified in section 231(m).
(b) The Registrar shall make arrangements for information contained in the Register specified in section 231, other than the information specified in subsection (a), to be made available upon payment of a fee and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by regulations made under this Act.
(c) The fee payable for access to information in the Registrar’s register under subsection (b) shall be prescribed by regulations made under this Act.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (a), information relating to ordinary members of a company listed on a licensed stock exchange is exempt from subsection (a)(2).
Section 233 — Maintaining Confidentiality of Commercial Secrets
Overview of the provision
This provision requires the Registrar and Ministry to keep confidential submitted information that either designates as a commercial secret. Disclosure to a third party is allowed only to a legally authorised investigative body for a lawful investigation or under a court order. The protection therefore depends on the stated designation and preserves those specific disclosure routes.
Provision references
The Registrar and the Ministry shall maintain the confidentiality of information submitted to the Registrar under this Act that is designated by the Registrar or the Ministry as a commercial secret. Such information shall not be disclosed to any third party except— (a) to an investigative body authorised by law, for the purposes of an investigation and in accordance with law; or (b) pursuant to an order of the Court.
The Registrar and the Ministry shall maintain the confidentiality of information submitted to the Registrar under this Act that is designated by the Registrar or the Ministry as a commercial secret. Such information shall not be disclosed to any third party except— (a) to an investigative body authorised by law, for the purposes of an investigation and in accordance with law; or
The Registrar and the Ministry shall maintain the confidentiality of information submitted to the Registrar under this Act that is designated by the Registrar or the Ministry as a commercial secret. Such information shall not be disclosed to any third party except— (b) pursuant to an order of the Court.
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.