Alii and Welcome! The Financial Institutions Commission (FIC) is pleased to announcement the commencement of the new Corporations Act and online registry as of January 20, 2025. This reform will make it much easier to form corporations in Palau and to maintain up-to-date information about their particulars during their entire life-cycle. The online registry will also allow searchers to easily access public information about corporations, such as the identity of their directors and shareholders. An overview of the overall reform can be found here. The following are some of the highlights of the new Act and registry.

Scope of the new Act. The new law applies to both For Profit and Nonprofit corporations, plus foreign corporations. For new requirements around For Profit corporations, click here. For information about Nonprofits, click here. Note: there are significant changes to Nonprofits so carefully review the materials to make sure you understand the new regime. The new Act does not apply to partnerships, which are governed by regulations that are largely unchanged from before passage of the Act. Additionally, the former regulations are still largely in place for cooperatives, corporation sole and credit unions. 

Filing in the registry. In order to file in the registry, you must first create a client account through an online form that, once completed, is sent to the Registrar. Once approved, the account holder must then obtain filing authority over the corporation(s) for which they are authorized to submit filings. Filing authority is detailed here. See the link below regarding how to make payments within the registry.

Re-registration requirement. All existing Palau For Profit and Nonprofit corporations, along with foreign corporations doing business in Palau, are re-required to re-register under the new Act. This is to allow the new online registry to gather the information required under the new Act and to be able to present it to searchers. The re-registration is free. Each corporation has one year to re-register, after which it will be administratively dissolved. Click here for more information. New corporations formed under the new Act do not have to re-register.

New incorporations. The new Act does away with many formalities for incorporation that were so time-consuming. To incorporate now all you must do is complete the online form and submit the proper payment. This is a huge step forward for Palau and will significantly ease burdens on local businesses.

Searching the registry. The online registry will contain public information about each corporation, including its shareholders, officers and directors. This information is available in real time and represents a significant improvement over the old way information requests were manually processed. Please see the link below on how to search the registry.

Certificates. The new registry system allows you to obtain Certificates of Good Standing and other official certificates online without the need to physically visit the Registrar office.