Company Records for Palau, on demand

Corporations in the Republic of Palau are registered with the Registrar of Corporations, a role held by the Financial Institutions Commission (FIC). Palau's modernised Corporations Act, signed into law on 29 September 2021 and codified in Title 12 of the Palau National Code, was followed by Executive Order No. 477 designating the FIC as Registrar. On 20 January 2025 the FIC took over corporate registration from the Office of the Attorney General and launched an online Corporations Registry, replacing a register that had been kept in paper files.

The registry covers for-profit and nonprofit Palau corporations and foreign corporations doing business in Palau. Existing corporations had one year to re-register online. That transition period closed on 20 January 2026: Palau corporations that did not re-register were administratively dissolved, and foreign corporations that did not re-register had their certificates of registration revoked. A dissolved corporation can apply for reinstatement. Partnerships, credit unions, cooperatives and ecclesiastical corporations sole were left on the paper-based process when the online registry launched.

To form or re-register a corporation, the applicant identifies all shareholders and their shareholdings, all directors, all officers, the registered office, principal place of business and postal addresses, and the primary business activity. At least one director must be a resident of Palau. Corporations must file with the Registrar whenever their shareholders, directors, officers or addresses change, and must file annual returns. The registry holds public information about each corporation, including its shareholders, officers and directors, and entities can be searched by registration number, name, type, status and registration date.

The Corporations Act separately defines a beneficial owner as a natural person who ultimately owns or controls shares or membership interests, or who exercises ultimate effective control over a legal person or arrangement, and requires each Palau corporation to keep beneficial ownership information and make it available to the Registrar on request. Foreign investors also remain subject to the Foreign Investment Act: the Corporations Act governs a foreign corporation's conduct once it has received Foreign Investment Board approval, and does not replace that approval.