Registering a company in Erbil before the registration body in the Region
If the place of performance, one of the founders, or the principal office to be stated in the contract is in Erbil, the first question is: to which body in the Region is an application to form the company, or a connected registration step, to be submitted? The body concerned is the General Directorate for Companies Registration in the Kurdistan Region. The frame is on company registration. The body itself, and what may differ in the path, is on the directorate page. Coverage when the dealing is in Basra — from the same office, and with no branch — is on that page.
The office follows the matter from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk.
The legal framework applied before the Directorate
What the General Directorate for Companies Registration in the Kurdistan Region requires by way of papers or time limits is read from its official publications in the file, together with the general frame of Companies Law No. 21 of 1997, as amended, where that applies. A regional instrument is relied on when it appears in a published official file that is recorded in the sources of the page.
The types of company, foreign membership in a joint-stock or limited company, the minimum content of the contract, the application for formation and the certificate of incorporation, are first read from articles 4 to 23 of the Companies Law as they stand, unless another official text takes the place of a particular rule in the matter placed before the Directorate. A local custom is not relied on unless its source appears in a published official instrument.
An Iraqi company, a branch, and a trademark
Forming an Iraqi company before the General Directorate for Companies Registration in the Kurdistan Region is one path. Opening a branch of a company formed outside Iraq is a second path, on the branch page. One of them is not substituted for the other merely because the activity is in Erbil. Filing a trademark in the Region is a third path, on the Kurdistan trademark-filing page, and does not stand in for registration of the company.
The principal office stated in the contract must be in Iraq under article 13, whether it is stated in Erbil, in Baghdad, or in another city. The address, and its relation to a lease, is on the address page. Entry in the commercial register at a chamber of commerce is a path distinct from registration of the company, on its page.
After a certificate of incorporation is issued, if it is issued, the immediate steps — the tax file, social security if workers are engaged, and entry in the commercial register at a chamber of commerce — remain to be read from post-incorporation duties and from yearly filings. The fact that the activity is in Erbil does not drop those readings, and does not turn them into a local custom that stands in for the text. An objection to a decision issued by the General Directorate for Companies Registration in the Kurdistan Region is read from the official instrument that organises its work.
The Law Office of Ali Barakat follows the reading from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk.
Before filing, the company form, the founders' names and nationalities, the capital, the purpose and the principal office in Iraq are settled, because article 13 requires the company contract to state them.
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
Does the office have a branch in Erbil that handles registration?
No. The office is in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, and follows the matter from there.
Which body is approached in Erbil, and from where are its requirements read?
The body approached is the General Directorate for Companies Registration in the Kurdistan Region, and its requirements are read from its official publications in the file, together with the general frame of Companies Law No. 21 of 1997 as amended, where that applies.
Does registering a company in Erbil replace registering a branch of a foreign company?
No. Forming an Iraqi company is one path. Opening a branch of a company formed outside Iraq is a separate path, on its page, even if the activity is in Erbil.
Does registration of the company before the Directorate stand in for recording a trademark or for an investment licence in the Region?
No. Filing a trademark in the Region is a path of the trademarks register, and an investment licence is sought from the Investment Board of the Region under Investment Law No. 13 of 2006, as amended. Each path remains before its own body, and neither stands in for registration before the General Directorate for Companies Registration in the Kurdistan Region.
Related topics and articles
- 01The General Directorate for Companies Registration in the Kurdistan Region: what differs in the path?The Kurdistan Region companies directorate: the body and the path, not a repeat of the Erbil page, and with no invented statute number.
- 02Registering a company in Basra: which department is approached, and what differs from Baghdad?Registering a company when dealing in Basra under the federal Companies Law, followed from Baghdad.
- 03Obligations that recur after a company is recordedFinal accounts, the audit, the general-assembly meeting and copies sent to the Registrar, distinct from post-incorporation steps and from branch duties.
- 04The address of a company or branch, a lease and a title deedThe company's address in its contract, before the Registrar and in the commercial register; a lease or deed may evidence it. Not a real-estate page.
- 05Company forms under the Iraqi Companies LawCompany types under Companies Law No. 21 of 1997 as amended: joint-stock, limited, partnership, simple, sole proprietorship and holding.