The business register in Cyprus is kept by the Τμήμα Εφόρου Εταιρειών και Διανοητικής Ιδιοκτησίας (Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property), part of the Υπουργείο Ενέργειας, Εμπορίου και Βιομηχανίας (Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry), and published at companies.gov.cy. One electronic register holds limited companies, partnerships, business names and overseas companies, each with its own data set. A free online search shows core company data, including directors and secretary, while ownership history and filed documents are obtained through a detailed file search.

The company registry in Cyprus

Companies are governed by the Companies Law, Cap. 113, partnerships and business names by the General and Limited Partnership and Business Names Law, Cap. 116. The Registrar operates an electronic filing system accessed through the government authentication gateway, and every certificate and certified copy issued electronically carries a verification code that can be checked online.

Two points about scope are worth noting. First, partnerships and business names sit with the same department but under a different statute, so a Cypriot sole trader or partnership that has registered a trading name appears in the same electronic register as companies, in its own category. Second, cooperative societies are outside this register: they fall to the Υπηρεσία Συνεργατικών Εταιρειών (Cooperative Societies Service).

Legal forms that can be registered in Cyprus

  • Private company limited by shares — members are liable only for the unpaid amount on their shares; membership is capped and the company may not offer shares to the public. The Registrar describes it as the most common type.
  • Public company limited by shares — liability limited to unpaid amounts on shares, with a statutory minimum number of members and a minimum capital offered for subscription; it may invite public subscription and be listed.
  • Company limited by guarantee without share capital — no share capital; members undertake to contribute a fixed amount on dissolution. Typical of non-profit structures.
  • Company limited by guarantee with share capital — a dual-liability form combining unpaid share amounts with the guarantee; it may be private or public.
  • Variable capital investment company — limited by shares, with shares of variable rather than nominal value; it may be incorporated only after authorisation by the securities regulator as a collective investment undertaking, and exists in private and public variants.
  • General partnership (ομόρρυθμος συνεταιρισμός) — all partners are jointly liable without limit for the partnership’s debts and obligations.
  • Limited partnership (ετερόρρυθμος συνεταιρισμός) — at least one general partner with unlimited liability and at least one limited partner liable only up to the contribution; a limited partnership may have a share capital and be limited by shares. No partnership has separate legal personality.
  • Business name (εμπορική επωνυμία) — a registration rather than an entity, recording the owner of a trading name; the owner’s liability remains unlimited. Used by sole traders and by entities trading under a name other than their own.
  • Overseas company — a foreign company establishing a place of business in the Republic must deliver the prescribed documents to the Registrar within one month of doing so; liability follows the law of the place of incorporation.
  • European Company (SE) — the EU public limited-liability form, implemented in Cypriot law, which may be formed by merger, holding, subsidiary or conversion and whose seat may be transferred in or out.
  • European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) — implemented by its own law; members bear unlimited joint and several liability, and the grouping is ancillary to their activities.

Information available from the Cypriot business register

The free online search, which requires no login, shows the organisation’s name, its registration date, the type of organisation, its status, the registered office address, the names of the current directors and secretary — or of the partners, or of the business name owner — a preview of pending services, a preview of the documents filed and the date of the last annual report filing.

Fuller information comes from the detailed file search, which covers the entity’s complete history since registration: name history, registered office history, the history of directors and secretaries, the history of members and shareholders, share capital history, registered charges and mortgages from the year 2000 onwards, and an index of all documents filed. Equivalent data sets exist for partnerships, business names and overseas companies. Cyprus therefore publishes both directors and shareholders, with directors in the free view and shareholders in the detailed file view. Filed documents include the annual return and the financial statements filed with it.

What is restricted

The Register of Beneficial Owners, established under directives issued pursuant to the anti-money-laundering legislation and operated by the Department, is no longer open to the general public. The Registrar’s own guidance states that following the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union access to the information submitted to the register was suspended for the general public. Access now runs on three levels: competent supervisory authorities, the financial intelligence unit, customs, tax, police, audit and treasury bodies and the relevant European institutions have unrestricted and free access without notification to the entity; obliged entities may obtain, for customer due diligence purposes only, the name, month and year of birth, nationality, country of residence and the nature and extent of the beneficial interest, subject to approval of the electronic request; and the general public has no access. The register holds only current beneficial ownership data, with nothing recorded before March 2021, and individual beneficial owners may apply for an exemption from access to their data. No official reinstatement of a legitimate-interest route could be confirmed.

A further practical point concerns strike-off. The Registrar may strike a company off where it has reasonable cause to believe it is not carrying on business, on the application of its directors, or for failure to file required documents, after publishing a notice and writing to the company; on expiry of the notice period the name is struck off and the company is dissolved. The liability of every director, managing officer and member nevertheless continues and remains enforceable as if the company had not been dissolved, the court retains its winding-up powers, and an aggrieved company, member or creditor may apply to the court for restoration.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

All documents reflect the position notified to the register up to the date of issue and are issued in Greek or in English. Some are available online through e-filing, the remainder by hand or by post; certified copies and certificates can also be issued as at a specific past date or period.

  • Certified true copy of the Certificate of Incorporation (Πιστοποιητικό Σύστασης) — proves legal existence, the name, and the registration number and date.
  • Certified true copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association (Ιδρυτικό Έγγραφο και Καταστατικό) — the objects, capital clause and internal governance rules; the core constitutional document for due diligence.
  • Certificate of Directors and Secretary (Πιστοποιητικό Διευθυντών και Γραμματέα) — the current board and secretary; the standard document for banking, know-your-customer checks and proving signing authority.
  • Certificate of Shareholders or Members (Πιστοποιητικό Μετόχων/Μελών) — the registered holders and their holdings; the standard proof of ownership.
  • Certificate of Registered Office Address (Πιστοποιητικό Εγγεγραμμένου Γραφείου) — the company’s registered office as notified.
  • Certificate of Capital — the authorised and issued share capital.
  • Certificate of Good Standing (Πιστοποιητικό Καλής Λειτουργίας) — confirms that the company exists, is not struck off or in liquidation and that its filings are in order. This is typically the document requested by foreign banks, notaries and counterparties.
  • Certificate that the company has no charges, Certificate of Registration of Charge, Certificate of Change of Name, Certificate of Amendment of Objects, Certificate of Reduction of Share Capital or Share Premium, Certificate of Commencement of Business, and certificates of strike-off, including strike-off following voluntary liquidation, merger or cross-border merger.
  • Certificates of the place where the register of members or of debenture holders is kept, and certified copies of statutory forms as filed.
  • Detailed file search (Έρευνα σε Φάκελο) — the official extract of the electronic file, covering the full history described above.

For use abroad, an apostille is affixed not by the Registrar but by the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, under the 1961 Hague Convention.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who keeps the company register in Cyprus?

The Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property, within the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry. Its register also covers partnerships, business names and overseas companies.

Can I see the shareholders of a Cypriot company?

Yes. Directors and the secretary appear in the free online search, while members and shareholders, share capital history and charges appear in the detailed file search of the electronic file.

Are cooperatives in the same register?

No. Cooperative societies are registered with the Cooperative Societies Service, not with the Registrar of Companies.

Is the Cypriot beneficial ownership register public?

No. Public access was suspended following the Court of Justice ruling. Access is limited to competent authorities and, for customer due diligence only, to obliged entities receiving a restricted data set.

Which certificate do foreign banks usually ask for?

Most commonly the certificate of good standing, together with the certificates of directors and secretary and of shareholders, and a certified copy of the memorandum and articles of association.

What happens if a Cypriot company is struck off?

It is dissolved, but the liability of its directors, officers and members continues and remains enforceable as if it had not been dissolved, and the company, a member or a creditor may apply to the court for restoration.

Sources

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