Businesses in Morocco are entered in the registre du commerce (commercial register), which is kept on two levels: local registers held by the clerks of the commercial courts, and the Registre Central du Commerce (Central Commercial Register) maintained by the Office Marocain de la Propriété Industrielle et Commerciale (OMPIC). Since 2023 companies are created through the electronic platform DirectEntreprise, and Morocco also operates a public register of beneficial owners, likewise managed by OMPIC, whose data can be consulted on request.

The official company register in Morocco

The register is governed by the Code de commerce (loi n° 15-95) and has a two-tier structure that is essential to understand:

  • Le registre local du commerce (local commercial register) — kept by the greffe (clerk’s office) of the commercial court in whose jurisdiction the business has its seat or establishment. This is where the entries are made and where the supporting documents are deposited.
  • Le Registre Central du Commerce, RCC (Central Commercial Register) — maintained by the Office Marocain de la Propriété Industrielle et Commerciale (OMPIC), at ompic.ma. It centralises the entries made in the local registers, protects trade names nationally and delivers the certificat négatif that reserves a name before incorporation.

Since 2023 the creation of companies runs through DirectEntreprise, the electronic platform established under loi n° 88-17 relative à la création et à l’accompagnement des entreprises par voie électronique. It is piloted by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce through OMPIC together with the Ministry of Justice, the Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the tax administration, the Official Print Office and the social security fund, so a single electronic filing serves all of them. The platform was piloted in Rabat in February 2023 and rolled out nationally in March 2025; more than 50,300 companies have been created through it, the average creation time for a complete electronic filing is about three days and can be under twenty-four hours, more than 3,200 professionals — notaries, lawyers and accountants — are registered on it, and by 2026 it accounted for around 44 per cent of all company creations nationally and more than 70 per cent in some cities.

Morocco keeps one register for legal entities and for individual traders alike. A commerçant personne physique (individual trader) is entered in the same commercial register as a company, in the natural-persons section, and receives a commercial register number in the same way. Every registered business also carries an Identifiant Commun de l’Entreprise (Common Enterprise Identifier), the single number that links it across the commercial register, the tax administration and social security.

Legal forms that can be registered in Morocco

Arabic is the official language of Morocco and French is used throughout commercial practice and legislation, so the forms below are given by their standard French names as used in the register.

Companies:

  • Société à responsabilité limitée, SARL (Limited liability company) — the dominant Moroccan form. The capital is divided into parts sociales which are not freely transferable, the associates are liable only up to their contributions, and no minimum capital is imposed in practice for ordinary activities.
  • Société à responsabilité limitée d’associé unique, SARL AU (Single-member limited liability company) — the same form with one associate; the usual vehicle for a small business or a wholly owned subsidiary.
  • Société anonyme, SA (Joint stock company) — capital divided into shares, shareholders liable only for their shares, governed by loi n° 17-95. Required for banks, insurers and other regulated businesses and used for listed companies and large groups; it may be managed by a board of directors or by a management board with a supervisory board.
  • Société par actions simplifiée, SAS (Simplified joint stock company) — a share company whose internal organisation is largely left to its statutes, provided for by the joint-stock company legislation and used for joint ventures and holding structures where governance needs to be tailored.
  • Société en nom collectif, SNC (General partnership) — all partners have the status of trader and answer jointly and without limit for the debts of the company.
  • Société en commandite simple, SCS (Limited partnership) — combines commandités who manage and are liable without limit with commanditaires liable only up to their contribution.
  • Société en commandite par actions, SCA (Partnership limited by shares) — the same division of liability with the limited partners’ interests represented by shares.
  • Société en participation (Joint venture company) — a contractual company that is not registered and has no legal personality; it exists only between the partners.

The partnership and limited liability forms are governed by loi n° 5-96, whose title itself enumerates them: the société en nom collectif, the société en commandite simple, the société en commandite par actions, the société à responsabilité limitée and the société en participation.

Other registrable structures:

  • Commerçant personne physique (Individual trader) — a natural person carrying on commercial activity in his own name, personally liable without limit, registered in the natural-persons section of the commercial register.
  • Groupement d’intérêt économique, GIE (Economic interest grouping) — a structure through which existing businesses pool part of their activity; its members remain liable for its obligations.
  • Coopérative (Cooperative) — a member-owned enterprise under the cooperative legislation, widely used in agriculture, fishing and crafts.
  • Succursale de société étrangère (Branch of a foreign company) — the Moroccan establishment of a foreign company, registered in the commercial register with the parent’s documents and the particulars of its representative; it has no separate legal personality.

Information available from the register

The commercial register is public. For each registered business the record gives the trade name and any enseigne, the commercial register number and the Common Enterprise Identifier, the legal form, the registered seat and any secondary establishments, the objects and the activities actually carried on, the capital, the identity of the managers, directors or other persons empowered to bind the business, the date of registration and the record of every subsequent modifying entry, and the status of the business including dissolution, liquidation and striking off.

Beyond identity, the register carries encumbrances and events that matter commercially: the nantissement du fonds de commerce (pledge over the business as a going concern) and other securities registered against it, leasing and management arrangements affecting the business, and judicial decisions on collective proceedings. OMPIC also operates legal and financial databases built on the central register, which is how aggregate and comparative company information is obtained in Morocco.

Annual accounts are deposited. Companies file their états de synthèse — balance sheet, income statement and the accompanying statements — with the clerk of the commercial court, where they form part of the register file, so financial information about a Moroccan company is obtainable from the register rather than only from the company itself.

Beneficial ownership is a public register in Morocco. The registre public des bénéficiaires effectifs (RBE) is managed by OMPIC under a management convention signed between the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and OMPIC, and is hosted at rbe.ompic.ma. Persons subject to the anti-money-laundering obligations listed in article 2 of loi n° 43-05, as amended and completed by loi n° 18-12, may access the beneficial ownership information directly in the exercise of their functions. For everyone else, OMPIC states publicly that information on companies and their beneficial owners available through the RBE may be consulted on request made to OMPIC — a genuinely public register, accessed through a request procedure rather than an anonymous search.

What the register does not disclose

The two-tier structure itself is the main practical limitation. Entries are made and documents deposited at the greffe of the commercial court, while OMPIC centralises the data, so a complete file — statutes, minutes, deposited accounts — is obtained from the court that holds the local register, not from the central register, and older records vary in how far they have been digitised.

Shareholding is only partly visible. The associates of a SARL and their parts sociales appear in the statutes and in the modifying entries filed at incorporation and on each transfer, but the shareholders of a société anonyme are recorded in the company’s own share register and are not filed, so current ownership of an SA cannot be established from the register alone. Beneficial ownership data is available, but through a request to OMPIC and subject to the conditions of the anti-money-laundering framework rather than by open lookup.

Finally, registration is not authorisation: sectoral licences for banking, insurance, telecommunications, transport and regulated professions are issued by the competent authorities, and tax standing must be verified with the tax administration even though the Common Enterprise Identifier links the two.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Certificat négatif (Negative certificate) — the document delivered by OMPIC confirming that a proposed trade name is available and reserving it before incorporation; the first step of every Moroccan company formation.
  • Extrait du registre du commerce, dit “modèle J” (Commercial register extract) — the official extract of the entry: trade name, register number, legal form, seat, objects, capital, managers and their powers, and the modifying entries. The standard document required by banks, tenders and counterparties.
  • Certificat d’immatriculation (Certificate of registration) — confirmation that the business is registered in the commercial register, with its register number and date of registration.
  • Statuts et actes constitutifs (Articles of association and constitutive deeds) — the founding documents as deposited, showing objects, capital, contributions, associates and the powers of the management.
  • Procès-verbaux et inscriptions modificatives (Minutes and modifying entries) — the resolutions and filings behind each registered change: capital increases, transfers of parts sociales, changes of manager, seat, name or objects, and transformations.
  • États de synthèse déposés (Deposited annual accounts) — the balance sheet, income statement and accompanying statements deposited with the clerk of the commercial court; the basis of credit and counterparty analysis.
  • Inscriptions de nantissement (Registered pledges) — the securities registered over the fonds de commerce and other encumbrances affecting the business; an essential lending and acquisition check.
  • Documents relatifs à la succursale (Branch documents) — the constitutional documents of the foreign parent and the appointment of its representative in Morocco.
  • Décisions et mentions relatives aux procédures collectives (Insolvency entries) — the judicial decisions on safeguard, redressement or liquidation recorded against the business.
  • Informations du registre des bénéficiaires effectifs (Beneficial ownership information) — obtained by persons subject to the anti-money-laundering law directly through the RBE platform, and by the public on request made to OMPIC.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official business register in Morocco?

The registre du commerce, kept as local registers by the clerks of the commercial courts and centralised by OMPIC in the Registre Central du Commerce under the Code de commerce (loi n° 15-95).

What is a certificat négatif?

The certificate issued by OMPIC confirming that a proposed trade name is not already taken and reserving it. It is the mandatory first step before a Moroccan company can be incorporated.

How is a company created in Morocco today?

Through DirectEntreprise, the electronic platform set up under loi n° 88-17 and run by OMPIC with the justice, finance, tax, printing and social security authorities. Piloted in Rabat in February 2023 and extended nationally in March 2025, it handles a complete creation in about three days and in some cases in under twenty-four hours.

Are the accounts of Moroccan companies public?

Yes. Companies deposit their états de synthèse with the clerk of the commercial court, where they form part of the register file and can be obtained.

Can I find the beneficial owner of a Moroccan company?

Yes, through the public register of beneficial owners managed by OMPIC. Persons subject to the anti-money-laundering obligations of article 2 of loi n° 43-05, as amended by loi n° 18-12, access it directly; the public may consult the information on request made to OMPIC.

Are individual traders registered?

Yes. A commerçant personne physique is entered in the natural-persons section of the same commercial register as companies and receives a register number and a Common Enterprise Identifier in the same way.

Sources

Keywords

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