Companies in Pakistan are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), which acts as the national company registrar through its Company Registration Offices (CROs). Incorporation and later filings run end to end on the SECP digital platform eZfile, and the register is searchable on the SECP website at secp.gov.pk.

The company registry in Pakistan

The governing statute is the Companies Act 2017, supplemented by the Companies Regulations 2024. The Act sets the basic thresholds: any three or more persons may form a public company, and any two or more may form a private company. Limited liability partnerships are governed separately by the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2017 and the LLP Regulations 2018, and are registered by the SECP as well, so one authority covers both regimes.

Pakistan does not keep sole traders in the company register. An individual trading on their own account and an ordinary partnership under the Partnership Act are not SECP registrations; the company register covers companies, LLPs and the registered presence of foreign companies.

Registration is fully digital. An applicant reserves the name and files the incorporation application through eZfile, or on physical forms under the Companies Regulations 2024, and the registrar issues a digitally signed certificate of incorporation delivered by email and available in the applicant eServices account. The SECP publishes model memoranda and articles of association for more than a hundred sectors, and provides user manuals and video guides for incorporation and post-incorporation filings.

Incorporation also triggers registration elsewhere. Once incorporation completes, combined certificates for the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution and the provincial social security institutions are uploaded to the applicant account, and the applicant data is transmitted to the Federal Board of Revenue for issue of a National Tax Number where the information filed is complete and accurate.

Legal forms that can be registered in Pakistan

  • Single Member Company (SMC) — a private company limited by shares with one member, who must nominate a person to act in the event of death or incapacity. Liability is limited to the shares held.
  • Private Limited Company — from two to fifty members, restrictions on the transfer of shares and no invitation to the public to subscribe. The most common form for private business.
  • Public Limited Company — at least three members and no upper limit; it may offer shares to the public and, if listed, is additionally subject to stock exchange and SECP listing regulation.
  • Company Limited by Guarantee — the liability of members is limited to the amount they undertake to contribute to the assets of the company on winding up. Used for membership and non-trading bodies.
  • Unlimited Company — the members bear unlimited liability for the obligations of the company.
  • Association Not for Profit under Section 42 — a company formed to promote commerce, art, science, religion, charity, sports or any other useful object, which must obtain a licence from the SECP and applies its profits to its objects rather than to dividends.
  • Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) — a body corporate under the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2017 in which the partners have limited liability while the entity is taxed and managed as a partnership. Existing firms and companies may convert into an LLP.
  • Foreign company — a company incorporated outside Pakistan that establishes a place of business in the country must file the prescribed documents with the registrar; it is not a separate Pakistani legal person.

Sole proprietorships and ordinary partnerships remain outside the SECP register: the sole proprietor registers with the tax authority, and a partnership firm under the Partnership Act with the provincial registrar of firms.

Information available from the Pakistani registry

The SECP publishes a free company name availability search and an Advance Document Search, which allows a user to locate documents filed by a company on the register. A company record identifies the corporate name, the incorporation number and date, the registered office and the CRO with which the company is registered, its legal form and status, its authorised and paid-up capital and its directors as filed.

Filed documents are the substance of Pakistani registry publicity. Companies file annual returns and, depending on their category, audited financial statements with the registrar, and the returns and statements on the file are locatable through document search. The SECP also publishes enforcement output, including orders issued under the Companies Act 2017, so regulatory action against a company is traceable.

Beneficial ownership is collected but is not an open public register. Section 123A of the Companies Act 2017 requires companies to obtain, maintain and report information on their ultimate beneficial owners; every company must keep a register of ultimate beneficial ownership, and the declaration is filed on statutory Form 45, which the SECP has automated for online submission through its eServices portal. The SECP publishes statements of beneficial ownership in its data and statistics section and has issued orders under section 123A against companies that failed to comply, but a per-company public beneficial-ownership lookup could not be confirmed on an official source.

Documents that can be obtained from the registry

  • Certificate of Incorporation — the digitally signed certificate evidencing that the company exists from a stated date, with its name and incorporation number. Delivered by email and downloadable from the eServices account; the primary proof of legal existence.
  • Memorandum and Articles of Association — the registered constitutional documents, for which the SECP also publishes sector model templates.
  • Annual return — the yearly statement of members, capital and officers filed with the registrar.
  • Audited financial statements — the accounts filed by companies required to do so, retrievable from the company file.
  • Certified copies of filed documents — copies of returns, resolutions and change filings located through the Advance Document Search.
  • Form 45, Ultimate Beneficial Ownership declaration — the statutory beneficial-ownership filing made under section 123A through eServices.
  • Certificate of Incorporation on change of name — issued when a company changes its name, linking the old and new identities.
  • EOBI, PESSI and SESSI combined certificates — the social-security registrations generated automatically on incorporation and made available in the applicant account.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the company registrar in Pakistan?

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, acting through its Company Registration Offices, under the Companies Act 2017 and the Companies Regulations 2024.

How many people are needed to form a company?

One for a single member company, two to fifty for a private limited company, and at least three for a public limited company.

Can a company be registered entirely online?

Yes. Name reservation and incorporation are filed through eZfile, and the certificate of incorporation is issued digitally signed by email and in the eServices account.

Do Pakistani companies have to report beneficial owners?

Yes. Section 123A of the Companies Act 2017 requires companies to maintain a register of ultimate beneficial owners and to file the declaration on Form 45, which is submitted online through eServices.

Are sole traders registered with the SECP?

No. Sole proprietorships and Partnership Act firms are not SECP registrations; the company register covers companies, LLPs and foreign companies with a place of business in Pakistan.

Sources

Keywords

business register Pakistan, company registry Pakistan, SECP, eZfile, Companies Act 2017, legal forms Pakistan, single member company, ultimate beneficial owner Pakistan, company documents Pakistan