The business register of Yemen is the السجل التجاري (Commercial Register), a state register of individual traders and commercial companies kept under Republican Decree Law No. 33 of 1991 on the Commercial Register. Registration is administered by the trade ministry through its head office and governorate offices; on the official portal moit.gov.ye the ministry currently operates as وزارة الاقتصاد والصناعة والاستثمار (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Investment) and provides electronic registry services and a public trade-name inquiry.

The Company Registry in Yemen

Yemen maintains a single Commercial Register — السجل التجاري (Commercial Register) — for both legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. Law No. 33 of 1991 defines the register as a dedicated book in which a separate sheet is opened for every trader, and its definition of "trader" expressly covers natural persons as well as companies of every type, public institutions carrying on commercial activity, and cooperative societies with commercial purposes. There is therefore no separate registry for sole traders: individual establishments (المنشآت الفردية) and companies are entered in the same register, within thirty days of opening the business or incorporation.

The register is kept by the trade ministry. Law No. 33 of 1991 originally assigned it to وزارة التموين والتجارة (Ministry of Supply and Trade); the function passed to وزارة الصناعة والتجارة (Ministry of Industry and Trade), and the Sana'a-based ministry that operates the official portal www.moit.gov.ye is now named وزارة الاقتصاد والصناعة والاستثمار (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Investment). Its electronic services are grouped on the portal and on the e-services gateway e-moit.gov.ye, covering the Commercial Register, commercial companies, commercial names, commercial agencies, branches of foreign companies and trademarks.

Because of Yemen's current institutional division, ministry structures also operate from the temporary capital Aden under the internationally recognized government as وزارة الصناعة والتجارة (Ministry of Industry and Trade), with commercial-registration offices in the governorates under its control. No official online portal of the Aden-based ministry could be confirmed on government sources at the time of writing, so its services are available only at its physical offices.

Legal Forms of Companies in Yemen

The forms of commercial companies are fixed by the Commercial Companies Law No. 22 of 1997, as amended by Law No. 28 of 2004. Any company must take one of the forms below; businesses may also be run by a sole trader without forming a company.

  • شركة التضامن (General Partnership) — all partners are jointly and severally liable for the firm's obligations with their entire personal property; typical for small family trading businesses.
  • شركة التوصية البسيطة (Limited Partnership) — combines general partners with unlimited liability and limited partners liable only up to their contributions; management is reserved to the general partners.
  • شركة المحاصة (Particular Partnership / Joint Venture) — an unincorporated contractual venture for one or more transactions; it has no legal personality and is not entered in the Commercial Register.
  • الشركة المساهمة (Joint-Stock Company) — capital divided into transferable shares, minimum five shareholders and a board of directors; used for larger enterprises, banks and insurers. A closed variant, الشركة المساهمة المقفلة (Closed Joint-Stock Company), does not offer shares to the public.
  • شركة التوصية بالأسهم (Partnership Limited by Shares) — a hybrid with at least one general partner with unlimited liability and at least five shareholders liable up to the value of their shares; rarely used in practice.
  • الشركة ذات المسئولية المحدودة (Limited Liability Company, LLC) — between 2 and 25 partners, each liable only up to their share; the most common form for small and medium-sized companies. It may not carry on insurance, banking or savings business.
  • المنشأة الفردية (Individual Establishment / Sole Trader) — a natural person registered in the Commercial Register under Law No. 33 of 1991; the owner bears unlimited personal liability. Registration categories include import, export, wholesale, retail, contracting and services.
  • فرع شركة أجنبية (Branch of a Foreign Company) — foreign companies and trading houses operate through registered branches or agencies; branches of foreign houses (فروع البيوت الأجنبية) are registered with the ministry, and commercial agencies are entered in a separate agencies register.

What Information Is Available from the Yemeni Register

For each registered trader the Commercial Register records the registration number, the trader's name and الاسم التجاري (trade name), legal form, object of activity, capital, head office and branches, and the persons authorized to manage and sign — for companies, the managers or board members. Companies file a certified copy of عقد التأسيس (memorandum of association) and النظام الأساسي (articles of association) with the application, and later amendments, mergers, dissolutions and liquidations must also be entered. Bankruptcy judgments and guardianship or attachment orders are annotated in the register, but they are omitted from issued extracts once the trader is rehabilitated or the order is lifted.

The register is public. Under Article 6 of Law No. 33 of 1991, any person may, on payment of the prescribed fee, obtain a certified extract of the entries concerning any registered trader and may inspect the data and documents of any trader at the registry office. A free public inquiry into registered trade names, الاستعلام عن الأسماء التجارية (trade name search), is available on the ministry portal; the portal notes that the online results are for general information and that only official documents issued by the competent authorities have legal force.

Some information remains closed. Yemen has no public register of beneficial owners: Law No. 33 of 1991 requires registration of the trader, managers and signatories only, and neither the ministry portal nor the legislation provides public access to ultimate ownership data. Annual financial statements are likewise not part of the public file — the register discloses registration particulars and filed constitutive documents, not accounts. There is also no nationwide free online database of full company profiles; detailed data are obtained through the registry offices.

Documents Available from the Yemeni Commercial Register

The following documents can be requested from the ministry's registry services; several of them can be applied for through the electronic services portal.

  • شهادة القيد في السجل التجاري (Certificate of Registration in the Commercial Register) — confirms that a trader or company is entered in the register, with its registration number; every trader must display it at the business premises and quote the number on business papers.
  • مستخرج من السجل التجاري (Extract from the Commercial Register) — a certified copy of the entries on a registered trader: name, trade name, legal form, activity, capital, address and managers. Used for verifying counterparties, opening bank accounts and court proceedings.
  • شهادة سلبية (Negative Certificate) — an official confirmation, issued when a search finds no registration, that a given person or name is not entered in the Commercial Register.
  • نسخة معتمدة من عقد التأسيس والنظام الأساسي (Certified Copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association) — certified copies of the constitutive documents filed by a company, showing its objects, capital and governance; obtainable because filed documents are open to inspection.
  • مستخرج بيانات فرع أجنبي (Data Extract on a Foreign Branch) — an official extract of the registered particulars of a foreign company's branch in Yemen, offered as an electronic service of the ministry.
  • مستخرج بيانات وكالة تجارية (Data Extract on a Commercial Agency) — an official extract from the commercial agencies register showing the registered agent and the represented foreign principal.
  • شهادة حجز اسم تجاري (Trade Name Reservation Certificate) — confirms the reservation of a commercial name prior to registration, issued through the ministry's trade-name services.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the business register in Yemen called?

It is the السجل التجاري (Commercial Register), kept under Republican Decree Law No. 33 of 1991 by the trade ministry — currently operating on the official portal moit.gov.ye as وزارة الاقتصاد والصناعة والاستثمار (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Investment).

Are companies and sole traders registered in the same register in Yemen?

Yes. Yemen keeps one Commercial Register for individual traders and for companies of all types; a separate sheet is opened for each registered person. Only the unincorporated particular partnership (شركة المحاصة) is not registered.

Can I search Yemeni companies online?

Partially. The ministry portal offers a public trade-name inquiry (الاستعلام عن الأسماء التجارية) and electronic application services, but there is no free nationwide online database of full company profiles; certified information is obtained as an extract from the registry offices.

Can anyone obtain an extract from the Yemeni Commercial Register?

Yes. Under Article 6 of Law No. 33 of 1991, any person may obtain a certified extract on any registered trader and inspect the filed documents after paying the prescribed fee; a negative certificate is issued if no registration exists.

Which law governs companies in Yemen?

The Commercial Companies Law No. 22 of 1997, as amended by Law No. 28 of 2004, governs company forms; the Commercial Register Law No. 33 of 1991 (amended in 1997, 1999 and 2002) governs registration; the Commercial Law No. 32 of 1991 defines commercial activity and traders.

Is beneficial ownership information public in Yemen?

No. The Commercial Register records the trader, legal form, capital and authorized managers, but Yemeni legislation does not provide for a public register of ultimate beneficial owners, and annual financial statements are not publicly filed.

Sources

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