The purpose of the Registry of Commerce is to extend the Commercial Registration to merchants and register the acts, contracts, and documents on which the Law establishes this formality. The principal functions of the Registry of Commerce include;
- Registration of all commercial companies and sole proprietorships that operate in the national territory.
- Registration of the commercial acts of commercial companies and companies that are public.
- Certifying the information contained in the Registry to any citizen who requests it.
- Generating statistical information to assist public and private institutions in decision-making.
Registration of a company at Bolivia’s Public Registry of Commerce requires your company name, entity type, office address, economic activity, and commercial purposes. All documents are to be notarized. A commercial registration number would be issued, proving the legal status of the company. The registration process can be undertaken online via https://www.fundempresa.org.bo/
FUNDEMPRESA (Fundación para el Desarrollo Empresarial) has been the administrator of Bolivia’s Registry of Commerce for 20 years but on the 1st of October, 2021, the President of Bolivia enacted Law No. 1398 (Registry of Commerce Law), which seeks to reintroduce the Registry of Commerce under the Ministry of Productive Development and Plural Economy and provides for the establishment, the new public institution’s organization, operation, and financing will be governed by a Supreme Decree. FUNDEMPRESA will be the administrator of the registry of commerce till 31st March 2022 after when the Supreme Decree 4596 which was issued on the 6th of October, 2021 (the Plurinational Service for the Registry of Commerce – SEPREC) would come into play.
The Supreme Decree 4596 has also attributed the power to coordinate the implementation of a Single Registration and Certification System for the integration of economic units, as well as a Geographic Information System of registered and updated businesses, which will need the digitalization of services supplied by the new administrator of the Registry of Commerce to the Registry of Commerce.
