What is the Trade and Industry Directory?

INFORMATION

STARTING AND MANAGING A BUSINESS

Last updated: 24/03/2026

This page is explanatory in nature. It does not constitute legal advice.

It is the responsibility of individuals to carry out the necessary research or to contact local professionals regarding the conditions under which the company operates and any implications (tax, accounting, etc.).

Principle

Established by Act no. 721 of 27 December 1961 repealing and replacing Act no. 598 of 2 June 1955 instituting a Trade and Industry Directory, the Trade and Industry Directory, more commonly known as the RCI, lists all natural persons and legal entities deemed to be traders under the law and carrying out commercial activities on the territory of the Principality.

This applies to:

Sociétés anonymes (SA)
Sociétés à responsabilité limitée (SARL)
Sociétés unipersonnelles à responsabilité limitée (SURL)
Sociétés en commandites par actions (SCA)
Sociétés en nom collectif (SNC)
Sociétés en commandites simples (SCS)
Businesses as a sole trader
Economic Interest Groups (GIE)
Foreign companies

The office responsible for maintaining it ensures that all legal formalities relating to setting up, authorisation to run and, where applicable, advertise a business, have been met.

Registration with the RCI is mandatory and must be carried out within one month following the issue of the acknowledgement of receipt for the declaration of business, or of the administrative authorisation to carry out a business activity for SURL/SARL/SNC/SCS/business as a sole trader and foreign companies, or within one month following the date of signature of the GIE contract. The deadline for registering with the Trade and Industry Directory is three months following the publication of the Ministerial Decree granting the administrative authorisation for sociétés anonymes and SCA.

Consult and obtain an extract from the Trade and Industry Directory

You can consult certified information from the Trade and Industry Directory or download an extract 24/7 from a computer, tablet or smartphone, via our online service available by clicking on the button below :

Go to online service

Content of the extract

Pursuant to Article 10 of Sovereign Ordinance no. 2.853 of 22 June 1962 implementing Act no. 721 of 27 December 1961 instituting a Trade and Industry Directory, as amended, the basic information shown on the directory extract consists of the following information:

The date and registration number in the Directory
The activity or activities carried out
If used, the trade name or business brand name(s)
The address of the establishment or, where applicable, additional premises in Monaco
The surname, preferred name, first names, date and place of birth, nationality(ies) and, where applicable, the matrimonial property scheme of the registered person and of persons with general authority to commit their liability on a habitual basis by their signature
The method of operation
Entries made ex officio in the Directory
The status of the activity

Date of creation, its date and registration number in the Directory
Legal form
Company name or registered name followed, where applicable, by the acronym used as well as the trade name or business brand name(s) used
Company’s objects
Duration
The address of the registered office and, where applicable, the address of the secondary office or additional premises in Monaco
The amount of its share capital, with the exception of Economic Interest Groups
The closing date of its financial year
The surname, first names, date and place of birth, nationality(ies) of each person authorised to administer, manage or enter into legally binding commitments on behalf of the company. Where these are legal entities, their company name or registered name, their legal form, the address of their registered office, their registration number and place of registration in a public register and, where applicable, the surname and first names of their permanent representative
Proof of the incorporation of the company consisting of:
1. For companies other than "sociétés par actions" (joint-stock companies): the date of filing at the General Registry of the extract of the Articles of Association and the date of publication in the Journal de Monaco of that extract
2. For "sociétés par actions" (joint-stock companies): the date of filing at the General Registry of the certified copy of the Articles of Association and the date of publication in the Journal de Monaco of these Articles of Association
Entries made ex officio in the Directory
The main elements governing the operation of the company
The status of the company or Economic Interest Group
For Economic Interest Groups, the surname, first names, date and place of birth, nationality(ies) and personal address of persons responsible for auditing the accounts and monitoring management

Beneficial owners

Companies and GIE registered with the RCI are subject to the declaration of beneficial owners.

Details of the procedure to follow can be found on the following page: How to declare a beneficial owner

Designate a person responsible for the information

Companies and GIE must communicate to the RCI Office the identity of the person or persons responsible for basic information on the legal entity as well as the person responsible for information on beneficial owners.

The procedure is specified on the following page: How to designate a person responsible for the information - Trading Companies

Maintenance and communication the Register of Partners or Shareholders

Any legal entity registered with the RCI must maintain a register of its partners or shareholders and communicate the location where the Register is kept.

The procedure is described on the following page: How to communicate the location where the Register of Partners/Shareholders is kept

Modification of basic information

Changes to any basic information must be reported, by any registered natural person or legal entity, in a supplementary or amending declaration before it can be entered in the special register. Failing to do so will render it non-binding against third parties.

This declaration must be made to the RCI office no later than one month of the deed recording the modification or, where applicable, after receiving the acknowledgement of the declaration of intent or administrative authorisation relating to the modification. Declarations must be accompanied by the documents required to establish the accuracy of the modified information, as well as a copy of the updated Articles of Association, where applicable.

See the procedure: How to amend or add registration details on the RCI for business as a Sole Trader

See the procedure: How to amend or add registration details on the RCI for businesses

Miscellaneous

Pledges

A contractual pledge of goodwill is a transaction by means of which the owner of goodwill accepts to assign it, without losing ownership, as collateral for one or several debts to the benefit of one or several creditors.

In order to grant a pledge, one must first be the owner of goodwill (lease-managers may not pledge goodwill) and the object of the pledge must be qualified as commercial goodwill.

Pledges are maintained for ten years by registration.

The registration can be renewed before the end of this period.

Non-trading goodwill and craft-based goodwill cannot be pledged.

Details of the procedure to follow can be found on the following page: Contractual pledge of goodwill

The creditor of a person who has purchased the capital goods necessary to carry out a profession, business or industrial activity may request the registration of a business pledge over capital goods.

The pledge may be granted either to the seller or to the lender. When it is granted to the seller, it is given in the deed of sale. When it is granted to the lender, it is given in the deed of loan which must specify that the funds provided by the lender are for the purpose of paying the price of the goods purchased, otherwise it is not valid. It must therefore be concluded by the date of delivery at the latest.

Pledges are maintained for ten years by registration.

The registration can be renewed before the end of this period.

The goods given as a guarantee may also, at the request of the beneficiary of the pledge, have a permanent plaque indicating the date and registration number of the associated lien affixed to an essential part in a visible manner.

Details of the procedure to follow can be found on the following page: How to request the registration of a business pledge over capital goods

The five year renewal of registration declaration

Any individual registered in the Trade and Industry Directory (RCI) must confirm the information declared upon registration or subsequent amendments every five years from the initial registration date, even if they have been the subject of one or more modification or corrective declarations during the five-year period.

Details of the procedure to follow can be found on the following page: How to declare the five year renewal of registration on the Trade and Industry Directory

Change information listed in the Trade and Industry Directory

Some changes affecting the business, such as alterations to data, registering a secondary business, renewals and deletions, will require modifications to be made to the Trade and Industry Directory: