Egypt Commercial Registry: What You Need to Know?

If you're starting a business in Egypt, buying shares in one, or trying to prove a company actually exists, you'll run into the Commercial Registry Authority sooner rather than later. It's the official gatekeeper for who gets to legally trade in Egypt — and the record everyone checks when they want to know who's really behind a company.

Quick answer

The Commercial Registry Authority Egypt (GAFI's General Department of Commercial Registry, operating under Law No. 34 of 1976 as amended) is the body that registers merchants and companies, issues commercial registry certificates ("sijil togari"), and maintains the public register of businesses. Every merchant and company trading in Egypt must register within 30 days of starting activity. Registration is now largely handled through the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) one-stop shop, with fees starting around EGP 56 for individuals and scaling up for companies.^[1][2]

What the Commercial Registry Authority actually does

The Commercial Registry Authority is the public ledger of Egyptian commerce. Think of it as the business equivalent of a civil status registry — if your company isn't in it, legally, your company doesn't exist for commercial purposes.

Its core jobs under Law No. 34 of 1976:

• Registering individual merchants and companies (both initial and amended entries)
• Issuing the commercial registry extract — the document banks, landlords, suppliers, and courts will ask you for
• Recording changes: capital increases, director changes, address moves, branch openings, liquidation
• Maintaining the national commercial database used by tax authorities, customs, and the courts
• Striking off dormant or dissolved entities

Since the 2017 Investment Law (Law No. 72 of 2017) and the GAFI reforms, most registration steps happen through GAFI's one-stop shop rather than at a standalone registry office. The Commercial Registry sits inside that building, but it's still a distinct legal authority with its own powers.^[2][3]

Honestly, this is where confusion starts for foreigners: GAFI, the Commercial Registry, and the Tax Authority (ETA) are three different bodies that happen to share a counter.

Who must register and when

Article 1 of Law No. 34/1976 is blunt. Every merchant — individual or corporate — carrying on commercial activity in Egypt must register in the Commercial Registry within 30 days of starting that activity.^[1]

That covers:

• Egyptian sole proprietors ("mounsha'a fardeya") with commercial activity above the Commercial Code threshold
• All joint-stock companies (SAE), limited liability companies (LLC), one-person companies (OPC), partnerships, and branches of foreign companies
• Representative offices (registered, though they can't trade)
• Importers, exporters, and commercial agents (who also need separate Importers Register / Exporters Register entries)

Miss the 30-day window and you're exposed to fines under Article 15 of the law, plus the practical problem that no bank will open a corporate account, no customs clearance will process, and no serious supplier will sign with you.

Skip registration entirely and you're trading informally. The tax authority will still find you.

What registration costs and how long it takes

Fees are set by ministerial decree and updated periodically. As a rough guide for late 2025 practice:

Costs (indicative, EGP)

• Individual merchant registration: ~56–200 EGP base fee, plus stamps
• LLC / joint-stock registration: ~0.1% of capital, capped, plus service fees
• Commercial registry extract (certified copy): ~56 EGP per copy
• Amendment entries (change of director, address, etc.): ~56–150 EGP each
• Chamber of Commerce subscription (mandatory, separate): varies by capital

The headline numbers everyone quotes get stale fast — GAFI's published fee schedule is the only reliable source on the day you file.^[2]

Timeline through the GAFI one-stop shop:

• Simple LLC with Egyptian shareholders and clean documents: 1–3 working days
• Joint-stock company with foreign shareholders: 1–2 weeks, mostly waiting on apostilled documents
• Branch of a foreign company: 2–4 weeks, because the parent's corporate documents need legalisation through the Egyptian consulate abroad and translation by a sworn translator

The registration gets you the sijil togari — the commercial registry certificate — which is valid for 5 years and must be renewed before expiry.

Watch out A lapsed commercial registry is not just a paperwork problem. Your tax card, import card, and bank signatory powers can all freeze until you renew. Diarise the 5-year mark the day you register.

How to get a commercial registry extract (and verify a company)

If you're doing due diligence on an Egyptian counterparty — a supplier, a potential JV partner, a landlord claiming to own the building — the commercial registry extract is the first document you ask for.

Three ways to get one:

1. In person at the Commercial Registry office within the relevant GAFI branch (Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, and governorate capitals). Bring the company name or CR number and ID.
2. Through a lawyer or accredited agent with a simple power of attorney, which is how most corporate due diligence runs.
3. Online via GAFI's e-services portal, which now offers digital extracts for many entities — though coverage varies and older entries sometimes still require a physical visit.^[2]

What to actually look at on the extract:

• Legal form and capital (does it match what they told you?)
• Registered activities (are they even licensed to do what they're selling?)
• Legal representative / managers with signing authority
• Any annotations about liquidation, seizure, or disputes

A clean recent extract — issued within the last 30 days — is the market standard for signing anything meaningful.

For a broader walkthrough of setting up and running a company, see our guides on starting a business in Egypt and the shorter answers on business registration questions.

Common mistakes people make

A few things that go wrong often enough to flag:

Registering the wrong activity codes. The Commercial Registry uses a standardised activity list. If your actual business doesn't match your registered activities, you can be blocked from importing, from getting sector licences, or from VAT refunds. Changing it later is a paid amendment, not free.

Assuming the Commercial Registry = the Tax Authority. They talk to each other, but registering with one does not register you with the other. You still need a separate tax card from the ETA, and a VAT registration if you cross the threshold.

Letting the sijil expire. Renewal is cheap and routine if you do it on time. If you let it expire by years, you may need to pay back-fees, update old director data, and in some cases re-file as if new.

Using an old extract for a bank KYC. Most Egyptian banks want a commercial registry extract issued within 3 months — frequently within 1 month for new account openings. A six-month-old copy will get rejected at the counter.

Register on time, renew on time, keep the activity codes honest. That's 90% of staying out of trouble with the Commercial Registry Authority Egypt.