Company Registration

A Company is a legal person which has capacity and powers to act on its own - the law sees a company in the same light as a natural person.

It is created by the Companies Act No.1 of 2012 which provides the legal framework under which companies can be formed for legal purposes not harmful to society. The Uganda Registration of Services Bureau (URSB) is mandated under the Uganda Registration Services Bureau Act Cap 210 to register all business entities in Uganda which are required by law to be registered.

Within URSB, the Directorate of Business Registration is responsible for the registration of:

Public/Private companies,
Foreign companies,
Legal documents (e.g Constitutions, agreements, deeds, powers of attorney, etc), and
Security documents (e.g mortgages, chattels, debentures, etc).

Benefits of registering a document:

Registered documents are admissible in the court of law since they have evidential value in the eyes of the law. This means that un-registered documents are not readily acceptable and admissible in a court of law.
Registered documents safeguard the interest of a buyer since they take effect against every un-registered documents relating to the same property. In other words, the registration of documents preserves the title of the buyer.

Benefits of registering a company:

Safeguard your business name by acquiring a trade name
Access opportunities like loans, tenders, financing etc
Business formalization creates more employment opportunities through business expansion
Enables registration for licenses e.g Investment, trading and taxation licenses
Better marketing and advertising opportunities for increased clientele
Improved competitiveness in the regional market