Are foreign companies obliged to register their branch and representative offices for initiating commercial activity in Iran?
According to Articles 3 and 4 of the Registration of Companies Act, approved in 1931, any foreign company that wants to carry out commercial, industrial or financial activities in Iran through a branch office or a representative, must first have already been recognized in its country of origin as a legal entity and then it should be duly registered in Iran. The annual national budget laws in recent years have also stipulated that foreign companies supplying goods and services to the Iranian market must register their agency contract at the Ministry of Commerce as well. What are the consequences of non-registration? In accordance with Article 5 of the Registration of Companies Act, any person engaged in industrial, commercial or financial affairs in Iran, as a representative or a branch manager on behalf of foreign companies, and who has not applied for registration, shall be liable to payment of a fine in the first instance. If this violation of law persists, then the government shall
