Company Incorporation

As of mid-2026, incorporation runs through SECP's online eZfile portal in two stages: reserve a company name, then file the incorporation application with the memorandum and articles of association, subscriber and director details, and the prescribed fee. Once the registrar is satisfied, SECP issues a certificate of incorporation and the company exists as a separate legal person from that date. The filings are form-driven; the decisions that matter — structure, objects, capital, and what the articles actually say — are made before you touch the portal.

SECP charges registration fees under a published fee schedule that scales with the authorised capital you choose, with online filing cheaper than physical filing. Beyond the SECP fee, budget for name reservation, stamp duty where applicable, and professional fees if you use counsel. We do not repeat figures here because the schedule is revised from time to time: [CURRENT SECP FEE SCHEDULE — TO BE VERIFIED BY REVIEWING LAWYER].

For a straightforward private company with an unobjectionable name, standard objects and complete documents, registration is measured in days rather than weeks, as of mid-2026. The clock stretches when the name draws an objection, the objects touch a regulated activity, or a foreign shareholder or director is involved and documents need attestation and clearance. The realistic planning horizon is the whole launch sequence — incorporation, bank account, tax registrations — not the certificate alone.

The core set is: CNIC copies for Pakistani subscribers and directors (passports for foreign nationals), the memorandum and articles of association, the registered office address, and the declarations and forms the eZfile portal generates for the filing. Where a shareholder is a company rather than an individual, add its charter documents and a board resolution authorising the subscription — attested and, for foreign companies, legalised for use in Pakistan. Getting this bundle right the first time is most of what determines how fast the registration goes.

You apply through the eZfile portal with one or more proposed names, and SECP checks them against names already on the register and the restrictions in the Companies Act 2017 and its name regulations. If a name clears, SECP reserves it for a limited statutory period within which the incorporation application must be filed [RESERVATION VALIDITY PERIOD — TO BE VERIFIED BY REVIEWING LAWYER]. Submitting alternatives in order of preference saves a round trip if the first choice is refused.

The common grounds, as of mid-2026: the name is identical or deceptively similar to an existing company, it contains prohibited or restricted words, it suggests government patronage or a connection the company does not have, or it implies a regulated business — banking, insurance, investment — that the company is not licensed to carry on. A quick search of the SECP register and the name restrictions before applying avoids most refusals. A reserved company name is also not a trademark; brand protection is a separate registration.

Yes. The Companies Act 2017 provides for the single member company (SMC), a private company with one member who holds all the shares. The single member must nominate a nominee to act in the event of death, and the company otherwise carries the ordinary compliance obligations of a private company. It is the standard vehicle for a solo founder who wants limited liability without taking on a co-owner.

An SMC has one member; a private limited company needs at least two members and two directors. Both give limited liability and both are registered with SECP under the Companies Act 2017. The practical fork is ownership plans: co-founders or investors mean shares held by more than one person, which means a private limited company — and while an SMC can be converted later, the conversion is a formal process, so founders expecting investment usually start private.

Under the Companies Act 2017, a private limited company needs at least two members and at least two directors; a single member company needs one member and at least one director; a public unlisted company needs at least three directors. Directors must be natural persons, and a private company's membership is capped at fifty (excluding employees). The same people can be both shareholders and directors, which is how most founder-owned companies are set up.

Yes — in most sectors foreign nationals can hold shares, including all of them, and can serve as directors, as of mid-2026. Expect extra process: passport copies and attested documents, and security clearance of foreign subscribers and directors, which is processed with the interior authorities and adds time [CLEARANCE PROCEDURE AND TIMING — TO BE VERIFIED BY REVIEWING LAWYER]. Share subscription money from abroad should come through banking channels so the investment is documented under the State Bank's foreign exchange framework from day one.

Every company must have a registered office in Pakistan — it is the address where statutory notices and correspondence are served, and it appears on the SECP record. A residential address can serve the purpose; there is no requirement for commercial premises at incorporation. If the registered office is not fixed at incorporation, the Act requires it to be notified to the registrar within a short statutory window, and later changes are event-based filings.

The memorandum is the company's charter — its name, registered province, objects and authorised capital. The articles are the internal rulebook: how directors are appointed and removed, how meetings and votes work, and how shares are issued and transferred. The Companies Act 2017 provides model articles that many companies adapt, but the defaults are written for the general case — founder companies usually need the share transfer, pre-emption and decision-making provisions thought through rather than inherited.

Authorised capital is the ceiling stated in the memorandum — the maximum share capital the company may issue; paid-up capital is what has actually been issued and paid for. SECP's registration fee scales with authorised capital, so founders usually set a sensible ceiling rather than a huge one, and increase it later by resolution and filing when a funding round needs headroom. The Companies Act 2017 imposes no general minimum paid-up capital for private companies, though licensed sectors have their own floors.

For the standard case, yes — as of mid-2026 name reservation, the incorporation filing and fee payment all run through SECP's eZfile portal, and the certificate issues electronically. Physical filing through a Company Registration Office remains available but is slower and costs more under the fee schedule. Cases with foreign shareholders or attested foreign documents still involve offline steps around the online filing.

The certificate starts a sequence rather than ending one: open the company bank account and pay in the subscription money, confirm the tax registration, issue share certificates to the subscribers, set up the statutory registers, and appoint the first auditor — several of these sit on statutory clocks under the Companies Act 2017. Companies that skip this stretch tend to rediscover it during their first funding round or audit. A step-by-step checklist keeps the sequence honest.

A company's National Tax Number is issued by the FBR, and as of mid-2026 SECP's integration with the FBR generally results in the NTN being generated as part of incorporation. Confirm the registration on the FBR's IRIS portal, complete the company's profile there, and enrol for filing — the NTN existing and the tax profile being usable are two different things. The NTN is also a prerequisite for the bank account and most other registrations.

It depends on what you sell. Supplies of goods fall under the Sales Tax Act 1990 and registration with the FBR; services are taxed provincially, so a services business registers with the authority where it operates — SRB in Sindh, PRA in Punjab, KPRA in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, BRA in Balochistan — as of mid-2026. Whether registration is required immediately depends on your activity and the applicable thresholds and rules: [REGISTRATION THRESHOLDS FOR THE RELEVANT JURISDICTION — TO BE VERIFIED BY REVIEWING LAWYER].

The Employees Old-Age Benefits Act 1976 requires covered establishments to register with EOBI and pay monthly contributions for insured employees. The obligation is triggered by employing people, not by incorporation itself — a company with no employees yet has nothing to contribute — and the current coverage threshold and contribution rates should be checked when you hire: [EOBI COVERAGE THRESHOLD AND RATES — TO BE VERIFIED BY REVIEWING LAWYER]. Provincial social security institutions are a separate, parallel registration once you have employees.

Banks will ask for the certificate of incorporation, the memorandum and articles, the company's tax registration, CNICs of directors and signatories, and a board resolution authorising the account and naming the signatories. Subscription money for the shares should be paid into this account so the paid-up capital is traceable through the banking channel — a detail that matters years later in audits, diligence and any foreign investment reporting. Timelines vary by bank and get longer where foreign shareholders trigger enhanced due diligence.

It makes the company exist; it does not license the business. Depending on the activity, you may still need sector approvals or licences, provincial registrations such as shops and establishments, professional tax, and the tax and employee registrations already described. The clean way to think about it: incorporation gives you the legal person, and the compliance map for your specific activity tells you what that person needs before it trades.