Business Registers in Monaco: the RCI (Répertoire du Commerce et de l'Industrie)

Overview

Monaco keeps its company information in a single official register, the Répertoire du Commerce et de l'Industrie (RCI, the Trade and Industry Register), run by the Direction du Développement Économique (the Business Development Agency) within the Prince's Government. Every commercial company, economic interest group, and sole trader carrying on business in the Principality registers here. Registration is mandatory within two months of starting activity.

Monaco is a civil-law principality, and its company forms are governed by Monegasque statute rather than French law, even where the names look familiar. The headline example is the Société Anonyme Monégasque (SAM), a public limited company unique to Monaco. Carrying on a commercial activity in Monaco also requires prior government authorisation, so registration in the RCI follows an administrative approval rather than being a simple filing.

Two points shape KYB work here. Monaco is not part of the EU VAT system, so Monegasque entities have no VAT number. And while Monaco maintains a beneficial ownership register under its anti-money-laundering law, that register is not publicly accessible, so ownership cannot be pulled from the public record.

Official Registers

RCI: Trade and Industry Register

The RCI is the sole source of company data in Monaco. A free public search confirms an entity's name, legal form, status, RCI number, and registration date, and a free preview page adds the activity description and registered address. The full profile, including share capital, incorporation date, and legal representatives, sits in the official certified extract (the Extrait du RCI), a paid PDF that the register sells for EUR 15.

Each entity carries an RCI number that encodes its type: a two-digit registration year, a letter, and a sequence number. The letter is the key, S for a commercial company (Société), C for a civil entity (Civile), and P for a sole trader (Personne Physique). For example, `76S01561` is a commercial company first registered in 1976. Some older civil-entity numbers use the `SC` variant, which is treated as a legacy form of the same `C` identifier.

Registrants must confirm their declared information every five years from the initial registration date, even if they have filed amendments in the meantime, which keeps the register from drifting too far out of date.

Beneficial Ownership

Monaco requires companies to declare their ultimate beneficial owners under anti-money-laundering Law No. 1.362 of 2009 and its successors. Those declarations go to a dedicated beneficial ownership register, but access is restricted and the data is not published through the RCI. Beneficial ownership therefore cannot be retrieved from Monaco's public sources.

Financial Statements

Monaco does not operate a public register of company accounts. Annual financial statements are filed with the authorities where required, but they are not made publicly available the way they are in many European states, so balance-sheet and income data is not part of the public record.

Registration and Publication Requirements

Companies

The Société Anonyme Monégasque (SAM) is Monaco's public limited company, governed by Law No. 408 of 1945 and used for larger ventures and regulated activities such as banking. It is managed by a board of directors (administrateurs) with a chairman (président), and its formation requires government authorisation. The Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL), under Law No. 797 of 1966, is the common limited liability form, run by one or more managers (gérants). Partnerships include the Société en Nom Collectif (SNC, general partnership), the Société en Commandite Simple (SCS, limited partnership), and the Société en Commandite par Actions (SCA). All register in the RCI under an `S` number.

Civil Companies

Civil companies (sociétés civiles), such as civil property companies and civil professional partnerships, register under a `C` number. They cover non-trading purposes, most commonly holding real estate or pooling professional practice, and follow a separate legal regime from the commercial forms.

Sole Traders

A sole trader (Personne Physique or commerçant) registers in their own name under a `P` number, after obtaining authorisation to carry on the activity. The individual is the business; there is no separate share capital or ownership structure.

Branches of Foreign Companies

A foreign company operating in Monaco registers a branch (succursale) in the RCI. The branch records the activity carried on in the Principality and its local representative, while the parent remains governed by its home jurisdiction.

Summary

With Topograph

Topograph retrieves Monegasque company data from the RCI, drawing the full profile from the official certified extract.

Available Data

Company Profile

• Legal name and RCI number, with the statistical identification (NIS) number where present
• Legal form in its French name, with a standardized English category and ISO 20275 code where available
• Status, including active, struck off, and in-liquidation stages
• Registered address in Monaco
• Activity description in French, with NACE and ISIC codes inferred by AI from that description
• Share capital and incorporation date, taken from the certified extract

Legal Representatives

• Managers, directors, chairman, and other authorised signers named in the certified extract, with roles translated and standardized

Available Documents

Company profile fields are extracted by AI from the official trade register extract, so verify against the source extract before relying on them for compliance. Shareholder data is not held in the Monegasque register, and beneficial ownership, though declared to the authorities, is not publicly accessible.

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