Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Asia-Pacific |
| ISO 3166-1 | KH / KHM |
| Registry | MOC Department of Business Registration |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Cambodia and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | VAT Registration Number / Patent Tax Number | GDT |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | Commercial Registration Number | MOC Department of Business Registration |
Sector regulators
NBC · SERC · IRC · CAFIU
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Private Limited Company | Co., Ltd. | Closely-held company with 2–30 shareholders; limited liability; shares not freely transferable to the public; the standard SME incorporation vehicle. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Single-Member Private Limited Company | Single-Member Co., Ltd. | One-shareholder variant of the private limited company; same limited-liability rules; 100% foreign ownership permitted. Equivalent to a US single-member LLC (SMLLC). |
| Public Limited Company | Plc. | May issue securities to the public; requires ≥3 directors; subject to SERC oversight if listed on the Cambodia Securities Exchange. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| General Partnership | — | Two or more partners with joint and several unlimited liability for partnership obligations; governed by the Law on Commercial Enterprises 2005. Equivalent to a US General Partnership (GP). |
| Limited Partnership | — | At least one general partner with unlimited liability and one or more limited partners whose liability is capped at their contribution; governed by the Law on Commercial Enterprises 2005. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Sole Proprietorship | — | A single natural person trading under their own name or a registered trade name (សហគ្រាសបុគ្គល); no separate legal personality; owner bears unlimited personal liability. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Branch of Foreign Company | Branch | Registered extension of a foreign parent that can trade goods and services locally; no separate legal personality; liabilities are obligations of the parent. Closest US equivalent: Branch/Rep Office. |
| Representative Office | Rep. Office | Liaison and promotional presence of a foreign entity; cannot trade, sell, or invoice; no separate legal personality. Closest US equivalent: Branch/Rep Office. |
How documents combine
For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.| Evidence area | Documents needed |
|---|---|
| Legal Registration | Certificate of Incorporation |
| Constitutive Documents | Memorandum and Articles of Association |
| Tax Registration | All required: Patent Tax Certificate + VAT Certificate |
| Operating Permit | Location Approval Letter |
| Ownership Records | Internal Share Register |
| Governance Records | All required: Certificate of Incorporation extract + MOC online profile |
| Signing Authority | Board Resolution |
| Address | Any one of: កិច្ចសន្យាជួល · វិក្កយបត្រសេវាសាធារណៈ · របាយការណ៍ធនាគារ |
| Good Standing | Certificate of Good Standing |
Documents to collect
The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.| Document | Proves |
|---|---|
| Certificate of Incorporation (MOC) | Legal Registration |
| Memorandum and Articles of Association | Constitutive Documents |
| Patent Tax Certificate | Tax Registration |
| VAT Certificate (GDT) | Tax Registration |
| Location Approval Letter (municipality or Sangkat) | Operating Permit |
| Internal Share Register | Ownership Records |
| Certificate of Incorporation extract | Governance Records |
| MOC online profile | Governance Records |
| Board Resolution | Signing Authority |
| កិច្ចសន្យាជួល | Address |
| វិក្កយបត្រសេវាសាធារណៈ (ក្នុងរយៈពេល 90 ថ្ងៃ) | Address |
| របាយការណ៍ធនាគារ (ក្នុងរយៈពេល 90 ថ្ងៃ) | Address |
| Certificate of Good Standing (MOC) | Good Standing |
| Sector-Specific License | NBC licence (banks, MFIs, payment institutions, crypto), SERC licence (securities dealer, digital asset exchange), IRC licence (insurer, reinsurer) |
Collection notes
- Legal Registration: Downloaded electronically from MOC portal (QR-code verified); bilingual Khmer/English.
- Constitutive Documents: Filed with MOC at incorporation; Khmer language version is controlling; English translation accepted for KYB.
- Tax Registration: Collect both: Patent Tax Certificate confirms general business tax registration; VAT Certificate confirms VAT status. Annual Patent Tax renewal due 31 March.
- Operating Permit: Issued by Phnom Penh Municipality or relevant provincial/Sangkat authority; confirms premises registration. No single national operating licence equivalent.
- Sector-Specific License: Required only for regulated-sector customers; confirm applicable prakas (regulatory instrument) number.
- Governance Records: Current directors listed on the MOC extract; confirm via CamDX portal.
- Signing Authority: Board resolution is standard; notarized POA for external parties. Cambodia is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention — foreign documents require full embassy/consular legalisation chain.
- Address: Conduit universal policy: lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
- Good Standing: MOC issues a distinct Certificate of Good Standing via the CamDX portal (businessregistration.moc.gov.kh); typically accepted as valid for 6 months from issue date.
Person roles
When you submit a person on the application body, set theirrole to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.
| Local role | Canonical API role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Director (នាយក) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Appointed to manage company affairs; private Co., Ltd. requires ≥1; executive day-to-day authority. |
| Chairman of Board | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Elected by board from among directors; governance role. |
| Managing Director | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Director delegated operational management authority; common in practice. |
| Authorised Representative (Branch/Rep. Office) | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Resident person legally responsible for a foreign branch or representative office. |
| POA Holder | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Holder of notarized power of attorney; binds the company vis-à-vis third parties. |
Notes
- Cambodia is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention; legalisation of foreign documents requires the full chain (notarisation → home-country competent authority → Cambodian embassy/consulate). Factor in material lead time.
- The Patent Tax Certificate must be renewed annually by 31 March; an expired certificate is a common KYB red flag for non-compliant businesses — check issue/renewal date on the certificate.
- MOC certificates are issued as electronic documents with QR codes via CamDX; accept digital copies (legally valid under Cambodian e-government framework) but verify QR code authenticates to the MOC portal.