Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Latin America |
| ISO 3166-1 | CO / COL |
| Registry | Local Chambers of Commerce → RUES (national registry) + DIAN (tax authority) |
| Last updated | 2026-05-04 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Colombia and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | NIT | DIAN |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | Matrícula Mercantil | Cámara de Comercio |
Sector regulators
SFC · Supersalud · Supersociedades
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada | S.A.S. | Flexible share-capital company; one or more shareholders; majority form since Law 1258/2008; no minimum capital required. Equivalent to a US C-Corp. |
| Sociedad Anónima | S.A. | Share-capital company requiring at least five shareholders; mandatory board of directors and stricter statutory governance; used for larger or regulated enterprises. Equivalent to a US C-Corp. |
| Sociedad Limitada | Ltda. | Quota-based closely-held company with 2–25 partners; quota transfers require unanimous approval; partner liability is limited to their contribution. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Sociedad Colectiva | S. en C. Col. | General partnership in which all partners trade under a collective name and bear unlimited joint-and-several liability for company obligations. Equivalent to a US General Partnership. |
| Sociedad en Comandita Simple | S. en C. | Limited partnership with at least one general partner bearing unlimited liability and one or more limited (comanditario) partners whose liability is capped at their contribution. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership. |
| Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones | S.C.A. | Limited partnership in which the limited partners’ stakes are represented by transferable shares while at least one general partner retains unlimited liability. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership. |
| Empresa Unipersonal | E.U. | Single-owner limited-liability trading vehicle created by Law 222/1995; the sole owner segregates assets into a separate legal entity while limiting personal exposure. Equivalent to a US sole proprietorship operating as a single-member LLC. |
| Persona Natural Comerciante | — | Individual trading in their own name, registered via Matrícula Mercantil at the local Chamber of Commerce; no separate legal entity and full personal liability for all business obligations. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Cooperativa | — | Member-owned cooperative governed by Law 79/1988 and supervised by the Superintendencia de Economía Solidaria; surplus distributed in proportion to member participation. Equivalent to a US Cooperative. |
| Sucursal de Sociedad Extranjera | — | Registered branch of a foreign company authorized to conduct permanent business in Colombia; the parent retains full liability for the branch’s obligations. Equivalent to a US Branch/Representative 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 | Cert. de Existencia y Rep. Legal |
| Constitutive Documents | Estatutos Sociales |
| Tax Registration | RUT |
| Operating Permit | Renovación Cámara de Comercio |
| Ownership Records | Any one of: Cert. de Existencia y Rep. Legal · Libro de Accionistas |
| Governance Records | Cert. de Existencia y Rep. Legal |
| Signing Authority | All required: Cert. de Existencia y Rep. Legal + Acta de Junta Directiva |
| Address | Any one of: Contrato de Arrendamiento · Recibo de Servicios Públicos · Estado de Cuenta Bancario |
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 |
|---|---|
| Cert. de Existencia y Rep. Legal (CC) | Legal Registration, Ownership Records, Governance Records, Signing Authority |
| Estatutos Sociales (Doc. Privado / Escritura) | Constitutive Documents |
| RUT (DIAN) | Tax Registration |
| Renovación Cámara de Comercio | Operating Permit |
| Libro de Accionistas (S.A.) | Ownership Records |
| Acta de Junta Directiva | Signing Authority |
| Contrato de Arrendamiento | Address |
| Recibo de Servicios Públicos (≤90 días) | Address |
| Estado de Cuenta Bancario (≤90 días) | Address |
| Sector-Specific License | SFC, Supersalud, Supersociedades |
Collection notes
- Ownership Records: Real structure: Cert. Existencia y Rep. Legal (for SAS) OR Libro de Accionistas (for S.A.) — mutually exclusive by corporate type. The CERL also satisfies business_registration, directors_registry, and authorization_to_act because it embeds all three in a single Cámara de Comercio extract.
- Address: Lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement; utility bill and bank statement must be dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Representante Legal | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Mandatory role. Person authorized to bind the company legally. Named in Certificado de Existencia with specific scope of powers. |
| Representante Legal Suplente | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Backup legal representative. Common in Colombia. |
| Junta Directiva Member | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Board member. Required in S.A., optional in S.A.S. |
| Presidente | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Board chair or company president. |
Notes
- Three-tier capital structure: authorized, subscribed, and paid-in capital can all differ; the Certificado de Existencia reports all three.