Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Latin America |
| ISO 3166-1 | GY / GUY |
| Registry | DCRA Commercial Registry |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Guyana and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | TIN | Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | Company Registration Number | DCRA Commercial Registry |
Sector regulators
Bank of Guyana · GSC · FIU
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Private Company Limited by Shares | Ltd. | Most common form; share transfers restricted; not more than 50 shareholders; governed by Companies Act Cap. 89:01. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Public Company Limited by Shares | — | Shares may be offered to the public; minimum 2 directors; governed by Companies Act Cap. 89:01. Equivalent to a US C-Corp. |
| Company Limited by Guarantee | — | No share capital; members’ liability limited to a guaranteed amount; used for non-profits and civic purposes; governed by Companies Act Cap. 89:01. Equivalent to a US Nonprofit Corporation. |
| General Partnership | GP | Two or more persons carrying on business together with unlimited joint and several liability; governed by Partnership Act Cap. 89:02. Equivalent to a US General Partnership (GP). |
| Limited Partnership | LP | One or more general partners with unlimited liability plus one or more limited partners whose liability is capped at their capital contribution; governed by Partnership Act Cap. 89:02. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Sole Proprietorship | — | Single natural person trading under their own name or a registered business name; no separate legal personality; registered under Business Names (Registration) Act Cap. 90:05. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Co-operative Society | — | Member-owned and member-controlled enterprise registered under the Co-operative Societies Act Cap. 88:01; profits distributed as patronage dividends rather than equity returns. Equivalent to a US Cooperative. |
| External Company | — | — |
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 | Articles of Incorporation |
| Tax Registration | TIN Certificate |
| Operating Permit | Trade Licence |
| Ownership Records | Register of Members |
| Governance Records | Register of Directors |
| Signing Authority | Any one of: Board Resolution · Notarized Power of Attorney |
| Address | Any one of: Lease Agreement · Utility Bill · Bank Statement |
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 (DCRA) | Legal Registration |
| Articles of Incorporation | Constitutive Documents |
| TIN Certificate | Tax Registration |
| Trade Licence | Operating Permit |
| Register of Members | Ownership Records |
| Register of Directors | Governance Records |
| Board Resolution | Signing Authority |
| Notarized Power of Attorney | Signing Authority |
| Lease Agreement | Address |
| Utility Bill (≤90 days old) | Address |
| Bank Statement (≤90 days old) | Address |
| Sector-Specific License | Bank of Guyana Licence, Guyana Securities Council (GSC) Registration, NPS Oversight Certificate |
Collection notes
- Legal Registration: Issued by DCRA Commercial Registry under Companies Act Cap. 89:01; includes unique registration number.
- Constitutive Documents: Filed at DCRA on incorporation; prescribed form per Fourth Schedule of Companies Act Cap. 89:01; covers share structure, governance, restrictions.
- Tax Registration: Issued by GRA; applied via Form G0016 (Taxpayer Registration Form — Organisation) for companies.
- Operating Permit: Issued by GRA Licence Revenue Office; municipalities (e.g. Georgetown M&CC) may also require a separate local trade licence.
- Sector-Specific License: Required only for regulated sectors; sector-specific to banking, insurance, securities, payment services.
- Ownership Records: Register of Members kept at registered office under Companies Act Cap. 89:01.
- Governance Records: Maintained at registered office and notified to DCRA (Companies Act Cap. 89:01 s.67); reflected in annual returns.
- Signing Authority: POA must be drafted by an attorney-at-law, notarized, and registered at DCRA Deeds Registry (Powers of Attorney Act Cap. 5:08, as amended by Act 2 of 2022).
- Address: Lease (no time bound) or utility bill or bank statement; utility/bank documents 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Director | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Appointed officer with day-to-day authority; must be 18+, not bankrupt, of sound mind. |
| Attorney (POA holder) | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Holds registered power of attorney to act on behalf of the company. |
Notes
- Operating licences are dual-track: GRA Licence Revenue Office issues national trade licences; Georgetown Mayor & City Council and other municipalities issue separate local trade licences. Both may be required.
- Powers of Attorney must be registered at DCRA Deeds Registry and signed by a notary public before they are legally effective; an unregistered POA is insufficient.
- Apostille Convention entered into force for Guyana on 18 April 2019; documents for use abroad may be apostilled rather than requiring full legalization chain.
- A comprehensive review of the Companies Act Cap. 89:01 (1991) was announced in January 2026; no replacement legislation has been enacted as of 2026-05-06 — the 1991 Act remains in force.