Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Asia-Pacific |
| ISO 3166-1 | PG / PNG |
| Registry | IPA Companies Office |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Papua New Guinea and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | TIN | Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | IPA Registration Number | IPA Companies Office |
Sector regulators
BPNG · SCPNG · IRC
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Private Company Limited by Shares | Ltd | Closely-held company incorporated under the Companies Act 1997; shareholder liability limited to unpaid share capital; share transfers restricted; at least one PNG-resident director required. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Public Company Limited by Shares | — | Share-capital company whose shares may be offered to the public and listed on the Port Moresby Stock Exchange (PNGX); no restrictions on share transferability. Equivalent to a US C-Corp. |
| Unlimited Company | — | Company incorporated with share capital under the Companies Act 1997 in which shareholders bear unlimited personal liability for company obligations; rare in practice. Functionally closest to a US C-Corp. |
| No-liability Company | NL | Specialist corporate form used in the mining and resources sector; shareholders are not personally liable for unpaid capital calls — shares are simply forfeited if calls are not met. Equivalent to a US C-Corp. |
| Sole Trader | — | Single natural person carrying on business, either under their own name or a registered business name under the Business Names Act (Cap. 145); no separate legal entity and unlimited personal liability. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Partnership | — | Two or more persons carrying on business together under the Partnership Act (Cap. 375); all general partners bear unlimited joint and several liability for partnership obligations. Equivalent to a US GP. |
| Company Limited by Guarantee | — | Non-profit company incorporated under the Companies Act 1997 with no share capital; members’ liability limited to a guaranteed amount on winding up; typically used by charities, industry bodies, and professional associations. Closest US equivalent: Nonprofit Corporation. |
| Incorporated Business Group | — | Customary or community-based group incorporated as a legal entity under the Business Groups Incorporation Act (Cap. 144); enables traditional landowning and clan groups to conduct commercial activity. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative. |
| Incorporated Association | — | Non-profit membership association incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act 2023; used for clubs, churches, community groups, and civil-society organisations. Closest US equivalent: Nonprofit Corporation. |
| Cooperative Society | — | Member-owned enterprise registered under the Cooperative Societies Act and Co-operative Societies Regulation 2003; common in agriculture, fisheries, and credit unions; profits distributed to members. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative. |
| Foreign Company (Registered Branch) | — | Overseas company registered to carry on business in PNG under the Companies Act 1997 Part XVI; not a separate legal entity from its foreign parent and must also hold an IPA Foreign Enterprise Certificate under the Investment Promotion Act 1992. 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 | Company Constitution |
| Tax Registration | TIN Certificate |
| Operating Permit | Local Business Permit |
| Ownership Records | IPA Annual Return |
| Governance Records | IPA Annual Return |
| Signing Authority | Board Resolution |
| Address | Any one of: Lease Agreement · Utility Bill · Bank Statement |
| 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 (IPA) | Legal Registration |
| Company Constitution | Constitutive Documents |
| TIN Certificate (IRC) | Tax Registration |
| Local Business Permit | Operating Permit |
| IPA Annual Return (shareholders section) | Ownership Records, Governance Records |
| Board Resolution | Signing Authority |
| Lease Agreement | Address |
| Utility Bill (≤90 days old) | Address |
| Bank Statement (≤90 days old) | Address |
| Certificate of Good Standing (IPA) | Good Standing |
| Sector-Specific License | BPNG licence (banks, insurers, superannuation trustees, MVTS/FX dealers), SCPNG licence (brokers, dealers, fund managers, investment advisors) |
Collection notes
- Legal Registration: Issued by IPA Companies Office; downloadable via ipa.gov.pg; confirms registration number and date. Foreign companies: Certificate of Registration as Foreign Company + IPA Foreign Enterprise Certificate.
- Constitutive Documents: Optional under Companies Act 1997 s.30; company may operate under default statutory rules if no constitution adopted. On re-registration (Companies Amendment Act 2022), filing a constitution is required. Collect constitution or statutory declaration that none adopted.
- Tax Registration: Issued by IRC; required for bank account opening; no VAT/GST regime — TIN is the single tax identifier.
- Operating Permit: Issued by provincial government or urban/local-level authority; format and name vary by province. No single national general trading permit.
- Sector-Specific License: Collect relevant sector licence certificate; verify licence status on BPNG or SCPNG public registers.
- Governance Records: Annual return lists all current directors with addresses; filed with IPA annually. Also visible via IPA entity search.
- Signing Authority: Board resolution signed by directors; POA should be notarised. For cross-border use, apostille is available — PNG is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention.
- 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: Issued by the IPA Companies Office under s398(2) Companies Act 1997. Available in short form (current information only) or long form (current + historical). Request a copy dated within 30 days for banking; 60-90 days for foreign qualification. Available only for entities registered or renewed since 1 December 2022 in the new IPA registry.
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 to manage company; at least one must be PNG-resident (Companies Act 1997 s.126). |
| Managing Director | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Director delegated executive management authority under constitution or board resolution. |
| Authorised Representative (foreign branch) | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Locally resident person authorised to accept service and act on behalf of a registered foreign company. |
Notes
- The Company Constitution is optional under the Companies Act 1997; a company may operate under default statutory rules. On re-registration under the 2022 amendments (re-registration deadline was extended to 2026-04-30), companies must file or confirm no constitution exists. Confirm re-registration status on ipa.gov.pg before accepting legacy constitutional documents.
- Foreign companies must hold both a Certificate of Registration as Foreign Company (Companies Act 1997 Part XVI) and an IPA Foreign Enterprise Certificate (Investment Promotion Act 1992). Both are required for KYB — missing either is a red flag.
- The IPA registry portal (ipa.gov.pg) is the sole online search tool; there is no equivalent to a Companies House API. Public searches show registration number, status, and directors/shareholders but may lag recent filings; always request a fresh official extract for onboarding.