Docs

Registering a business

What the business record holds, choosing the constitution that decides everything downstream, and the statuses a business moves through before it can trade.

Registering creates the entity. Verification proves it. They are separate steps and the first is quick.

Constitution decides everything downstream

The single most consequential field. It sets which documents you will be asked for, what tax identities apply, and what authority evidence is needed.

ProprietorshipOne owner, no separate legal entity
Partnership firmTwo or more partners under a deed
Limited liability partnershipPartners, with limited liability
One person companyA company with a single member
Private limitedThe common incorporated form
Public limitedPublicly held
NGO, trust or societyNot-for-profit forms

Get this right before anything else

Choosing wrongly means working through a document list that was never yours, and correcting it means starting that part again.

What the record holds

The trading name, the constitution, the nature of the business, where it operates, the industries and categories it works in, and its public-facing identity — logo, and a vanity handle if you want a readable address for your profile.

None of it is contact details for public consumption. What a counterparty can see before an engagement is deliberately limited — see Contact privacy.

The statuses

KYC pendingRegistered, not yet verified. Cannot transact
In validationDocuments submitted, under review
ActiveVerified. Can publish, receive and commit
InactiveNot currently trading here
RejectedVerification did not pass, with a reason

The gap between KYC pending and active is where most new businesses sit, and it closes fastest by doing the registry-checked numbers first — see Verifying a business.

Who may register one

Registering commits the entity, so it is not something any team member can do on its behalf. Where a company is concerned, the authority to act has to be evidenced — a board resolution or authorisation letter naming the person doing it.

That requirement is what separates a business account opened by its directors from one opened by whoever had the documents to hand.

Changing details later

A verified identity cannot be edited freely — a name that can be changed after verification is a name that was never verified.

Material changes go through a review, and the outcome is recorded. See Business settings.

Was this page helpful?