Business
Companies Ordinance with a small formal sector and fishing revenue
Companies register under the Companies Ordinance with the Registrar, and foreign investment requires approval. The formal economy is dominated by government, cooperatives and fishing access revenue.
Key rules
- Deadline — Foreign investment approval is required before commencing business
- Deadline — Annual returns are filed with the Registrar of Companies
Governing law
- Companies Ordinance (Cap. 10A) (s. 5)
- Foreign Investment Act 1985
- Cooperative Societies OrdinanceCap. 14
- Fisheries Act 2010
In practice
Company law is of colonial vintage and has not been through the New Zealand-style modernisation seen in Fiji, Samoa or Solomon Islands, so practice relies more on the general law and on the Registrar's requirements. The commercially decisive statute is the Fisheries Act: access fees for tuna fishing in the exclusive economic zone, negotiated through the vessel day scheme under the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, provide the majority of government revenue, and licensing conditions rather than corporate law govern the country's most valuable economic activity. Cooperatives remain the dominant form of local retail enterprise.