Business
Corporations Act 1972 with revenue from processing and licensing
Companies register under the Corporations Act 1972 with the Registrar of Corporations. The economy rests on regional processing arrangements, fishing licences and residual phosphate rather than a broad private sector.
Key rules
- Deadline — Business licences are renewed annually
- Deadline — Annual returns are filed with the Registrar of Corporations
Governing law
- Corporations Act 1972 (s. 12)
- Business Licences Act 2017
- Nauru Fisheries and Marine Resources Authority Act 1997
- Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust Act 1968
In practice
Corporate law is brief and dated, and the private sector is very small. Nauru's fiscal and commercial history is defined by phosphate: mining stripped roughly four-fifths of the island's surface, the royalties trust intended to secure post-phosphate prosperity was dissipated through mismanagement and failed investments, and the resulting collapse drove the search for alternative revenue. Nauru pursued offshore banking in the 1990s and was blacklisted for money laundering before repealing that regime. Present revenue rests on hosting Australian regional processing arrangements, fishing access fees under the vessel day scheme, and more recently a citizenship programme.