Company Law and Formation in Pakistan

A company is a separate legal person, it can own property, sign contracts, sue and be sued, and outlive the people who founded it. Company law is the framework that brings that legal person into existence and governs its life, and getting the formation right is the foundation everything else is built on. Global Law Company helps founders, investors, and established businesses across Pakistan incorporate companies with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and manage them correctly under the Companies Act 2017.

Incorporation is deceptively easy to do badly. SECP will register almost any compliant application, but it will not tell you whether the structure, the objects, or the share split actually suit your business and protect you against future disputes. That judgement is where a company lawyer earns their fee.

The Companies Act 2017 and SECP

Companies in Pakistan are formed and regulated under the Companies Act 2017, administered by SECP largely through its online eServices portal. The Act recognises several forms, the private limited company, the single-member company (SMC), the public limited company, and the foreign company, each with its own requirements for directors, members, capital, and compliance. The two foundational documents are the Memorandum of Association (which sets the company's name, registered office province, objects, and capital) and the Articles of Association (which set the internal governance rules). SECP also enforces a growing body of regulation on beneficial ownership, related-party transactions, and annual reporting.

Choosing the right type of company

We advise on the form that fits your goals. A private limited company suits most businesses that want limited liability and the ability to take on shareholders or investors. A single-member company gives a solo founder the same protection without a second shareholder. A public company suits ventures that will raise capital from the public, and a foreign company or local subsidiary suits overseas investors. The choice affects compliance burden, tax, and fundraising, so we make it deliberately rather than by default.

Formation, drafting, and post-incorporation steps

We handle the whole formation sequence: reserving the company name, drafting tailored Memorandum and Articles, filing the incorporation application with SECP, and obtaining the Certificate of Incorporation. We then complete the steps that make a company operational, registration for a National Tax Number with FBR, opening a corporate bank account, setting up statutory registers, and noting the first compliance deadlines. Where a company needs to change later, altering capital, converting between an SMC and a private company, amending objects, or restructuring shareholding, we manage the resolutions and SECP filings cleanly.

Compliance after incorporation

Forming the company is the beginning, not the end. A registered company carries continuing duties under the Companies Act 2017: filing annual returns and financial statements with SECP, maintaining statutory registers of members, directors, and charges, holding the meetings the law requires, and notifying SECP of changes in directors, registered office, capital, or beneficial ownership within the prescribed time. Newer requirements on beneficial-ownership reporting and related-party transactions catch many companies off guard. We set up a compliance calendar and, where engaged, handle the filings, so the company stays in good standing and avoids the penalties and disqualifications that follow neglected compliance.

Foreign-owned companies and subsidiaries

Pakistan allows foreign investors to own companies, subject to sector-specific rules. We help overseas founders and corporates incorporate wholly or partly foreign-owned subsidiaries, handle the attestation and legalisation of foreign documents, structure the inflow of investment so it is properly recorded for later repatriation, and meet any Board of Investment or sector approvals. For overseas Pakistanis and foreign nationals who cannot easily travel, we manage the incorporation remotely, since SECP's process is largely online.

How Global Law Company helps

We do more than file forms. We design the company so that it works for your plans, clean shareholding, sensible Articles, a properly framed objects clause, and a compliance system that runs in the background. For founders bringing in partners or investors, we add the constitutional and shareholder documents that prevent disputes. The result is a company that is not just registered but built to grow, raise money, and survive disagreement.

Why choose Global Law Company

Our company-formation work is distinguished by the quality of the documents and the foresight behind the structure. We draft Articles and shareholder arrangements that anticipate the questions that actually break companies apart, we handle SECP efficiently, and we connect the formation to the company's tax and commercial needs. We are transparent about cost, typically a fixed fee for incorporation, and we remain available as the company grows and its corporate needs evolve.

Talk to a company lawyer in Pakistan