Where to register your small business enterprise?

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Starting a business is sometimes confusing to newbie enterprenuers in terms of giving their business its legal and juridical personality.  Very small business initially has no budget to hire  business consultant who could guide them through licensing and registration requirements.  Most are confused on the functions of the Security and Exchange Commissions (SEC) as differentiated from the functions of  the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).  Nevertheless,  all businesses need to be registered somewhere for purposes of regulation and monitoring. A duly registered business is empowered to  transact legal business and own properties . They can also sue and can be sued.

Here are the simplified guide to help you differentiate  the  functions that fall under  the DTI and the  SEC:

Simply and directly stated, corporations and partnership must register with SEC while sole proprietorship must register with DTI.

The SEC 

The SEC  has absolute jurisdiction, supervision and control over all corporations. This  practically implies that complaints involving corporate violations  should be filed with the SEC.

Only a partnership or a corporation registered with the SEC may use the words “company” or “corporation” as part of its business name.

The registration mentioned above is different from registration with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which is a separate requirement, is applicable to all types of businesses, and is for the purpose of monitoring compliance with tax laws. 

 (visit SEC site here : www.sec.gov.ph or iregister.sec.gov.ph)

The DTI

In addition to its regulatory power, the DTI, through its different bureaus, is also tasked with receiving and processing applications for business name, trademarks and patents.

Thus, while for purposes of acquiring a legal personality, a corporation is required to register with the SEC and not with the DTI, it will nonetheless be still required to register its business name and style, if any, with the DTI.

Finally, the DTI is mandated to receive and process applications for trademarks and patents. If a corporation wants to apply for trademarks or patents, then it will again have to go to the DTI for these purposes.

(visit DTI site here: www.dti.gov.ph or www.bnrs.dti.gov.ph)

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For your peace of  mind, always be rules and laws compliant.