Organisations-Assurance in Costa Rica

type (Spanish)

English

description

sociedad anónima (S.A.)

joint-stock company / corporation / incorporation (Inc.)

For-profit corporation where the ownership of the corporation is expressed by shares of stock. Shareholders do not respond with their personal assets, but up to the maximum amount of contributed funds.

sociedad de responsabilidad limitada (S.R.L.) or sociedad limitada (Ltda.)

limited liability company (LLC)

Business entity where the responsibility of all partners is limited according to the share of contributed funds.

sociedad en comandita (S. en C.)

sociedad colectiva (S.C.)

empresa individual de responsabilidad limitada (E.I.R.L.)

asociación

association

Organisation of a group of people, presided by a board of directors that were selected by the assembly of associates. Procedures regarding organisation, affiliation of new associates and dissolution of the association are documented in the statues of the association.

asociación cooperativa (R.L.)

cooperative

Autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise
(ICA. "Co-operative identity, values & principles" What is a co-op? n.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2012.)

Register

Link

description

applies for: sociedad anónima / sociedad limitada / asociación cooperativa

Certificación de personería jurídica

http://www.rnpdigital.com/ for digital certifications.
Alternative: Physical document, directly issued by the National Register.

Legal document, issued and certified by the National Register (official name: Registro de Personas Jurídicas del Registro Nacional), indicating that the S.A. or Ltda. exists and was formally enlisted, its official name, its ID and the name of its current legal representative. Recommended validity of the certification: Less than two months of date of issue.
This document should be obtained by the Organisation Assurer, just to avoid that the original document is compromised. The only thing the assurer needs is the company ID (cédula jurídica) and the name of the company. As this documents costs money, the cost should at least be reimbursed by the company, as part of the certification process.

Copia de cédula jurídica

Applies only for companies that were enlisted before 19 Aug. 2011. For companies enlisted after this date, the physical document (it was like an ID card for companies) does not exist any longer. The cédula itself (unique ID of the company) does still exist and is indicated in the certification (see previous line). Therefore, this document might be considered not necessary.

Cédula de identidad de representante legal

Official ID of the company's legal representative. This is basically the face-to-face meeting with the organization, and procedure should be similar to "normal" assurance process.
Legal option: Official ID of a person that was authorized by the legal representative of the company. In this case, the following additional documents would be required: Original of a legal document, empowering the person attending the meeting to act on behalf of the legal representative, certified by a legal attorny. In addition to this, copy of the ID of the legal representative, so that legal qualities of the representative and his / her signature on the empowerment can be confirmed.