How To Register a Company in Norway

Register a company in Norway

The Kingdom of Norway is a non-English-Native speaking country located in Northern Europe, bordered by Sweden, Finland and Russia (also non-English speaking countries), and shares maritime with the United Kingdom, Iceland and Denmark. It is considered one of the wealthiest nations of the world being the World’s largest producer of oil and natural gas outside of the Middle East. The country has two official languages – Norwegian and Sami, but most Norwegians also speak English.

Are you an entrepreneur looking to start a company in Norway. Here are ways for how to register a company in Norway.

Norway allows for the registration of not only local businesses established in the country, but also international businesses from various parts of the world. Here are the types of businesses that can be established in Norway.

Also known as self employed business, is a business with just one owner. Sole proprietors in Norway are exempted from registering their businesses if they do not operate on a trade with purchased goods, or have employed less than five persons in primary positions. In this case, the owner of the business can voluntarily decide to register or not.

A public Limited Liability company (ASA) is an entity that functions totally in public, listed on a recognized stock exchange and stocks are traded publicly, while a private Limited Liability Company (SA) is not listed on a stock exchange and is privately held by members. In Liability companies, the liability of the shareholders is limited to the capital paid to the company.

Partnership is an arrangement between two or more parties to oversee business operations. The partners could be individuals or legal entities, and they share profits and liabilities of the company. Norwegian partnerships are regulated by the Partnership Act and any written partnership agreement. In Norway, there are four types of partnerships;

General partnership (ANS): In this type of partnership, all partners have unlimited liability and are jointly liable for any partnership debts and obligations.

1. General partnership with shared liability (DA): In this type of partnership, debts and obligations are shared according to percentages of each partner stated in the partnership agreement of the company.

1. Limited partnership (KS): In Limited Partnership, there must be one partner with unlimited liability, and at least one limited partner whose liability is limited to their share of the capital. 

Internal partnership (IS): In this type of partnership, there must be at least one general partner with unlimited liability and at least one silent partner. Silent partners can have limited or unlimited liability.

This is the registered office of a foreign company in Norway, but it is not a separate legal entity of its parent company. In other words, the foreign company is liable for the debts of the branch without limitation. In Norway, the name of the branch company must include ‘Norsk avdeling av utenlandsk foretak’ (Norwegian division of a foreign company) and there are certain limitations that apply regarding the name of the company.

Just like in any other country, there are certain requirements that must be met in order for you to successfully register your business in Norway, both locally and internationally. Listed below are these requirements.

In order to run a business enterprise in Norway, you have to be registered in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities (CCRLE).

After registration, you will receive a nine digit organization number used in business documents and in your information exchange with the authorities. This is very important because you cannot open a bank account on behalf of the enterprise, engage employees nor register in the Value Added Tax (VAT) Register unless you have a valid organization number.

The authorities must be notified when you establish your company, when employees are hired and when you start selling goods and/or services subject to VAT and other taxes. If at least one of the mentioned conditions applies, you must register the business with the CCRLE. This will save you from reporting the different applicable issues to individual authorities.  Individual Authorities include;

• The employee section of the Employer/Employee Register  
• The Register of Business Enterprises  
•  The Foundation Register  
• The Value Added Tax Register  
•  The Statistics Norway’s Register of Companies and Business Enterprises  
•  The Norwegian Directorate of Taxes’ Register of limited companies

A foreign enterprise that wishes to extend its operations to Norway, may register a branch of the enterprise to the country. 

Usually, if a company branch is established in Norway, it is the Parent Company that is responsible for the Norwegian part of the operations. If the branch has no employees, a Norwegian representative who will be responsible for tax obligations must be appointed. A branch in Norway is obliged to pay taxes, and must operate according to the Norwegian legislation.

If foreign citizens are employed to the branch company, then they must have work and residence permits. To register the business, one submits the form Coordinated register notification to the Brønnøysund Register Centre.

What is a register of business enterprises? Registering in the Register of Business Enterprises is mandatory for all who conduct business activities and all enterprises with limited liability. The Business Enterprise Registration Act7 lists a number of different types of organizations that have to register.

Sole Proprietorship 

Norwegian sole proprietorships which do not come under the requirement to register have the right to be registered, and if such is the case they will be subject to the registration provisions in the legislation. The King may make exemptions from the right to registration for groups of business enterprises pursuant to the previous sentence. 

Limited companies 

For private limited companies the register shall include information on:  

1. The articles of association

2. The date of the formation of the company

3. The municipality of the business enterprise and its address 

4. The board members and deputy board members, if any, and who is serving as chairman of the board. Furthermore, the register shall include information about the observers, cf. the Norwegian Limited Companies Act, section 6-4 first and third paragraphs 

5. The general manager (managing director) 

6. Who represents the enterprise externally, and who is empowered to sign for the business enterprise 

7. Whether the memorandum of association includes any provisions as stated in the Norwegian Limited Companies Act, section 2-4 and section 2-5, or whether provisions have been adopted later in connection with an increase in the capital as stated in the Norwegian Limited Companies Act, section 10-2. 

For companies that come under the Norwegian Limited Companies Act, section 20-6, the register shall also include information on the gender of board members and deputy board members, as well as information as to whether the board member has been elected from among the employees

pursuant to the provisions in sections 6-4 and section 6-35 of the Norwegian Limited Companies Act, cf. section 6-37 first paragraph of the Norwegian Public Limited Companies Act. 

For public limited companies, the register shall include information on:  

1. The articles of association

2. That the business enterprise is a public limited company

3. The date of the formation of the company

4. The municipality of the business enterprise and its address

5. The board members and deputy board members, if any, and who is serving as chairman of the board. Furthermore, the register shall include information about the observers, cf. the Norwegian Public Limited Companies Act, section 6-4 first and third paragraphs

 6. General Manager (Managing Director)

7. Who represents the enterprise externally, and who is empowered to sign for the business enterprise

8. Whether the memorandum of association includes any provisions as stated in the Norwegian Public Limited Companies Act, section 2-4 and section 2-5, or whether provisions have been adopted later in connection with an increase in capital as stated in the Norwegian Public Limited Companies Act, section 10-2. 9. The gender of board members and deputy board members, as well as information as to whether the board member has been elected from among the employees pursuant to the provisions in

Registering your business in the register of business enterprise ensures the following;

1. The right to operate a business enterprise.
2. Legal protection of the business name.
3. A certificate of registration as identification for lenders, legal registration authorities, and customs and excise authorities.
4. A business enterprise organization number
5. Identification of the executives of a business enterprise

Registering a business in Norway comes with a lot of benefits.