South Africa

This is an organization within the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition in South Africa that is responsible for registering businesses and inventors in the country. The commission was formed in 2011, and its mandate is to ensure that there is legal registration and administration of businesses, cooperatives, and intellectual property such as patents, trademarks, designs, and copyrights in the country. However, apart from just being a register, the CIPC works towards ensuring compliance with South African corporate laws, enhancing transparency by releasing business registry information, and managing business rescue procedures.

Regulation of the business environment in South Africa occurs through the operations of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC). This agency focuses on the registration, management, and regulation of all companies, cooperatives, and intellectual property rights. The operations of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission include the reservation of company names, registration of businesses, and protection of the creators of innovations by issuing patents, trademarks, copyrights, and designs. The companies will be regulated using financial disclosure, filing of annual returns, de-registration of non-compliant companies, and licensing of the professionals managing the finances of companies during business rescue processes.