01.
Brief and shortlist
What activity, what premises, what form. Your own authorisation will name the activity and the premises, so the shortlist is built around those two before it is built around a price. No statutory period runs yet.
00. [ EXISTING COMPANIES ]
Ready-Made and Existing Companies in Monaco
Buy an existing Monaco business, then obtain your own authorisation. Nothing here is offered ready to trade, because the permission to trade belongs to its holder and is granted to you on your own file.
Updated: 2026-09-20
01.
Companies and SAM shareholdings currently available
Our own illustrative list of existing Monegasque companies and shareholdings. It is not drawn from the Répertoire du Commerce et de l'Industrie and no entry names a real company. Every row depends on the buyer obtaining an authorisation of their own.
| Ref | Legal form | Year | Location | Share capital | Price | Status | Request |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MC-001 | SARL | 2018 | Monaco | EUR 15,000 | EUR 185,000 | subject to authorisation | Request MC-001 |
| MC-002 | SAM shareholding | 2012 | Monaco | EUR 150,000 | EUR 940,000 | subject to authorisation | Request MC-002 |
| MC-003 | SURL | 2021 | Monaco | EUR 8,000 | EUR 96,000 | subject to authorisation | Request MC-003 |
Existing Monegasque companies and SAM shareholdings we can introduce, with the statutory minimum capital each form carries and the status every one of them shares.
Capital respects the statutory floors: EUR 8,000 for a SURL held by a natural person, EUR 15,000 for an SARL, EUR 150,000 for a SAM. The status never changes, because it is a legal status rather than a stock label.
02.
What a ready-made company means in Monaco
Vendors on this market define a shelf company as a structure already registered, with no prior activity, available for immediate use. Monaco has no such product. The authorisation to carry on business is personal and cannot be assigned: Loi n° 1.144 Art. 5 reads "L'autorisation est personnelle et incessible", and any change of the activities carried on, of the holder of the initial authorisation or of the premises must be the subject of a new authorisation. Shares change hands, the permission does not.
What we broker is therefore the company, never the right to trade: shares in the Monegasque SAM, whose transfers are free as a matter of law; parts sociales of an SARL or SURL, where a sale to a foreign buyer needs the Minister of State's agrément; and, as an asset deal, a fonds de commerce, which has a page of its own. Alongside any of them runs the buyer's own authorisation file, the same file as registering a company in Monaco from scratch.
03.
Buying an existing company or forming a new one
Both routes end at the same decision. A foreign group whose Monegasque presence amounts to running group functions from Monaco without trading there needs neither of them.
| Question | Buying an existing company | Forming a new company |
|---|---|---|
| Does the authorisation come with it? | No. It is personal and non-transferable, and a change of holder needs a new one (Loi n° 1.144 Art. 5) | No such question: it is granted to you, on your own file (Art. 5) |
| What clock applies | 5 working days to admissibility, then 45 days on your own authorisation file; a transfer of parts is examined in a further 45 days | 5 working days to admissibility, then 45 days on the decision (Art. 5) |
| Who decides | The Minister of State, on the authorisation and on the agrément for a transfer of parts to a foreign buyer | The Minister of State (Art. 5) |
| What you inherit | The RCI entry with its start date, the statutes, the beneficial-owner entry, the lease, and the accounts if the seller hands them over | Nothing, and nothing to check |
| Premises | Named in the seller's authorisation, and named again in yours: the entitlement does not travel | Chosen and evidenced before the file is deposited |
| Due diligence | The whole of it: trading history, accounts, licences, statutes, the authorisation actually held | None on a target; the work sits in your own file |
| Realistic floor | 2 to 3 months for an SARL or SURL, 4 to 6 for a SAM, as an estimate built from the statutory periods | The same estimate, on the same periods |
What differs, and what does not, between buying an existing Monegasque company and forming one: the clock, the decision-maker, the inheritance and the premises.
04.
What transfers with the company, and what does not
The sale moves the entity. Four things it does not move, and six it does.
- Not the authorisation. It names its holder, the activities that may be carried on and the premises where they will be, and a new holder files a new application (Loi n° 1.144 Art. 5).
- Not the premises entitlement. The address behind the seller's authorisation is evidence in the seller's file, not a right that follows the shares.
- Not a bank account. No listing comes with one and none is promised: that file is opening a bank account in Monaco.
- Not a licence or an approval. A change to the capital, object, direction or administration of a CCAF-licensed company needs the Commission's prior authorisation; in a multi family office, every change of shareholder, director or administrator needs the Minister of State's.
- The shares or the parts sociales, in the form the statutes and Code de commerce Art. 51-2 prescribe.
- The RCI entry, with its start date and the five-yearly confirmation that keeps it alive.
- The lease or the business-centre formula behind the premises, on the terms it was signed.
- The filed accounts, from the seller or not at all. They "can be neither consulted nor communicated", in the words of the accounts-filing page.
- The beneficial-owner entry, notified within one month of a change. Not freely public, and not secret: another person may apply for five data points on anti-money-laundering grounds, and the company has two months to ask for a restriction.
- The statutes, with any approval clause or pre-emption right they carry (Loi n° 1.573 Arts. 60 and 61).
05.
How an acquisition works, step by step
Two clocks run on a purchase, and both are in the statute: the buyer's own authorisation file, and the approval on the transfer itself. Everything else takes the time the documents take.
02.
Indicative terms and reservation
Terms are agreed in outline and the listing moves to reserved. Our fees are on request, and the price column of the list plus a Request is the whole commercial surface of this page.
03.
Due diligence on the target
The authorisation actually held, with the activities and premises it names; whether the company has traded in the last six months; the RCI entry; the seller's accounts; the lease; the beneficial-owner entry. What the register does and does not show: Company in Monaco: The Monaco Company Register (RCI).
04.
Your own authorisation file at the Direction du Développement Économique
Five working days to be told the file is admissible, then 45 days for the decision. A reasoned request for documents suspends the period, a complex file can add up to 45 days, and consulting a foreign body can take it to six months. Silence at the end is a grant.
05.
The approval on the transfer itself
Parts sold to a foreign third party, and any transfer that makes a foreign buyer the gérant, need the Minister of State's agrément: the transfer file is examined in 45 days from the admissibility notice, with a criminal-record extract under three months old. SAM shares are free by law, subject to the statutes.
06.
The deed
A transfer of parts is made by notarial deed or by private agreement (Code de commerce Art. 51-2). Where a notary is used, the notary is yours and not ours. Only supporting documents filed in French are authoritative.
07.
Registration with the tax department
Transfers of parts are subject to the registration formality. Duty is 1% on actions and 7.50% on a fonds de commerce, against a fixed duty and minimum of EUR 50; for SARL parts the statute names no rate, so the amount is settled case by case with the Direction des Services Fiscaux.
08.
The RCI entry and the filings that follow
Amend the entry within one month of the deed, on pain of unenforceability against third parties. Where the operation produces a new authorisation, register within one month of it, or three months from the ministerial decree for a joint-stock company, or the authorisation lapses. A purchase that installs a new manager is changing the manager of a Monegasque company; the beneficial-owner register follows within one month. ---
- 01
Horizontal two-track timeline, "The clock on an acquisition". Track A, the buyer's authorisation file: deposit
- 02
5 working days to the notice of admissibility
Loi n° 1.144
- 03
45 days to the Minister of State's decision, counted from that notice
Art. 5
- 04
branch marker, a further 45 days for a complex file
Art. 5
- 05
branch marker, up to 6 months where a foreign body is consulted
Art. 5
- 06
suspension marker while documents are requested by reasoned request
- 07
end marker, silence is a grant (Art. 5). Track B, the transfer of parts: 45 days of examination from the admissibility notice (cession de parts procedure page).
Art. 5
Every period the statute sets on an acquisition. The months at the foot are arithmetic on those periods, not a published processing time
Found a company that fits?
Send us the Ref. You get back the due-diligence list we would run on that target and the authorisation file we would file for you.
07.
Legal notes and limits
Four rules decide what can and cannot be sold here. Each one is the statute, not our policy.
There is no lawful parked company
Six months without trading, with no legitimate reason, is a ground to suspend or revoke the authorisation (Loi n° 1.144 Art. 9 3°), and having no installation or staff permitting an effective activity on Monegasque territory is another (Art. 9 8°). Dormancy is a defect in a target, not a feature.
Nobody may hold the authorisation for you
Lending a name to make the declaration, and profiting from the arrangement, is an offence for both sides, punished by a fine of EUR 18,000 to 90,000 (Loi n° 1.144 Art. 15 with Code pénal Art. 26). Substituting other persons in the exercise of the activity is a revocation ground (Art. 9 4°), and a nominee shareholding is void unless the company's register names both the principal and the agent (Loi n° 721 Art. 16-1).
A transfer of parts is registered
The Government's French procedure page states it in one line: "Elles sont assujetties à la formalité de l'enregistrement." Publicity, a filing at the Greffe Général and an insertion in the Journal de Monaco, follows only where the transfer changes the management. Where the English rendering of that procedure differs, the French text governs the file.
How long it really takes
Months, not days. Two to three months for an SARL or SURL and four to six for a SAM, and that figure is our estimate, built by adding the statutory periods, because no processing time is published for Monaco.
What the state charges when a Monegasque company or business changes hands
| Item | Rate or fee | Source, article and year | |---|---|---| | Transfer of actions, the shares of a joint-stock company | 1% | Loi n° 580 of 29 July 1953, Art. 9 6° | | Sale of a fonds de commerce or of a clientele | 7.50%, and 5% on the new stock it carries | Loi n° 580 Art. 14 | | Fixed duty and minimum collection, on acts presented from 1 October 2023 | EUR 50 | Loi n° 580 Art. 2, as amended by Loi n° 1.548 of 6 July 2023 Art. 30 | | Transfer of SARL parts sociales | No rate is published in the statute; the duty is confirmed case by case with the Direction des Services Fiscaux | Loi n° 580, read in force on 2026-09-19 | | RCI registration | EUR 75 for an SARL, SURL, SNC, SCS or foreign company; EUR 100 for a joint-stock company | Ordonnance Souveraine n° 2.853 Art. 16 | | The rest of the RCI tariff | EUR 55, 75 or 100 for a registration and for each five-yearly declaration; EUR 25 or 50 for an amendment or a strike-off; EUR 15 for an extract | Ordonnance Souveraine n° 2.853 Art. 16 |
Duty on the deal is not tax on the business: the impôt sur les bénéfices is charged at 25% for financial years opened from 1 January 2022 (Ordonnance Souveraine n° 3.152 Art. 21), and nothing on this page computes it.
Tell us what you are looking for
Describe the activity and the premises you need. We say whether buying is the shorter route, and what your own authorisation file would have to carry either way.
09.
Questions founders ask
Answered with the article
+ Can I buy a shelf company in Monaco and start trading straight away?
No. The authorisation to trade is personal and non-transferable, and any change of holder means a new authorisation (Loi n° 1.144 Art. 5). A company left idle for more than six months without a legitimate reason is itself a ground to revoke it (Art. 9 3°).
+ Does the business authorisation pass to me when I buy the shares?
No. Art. 5 makes it personal and incessible, and the decision lists exhaustively the activities that may be carried on and the premises where they will be. A new holder, a new activity or new premises each call for a fresh authorisation.
+ Why do the shelf-company vendors list no Monaco companies?
Because the product cannot exist here. The largest marketplace of that kind covers 56 jurisdictions and Monaco is not among them [market: jurisdiction list, accessed 2026-09-08]. What it would have to sell, a registered company with no activity, is a revocation ground under Art. 9 3°.
+ How long does it take to take over an existing Monaco company?
Months, not days. Five working days to admissibility plus 45 days for the decision on your authorisation file, extendable (Art. 5), and a transfer of parts examined in 45 days of its own. Our floor: two to three months for an SARL or SURL, four to six for a SAM.
+ Is buying shares in a SAM simpler than buying parts in an SARL?
On the transfer itself, yes: SAM share transfers are free as a matter of law. The statutes may still impose prior approval or a pre-emption right, with at most three months to answer, and a transfer in breach of such a clause is void (Loi n° 1.573 Arts. 60 and 61).
+ Can the seller, or a local manager, keep holding the authorisation for me?
No. Lending a name is an offence for both sides, punished by a fine of EUR 18,000 to 90,000 (Art. 15 with Code pénal Art. 26). Substitution is a revocation ground (Art. 9 4°), and a nominee shareholding is void unless the register names principal and agent.
+ Does a ready-made Monaco company come with a bank account?
No account comes with a listing and none is promised. Loi n° 1.492 gives the company in formation a procedure on its DDE receipt (Art. 2 4°), not a non-resident founder a personal right, and the bank runs its own anti-money-laundering checks either way.
+ What is a shelf company, and what do vendors mean by an aged one?
Their definition: a structure pre-registered, with no prior business activity, available for immediate use, the older the better. In Monaco that combination is unsellable, because the authorisation does not travel with the shares and six months of inactivity is a revocation ground.
+ Does the age of a Monegasque company count for anything?
As a due-diligence question, not a selling point. The RCI start date and the five-yearly confirmation say what has been declared; the accounts say what happened, and they come from the seller, since filed accounts are not public documents.
+ What happens to a Monaco company that has been left dormant?
More than six months without trading, with no legitimate reason, is a ground to suspend or revoke the authorisation (Art. 9 3°), and no installation or staff is another (Art. 9 8°). A dissolved company is struck off one year after the entry unless the liquidator asks for an extension.
+ What should I check before buying an existing Monaco company?
The authorisation actually held, with its activities and premises; six months of trading; the RCI entry; the accounts and the beneficial-owner entry; for a SAM the statutes, the board and the cumulation caps of Loi n° 1.573 Art. 26; and any CCAF authorisation where the target is licensed.
+ Can I see the target's accounts before I buy?
Only from the seller. Filed accounts "can be neither consulted nor communicated", in the words of the Government's accounts-filing page. They are approved within six months of the year end and filed within three months of that meeting, so ask which set is the latest.
+ What duties and state fees apply when a company or a business changes hands?
1% on transfers of actions, 7.50% on a fonds de commerce with 5% on the new stock it carries, and a fixed duty and minimum of EUR 50 on acts presented from 1 October 2023 (Loi n° 580). RCI registration is EUR 75 or EUR 100. For SARL parts the statute publishes no rate.
+ Should I buy the company or the fonds de commerce?
Two different deals. Shares or parts carry the entity with its history and its liabilities; an asset purchase carries the goodwill at 7.50% duty, with its double publication and the tax department's right to pre-empt an under-priced sale. The asset route has its own page.
+ What does "subject to authorisation" mean in your list?
That the listing depends on the buyer obtaining an authorisation of their own, for their own activity and their own premises, before the business may be carried on. It is a legal status rather than a stock label, and it never rotates. ---
Start your Monaco file
Tell us the activity, where it will be carried on and who will run it. One of us reads it and comes back with the questions the authorisation file will ask. Our fees are on request.
A PERMISSION FIRST
The authorisation is personal and non-transferable, and it names the activity and the premises. Nothing on this site is sold ready to trade.
SEE_WHAT_THAT_MEANS