Registered office and domicile – What do entrepreneurs need to consider?
Companies often have questions about registered office and domicile. The following article provides information on the terms registered office and domicile as well as other technical terms in this area.
Registered office and domicile
The registered office is the place where the administration of a company is located. Legal entities are required to state their registered office in their articles of association. The place of the political municipality is entered as the registered office. In the case of municipality names that exist more than once, additional information must be provided, such as the abbreviation of the canton.
A legal domicile is the exact place where the company’s business premises are located. If a legal entity does not have a business office at the location of its registered office, it is dependent on a domicile holder. The commercial register therefore records with whom the legal entity is domiciled. The domicile holder must confirm in a written declaration that it will grant the legal entity a domicile at the specified location.
A change of address in which the company relocates its domicile within the political municipality where its registered office is located is a simple change of address. This is referred to as a change of domicile and can be registered by an authorized signatory entered in the commercial register. A small change of domicile is a change of domicile within a canton, while a large change of domicile is a move to another canton.
