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NORTH DAKOTA SECRETARY
OF STATE: CORPORATIONS AND LLC'S
Business Registrations
Business structures range from informal sole proprietorships to
complex corporations with publicly traded stock. This site provides
a brief overview of the most prevalent structures administered by
the Secretary of State to prepare you to work with an attorney or
other business advisor to determine which structure is best suited
for your business.
The business structures previewed in this site include:
Each structure has certain advantages and disadvantages depending on
the size and type of business. The Secretary of State’s staff cannot
provide legal advice regarding advantages of the various business
structures, filings, transactions, taxes, financing,
indemnification, shares, stock certificates, preparation of minutes
or bylaws, or other matters of internal business management.
Procedural information and registration forms are available from
this website or the Secretary of State’s office.
General Business Corporation
Statutory authority: NDCC, Chapter
10-19.1
A corporation is an entity created by one or more persons and
granted a charter as legal recognition of a separate entity. The
separate entity has its own rights, privileges, and liabilities
distinct from those of its shareholders. A corporation exists only
by virtue of law, and has only those powers conferred on it by
statutes, its articles of incorporation, bylaws of the corporation,
and the resolutions and decisions of its shareholders. A corporation
enjoys inherent qualities:
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Limited liability
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Transferability of ownership
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Possible tax advantages; and
-
"Immortality", unless
dissolved or established for a specific period.
A corporation may hold property perpetually without the intricacies
of conveyances regardless of the succession of shareholders or
members.
Domestic Corporation
A domestic business corporation is one that has filed articles of
incorporation with North Dakota's Secretary of State according to
North Dakota's Business Corporation Act (NDCC, Chapter 10-19.1).
Corporate existence commences when the articles of incorporation are
filed, or at a later date specified in the articles of
incorporation, but not later than ninety days from the date of
filing.
A business corporation is formed for the purpose of generating
profit for shareholders. It may be formed for any business purpose
except banking, farming, and insurance (insurer backing claims).
Insurance agencies selling insurance products may be formed as a
business corporation.
Trade Name
A corporation using a trade name in the transaction of business must
file a Trade Name Registration with the Secretary of State. A trade
name is a name other than the corporate name.
The registration of the Trade Name Registration:
-
Affords exclusive right to that
name in the State of North Dakota. No other business may file a
name with the Secretary of State that is the same as, or
deceptively similar, to any registered name.
-
Establishes a public record
from which the name of the corporation using the name can be
identified.
Foreign Corporation
A foreign corporation is one that has filed articles of
incorporation under laws other than the laws of North Dakota.
"Foreign" refers to corporations incorporated in jurisdictions
out-of-state as well as out-of-country.
A foreign corporation must obtain a certificate of authority from
the Secretary of State:
-
To transact business in North
Dakota; or
-
To obtain any license or
permit issued according to North Dakota laws.
A foreign corporation may obtain a certificate of authority to
transact any business purpose except banking, farming, and insurance
(insurer backing claims). Insurance agencies selling insurance
products may obtain a certificate of authority to transact business.
A foreign corporation using a name other than its corporate name
must comply with the Trade Name Registration requirement as
described above.
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Statutory authority: NDCC, Section
10-32
A limited liability company is a legal entity that may be
established by one or more individuals. Limited liability company
existence begins:
-
When articles of organization are
filed with the Secretary of State, or
-
Within ninety days after
filing articles of organization as designated in the articles.
The Secretary of State grants a charter upon filing of articles of
organization legally recognizing the limited liability company as a
separate legal entity having its own rights, privileges, and
liabilities distinct from those of its members.
A limited liability company combines the characteristics of a
partnership and a corporation. Like a corporation, a limited
liability company provides its members with limited liability
regardless of the members’ participation in management. Like a
partnership, a limited liability company may be taxed under the
flexible partnership rules, rather than the inflexible S corporation
rules.
A limited liability company may be organized to transact any
business except farming, banking, and insurance (insurer backing
claims). An insurance agency selling insurance products may be
formed as a limited liability company. Farming is permitted if the
limited liability company is created under North Dakota’s Corporate
and Limited Liability Company Farming Act, NDCC, Chapter 10-06.1.
Trade Name
A limited liability company using a trade name in the transaction of
business must file a Trade Name Registration with the Secretary of
State. A trade name is a name other than the limited liability
company name.
The Trade Name Registration:
-
Affords exclusive right to that
name in the State of North Dakota. No other business may file a
name with the Secretary of State that is the same as, or
deceptively similar, to any registered name.
-
Establishes a public record
from which the name of the limited liability company using the
name can be identified.
Foreign Limited Liability Company
A foreign limited liability company is one that has filed articles
of organization under laws other than the laws of North Dakota.
"Foreign" refers to limited liability companies organized in
jurisdictions out-of-state as well as out-of-country.
A foreign limited liability company must obtain a certificate of
authority from the Secretary of State:
-
To transact business in North
Dakota, or
-
To obtain any license or
permit issued according to North Dakota laws.
A foreign limited liability company may obtain a certificate of
authority to transact any business purpose except banking, farming,
and insurance (insurer backing claims). Insurance agencies selling
insurance products may obtain a certificate of authority to transact
business.
A foreign limited liability company using a name other than its
limited liability company name must comply with the Trade Name
Registration requirement as described above.
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