Armenia issues no document called a “certificate of good standing” or “certificate of incumbency”. A foreign bank’s request is answered with a State Register extract, which costs AMD 3,000 in state duty (about USD 8 at the house rate of AMD 361.36 per USD, CBA rate of 19 October 2026), the free State Register information on registration and liquidation status, and a State Revenue Committee (SRC) statement or certificate for tax position. For directors, signing authority and shareholders of a joint-stock company, corporate documents fill the gaps the register leaves.
At a glance
- No prescribed Armenian registry form carries the title “certificate of good standing” or “certificate of incumbency”.
- The State Register extract shows the executive head, LLC participants and their shares, and liquidation entries. It does not list a board or the private shareholders of a joint-stock company.
- Extract: AMD 3,000 state duty. A same-day paper extract adds an AMD 8,000 service fee (about USD 22 at the same house rate).
- Status information on whether a company is registered or liquidated is free and published within 3 days.
- Registry extracts and SRC tax statements can be apostilled by the Ministry of Justice within 2 working days.
What the bank is asking for
In common-law jurisdictions a registrar issues a one-page certificate stating that a company exists and is current with its filings. An incumbency certificate, usually signed by a company secretary or registered agent, lists the directors, officers and authorised signatories. A bank asking an Armenian company for either is asking for a set of facts: the company exists, it is not being wound up, these people run it and may sign, these people own it, and it owes no tax.
The English labels do circulate commercially. Creditreform advertises an “Armenia Certificate of Good Standing” where available, and some registry-data vendors describe the full State Register extract as serving the good-standing and incumbency function. Those are commercial products or descriptions; no Armenian form of that title has been identified. Answering the bank therefore means mapping each fact to the Armenian document that proves it.
Fact by fact: which document proves what
| Fact the bank wants | Armenian document | What it does not prove |
|---|---|---|
| The company exists | State Register extract; free registration and liquidation status information | Trading activity, solvency, licences or absence of litigation |
| Who the director is | Extract (executive head) plus the appointment decision | The term of office: tenure is not recorded on the extract forms |
| Board or supervisory board members | Minutes electing them, read with the registered charter | The extract forms contain no general board-member list |
| Who may sign | Extract, charter, appointment decision, and a resolution or power of attorney for the specific transaction | The extract by itself does not establish unrestricted or transaction-specific authority |
| LLC owners | Extract (participants and participation amounts) | Who stands behind a corporate participant |
| Joint-stock company shareholders | Ownership extract from the specialised registrar that keeps the shareholder register | The State Register extract records only state or municipal holdings in a JSC |
| Beneficial owners | Latest beneficial-ownership declaration filed with the State Register, plus ownership-chain documents | The register records what was declared; it does not independently verify it |
| Tax position | SRC statement on the absence of tax liabilities; Tax Compliance Certificate for qualifying VAT payers | Solvency toward private creditors |
| Liquidation status | Extract (liquidation entry dates, commission, cessation) or the free status information | Absence of bankruptcy proceedings; the extract has no separate liquidator field |
Once a liquidation process is registered, management powers pass to the liquidation commission under the Civil Code. A bank dealing with a company in liquidation should look for the commission’s appointment, and a signature from the former director no longer binds the company.
The State Register extract
The State Register of Legal Entities is kept by an agency of the Ministry of Justice under the Law on State Registration of Legal Entities. The extract follows forms approved by Justice Minister Order 85-N of 13 May 2013 (Annex 4 for LLCs, Annex 5 for joint-stock companies), as consolidated in September 2023. It carries:
- name, registration number and date, entity code and taxpayer identification number;
- registered location and duration;
- the executive head, or the representative authorised by the charter;
- for an LLC, each participant with joining date and participation amount, and the dates of any change or exit;
- registered subdivisions, the predecessor entity, and every registered change with its code and date;
- liquidation entries and dates.
The register presumes the information filed with it is reliable and does not, as a rule, check it against the facts. An extract therefore proves what is registered. Personal data of individuals, such as passport details, residential addresses and contact details, is excluded from public information even when the duty is paid.
How to order it and what it costs
The state duty is AMD 3,000. Online, the State Register’s own service page states the extract issues immediately; the government e-services page states it is emailed within one working day. On paper, the applicant files at a State Register office with ID, the duty receipt and, for a representative, a power of attorney; the extract takes up to five working days, or the same working day against an additional AMD 8,000 service fee under Government Decision 1746-N.
The online service authenticates users through Armenian electronic identification, and the State Register page labels its applicants “Armenian citizens”. Whether a foreign requester without that identification can complete the online order has not been confirmed. In practice the bank receives the extract from the company or its Armenian representative.
Extracts are electronic documents. A system-generated number and QR code replace the signature and stamp, so a missing wet stamp does not make an extract unofficial; the bank can check it through the verification code. Information on the State Register’s old website is current only to 25 December 2025, so a printout from that site is not evidence of the present position.
Free registration and liquidation status information
Separately from the extract, the State Register issues “information on the state registration and/or liquidation of a legal entity”. It is free, applied for online, and the published period is 3 days. The sample document states that no liquidation or cessation is recorded as at the stated date and time. This is the closest Armenian equivalent to a bare good-standing confirmation, and it says nothing about trading or solvency.
Some registry fields are open to anyone free of charge on the State Register website: name and legal form, registration date and number, taxpayer number, classifier code, registered address, beneficial owners’ names, citizenship and the date and grounds of ownership, and whether the company is in liquidation. A screenshot of that page is not a certified document.
Tax position: SRC statements and certificates
Statement on the absence of tax liabilities
Any company, individual entrepreneur or individual can obtain a statement confirming it has no unfulfilled liabilities to the state budget, or listing them. It is free, requested at an SRC taxpayer-service centre with ID, and issued within one working day. The government e-services page states the statement is valid for 30 days; no statute or SRC order fixing that period has been identified. Under SRC Order 103-N of 30 January 2026 the SRC also issues QR-certified account extracts and statements of liabilities electronically.
Tax Compliance Certificate (lawful-taxpayer certificate)
A qualifying VAT payer can apply electronically for the certificate issued under Government Decision 1324-N (Annex 2, Form 2). The SRC decides within 15 working days; an objection may be filed within 5 working days and is decided within 5 more. The certificate currently expires on the last day of the 12th month after the month of issue, and an English or Russian version is available on request. A company with no arrears may still not qualify, because the test also covers VAT history, filing and payment record.
Government Decision 1449-N, published on 8 October 2026, makes the certificate indefinite for applications filed from 1 January 2027, with quarterly SRC monitoring. Existing certificates are not converted automatically. New conditions include no consecutive tax losses, at least two employees paid above the minimum wage for more than half the review months, and a violation tolerance of 0.1% of the VAT base capped at AMD 10 million (about USD 27,700 at the same house rate), up from 0.05% and AMD 4 million. The full rules are in our guide to the indefinite Tax Compliance Certificate from 2027.
Tax residence certificate
A bank applying a tax treaty may also ask for proof of Armenian tax residence. An Armenian-registered company obtains it free through the SRC e-service, immediately; it confirms residence and says nothing about arrears. See the tax residency certificate page and the wider taxes in Armenia overview.
Apostille and translation for use abroad
Armenia is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. For documents issued in Armenia, the Ministry of Justice issues the apostille within 2 working days (since 8 January 2026), subject to statutory extensions; applicants abroad can apply through Armenian diplomatic missions. The joint apostille order lists registry extracts, registration-result statements, tax residence certificates and the SRC statement of tax liabilities among the documents that can be apostilled, and these official originals generally need no prior notarisation. An express listing for the Tax Compliance Certificate has not been identified.
An apostille certifies the official’s capacity, signature and seal. It says nothing about the content of the document. Armenian law sets no single sequence of apostille and translation: the Ministry of Justice tells applicants to ask the recipient whether it wants the original, a copy or the translation apostilled. Ask the bank before ordering, together with its document-age limit, since banks set their own freshness rules. The process is covered step by step in our Armenia apostille guide and the legalisation and apostille guide.
A standard pack for a foreign bank
- A current State Register extract, with the free registration and liquidation status information.
- The registered charter and its amendments.
- The decision appointing the executive head, and minutes electing any board.
- For a JSC, the registrar’s ownership extract; for any company, the latest beneficial-ownership declaration and chain documents.
- The resolution or power of attorney authorising the transaction.
- The SRC statement on tax liabilities, or the Tax Compliance Certificate where the company qualifies.
- Apostilles and certified translations in the form the bank specifies.
If the company is newly formed or about to change directors or owners, the business registration filings should be completed first, so the extract the bank receives already shows the new position.
Frequently asked questions
Does Armenia issue a certificate of good standing?
What can serve as a certificate of incumbency for an Armenian company?
How much does a State Register extract cost?
Does the extract show shareholders?
Can a foreign bank order the extract itself?
How long is the SRC no-liabilities statement valid?
Does the extract need a stamp or notarisation before an apostille?
Who can sign for an Armenian company in liquidation?
Last updated: 23 October 2026
