Honduras company search: Registro Mercantil (registromercantil.gob.hn)

TL;DR. Honduras’s commercial registry is the Registro Mercantil. Its published address, https://registromercantil.gob.hn, no longer resolves, with or without the www prefix, and no official replacement register is published. Because no register page can be reached, lempira extract fees and search turnaround are unknown rather than free; confirm at source.

What is the official Honduras business registry?

The Registro Mercantil (Mercantile Registry) of Honduras is the statutory authority for commercial entity registration. It operates under the Secretaria de Estado en el Despacho de Gobernacion y Descentralizacion (Secretariat of State for Governance and Decentralization). The primary legislation governing company registration is the Codigo de Comercio de Honduras (Commercial Code) and the Ley del Registro Mercantil (Mercantile Registry Law).

https://registromercantil.gob.hn and https://www.registromercantil.gob.hn no longer resolve, and this guide does not name a replacement search address. https://www.cnbs.gob.hn is online, although it can be slow to answer. https://www.ip.gob.hn blocks automated checks and is not the commercial registry.

The Registro Mercantil maintains registration records for commercial entities operating in Honduras: sociedades anonimas (SA, joint-stock companies), sociedades de responsabilidad limitada (SRL/Ltda., private limited companies), sociedades en nombre colectivo (general partnerships), sociedades en comandita (limited partnerships), sole traders (comerciante individual), and branches of foreign companies (sucursales). Companies are also required to register with the Servicio de Administracion de Rentas (SAR), the tax authority, for their Registro Tributario Nacional (RTN) number. SAR’s public site at https://www.sar.gob.hn is online; it is the tax authority, not the commercial register.

Honduras has a decentralised registry structure: the Registro Mercantil has offices in each department of Honduras, not just the capital Tegucigalpa. Material commercial activity also takes place through the Registro Mercantil in San Pedro Sula. Records for a specific company should be sought at the registry office corresponding to the company’s registered domicile. That in-person path is not reflected in any public online search.

What can you search?

There is no online search: https://registromercantil.gob.hn no longer resolves, so name-search fields, RTN lookup screens and product pages cannot be described here. Statutory filings under the Commercial Code have historically included company name, registration number, legal form, domicile, and status; confirm at source.

How much does it cost?

No lempira extract fees can be confirmed while https://registromercantil.gob.hn does not resolve, so the table above reads unknown rather than free; confirm at source.

Do you need a local account or ID?

Account and identity rules cannot be confirmed, because https://registromercantil.gob.hn no longer resolves. Basic name search has been reported as needing no Honduran identity document; confirm at source. Certified extracts have historically been requested in person at the relevant departmental office or through a local attorney.

Is the website in English?

English coverage cannot be confirmed. The portal has been reported as Spanish-only; confirm at source.

What’s the turnaround time?

Turnaround is unknown. https://registromercantil.gob.hn no longer resolves, and no search or download path is published.

Is there an API?

No public API is documented, and there is no web-based search while https://registromercantil.gob.hn does not resolve.

What you legally cannot do

Honduras’s data protection framework is governed by the Ley sobre Justicia Constitucional and sector-specific regulations; a complete data protection statute has been under development. Historic terms of use for the Registro Mercantil have prohibited:

• Automated bulk scraping of registry records for commercial redistribution
• Using personal data from registry records for unsolicited marketing or profiling
• Misrepresenting uncertified searches as certified official documents for legal or regulatory submissions

Those terms could not be confirmed against a working registry page. Honduras’s AML/CFT framework is supervised by the Unidad de Informacion Financiera (UIF Honduras) and the Comision Nacional de Bancos y Seguros (CNBS) for financial institutions. The primary AML legislation is the Ley Contra el Lavado de Activos.

For cross-border due diligence principles, see the Global Business Due Diligence Guide.

Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers

• Northern Triangle AML overlay. Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala form the Northern Triangle of Central America, a region with documented challenges from drug trafficking, gang activity, public corruption, and money laundering risk. Most institutional risk frameworks place counterparties in construction, real estate, money services, logistics and transport, and cash-intensive businesses in their higher-risk tiers for this region.
• Former President designated under US sanctions. The 2022 extradition and 2024 conviction of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez in the US on drug trafficking charges is a landmark case on state-cartel corruption in Honduras. Counterparties with political connections should be screened against OFAC SDN and other lists.
• RTN as the tax identifier. The RTN (Registro Tributario Nacional) is Honduras’s universal tax identification number for both individuals and legal entities. It serves as the cross-reference identifier between the commercial registry and SAR. Always collect the RTN from a Honduran counterparty as part of basic KYC. SAR’s site is https://www.sar.gob.hn; it carries no commercial-register lookup.
• Decentralised registry structure. Honduras has 18 departments, each with its own Registro Mercantil. A company’s records are held at the registry of the department where it is registered. When requesting extracts, confirm which departmental office holds the relevant records. That office path is not reflected in any online search.
• CNBS for financial services. If your counterparty is a bank, insurance company, securities firm, or money transfer business, CNBS licensing status is a critical compliance data point. https://www.cnbs.gob.hn is online, although it can be slow to answer.
• FATF status. Confirm Honduras’s current FATF listing at fatf-gafi.org. Honduras participates in GAFILAT (Financial Action Task Force of Latin America) mutual evaluations.
• HNL is not freely convertible internationally. The Honduran lempira is a managed currency. Conversion to USD is available through the Banco Central de Honduras (BCH) and commercial banks; the lempira is not traded on international FX markets.

Alternatives if you cannot access the Registro Mercantil directly

https://registromercantil.gob.hn no longer resolves, and no official replacement search address is published.

• Local attorneys: The Colegio de Abogados de Honduras lists licensed practitioners. Law firms in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula are the practical route for certified extracts.
• OpenCorporates: May index some Honduras company data; limited coverage and lags official records.
• SAR (https://www.sar.gob.hn): the tax authority site. Not the commercial register.

Local data suppliers

No major independent commercial credit bureau operates specifically in the Honduras market. CNBS maintains credit registry data accessible to licensed financial institutions. For trade credit risk assessment on Honduran entities, the practical approaches are: engaging a local law firm or due diligence firm, requesting audited financial statements, or using a global trade credit insurer with Central American coverage. The Camara de Comercio e Industrias de Cortes (San Pedro Sula) can provide trade references for members.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access the Honduras Registro Mercantil directly?

https://registromercantil.gob.hn no longer resolves, and there is no online name search. Certified extracts have historically required requests to the relevant departmental office, typically arranged through a local attorney. All materials have historically been in Spanish.

What is a Sociedad Anonima (SA) in Honduras?

The Sociedad Anonima (SA) is Honduras’s joint-stock company, the most common structure for medium and large commercial enterprises. SAs have a minimum capital requirement, must have a minimum of two shareholders, and are required to file annual accounts. Directors and officers are registered with the Registro Mercantil and changes must be formally recorded. Those filing rules could not be confirmed against a working registry page.

What is the RTN (Registro Tributario Nacional)?

The RTN is Honduras’s universal tax identification number, assigned by SAR (Servicio de Administracion de Rentas) to all individuals and legal entities that have tax obligations in Honduras. For companies, the RTN is a 14-digit number. It appears on invoices, tax returns, and all formal commercial documents. The RTN is the primary cross-reference identifier between the commercial registry and the tax authority.

Is Honduras on the FATF grey list?

Confirm current status at fatf-gafi.org. Honduras is a GAFILAT member.

What are the main anti-money laundering red flags for Honduran counterparties?

Red flags include: connections to former government officials or their families (given documented state-cartel links); operating in high-risk sectors (construction, real estate, logistics, money services, gaming) without clear business rationale; complex ownership structures spanning multiple jurisdictions with Honduran entities at the bottom; and cash-intensive business models. These are the patterns that typically move a Honduran counterparty into a higher risk tier under institutional frameworks.

Last verified: 2026-09-04. Sources: the Registro Mercantil host https://registromercantil.gob.hn, which no longer resolves with or without the www prefix; CNBS (https://www.cnbs.gob.hn); SAR (https://www.sar.gob.hn); and ip.gob.hn, which blocks automated checks. No lempira fees are published. For FATF context see fatf-gafi.org.