Workflow checklist
- Identify the registry. www.companies.org.ls
- Check access requirements. Account required: Optional. Local ID required: No.
- Plan budget. Price range: USD 0.00. Payment methods: Deposit account (homepage text; amounts not published).
- Anticipate friction. Captcha / 2FA: Unknown. English UI: Yes.
- Plan turnaround. Expected: Unknown.
- Verify recency. Last verified: 4 Sept 2026. Confirm current pricing at the official registry before submitting.
TL;DR. Lesotho’s live company portal is https://www.companies.org.ls (HTTP 200 after redirects, title Welcome to Catalyst; h1 Welcome to Lesotho Ministry of Trade & Industry). The homepage states Search the Register (FREE) and names Company Search, Officers/Shareholders/Members Search, and Reserved Name Search. obrs.gov.ls is NXDOMAIN. LSL 100-1,000 extract fees are not on that HTML and are dropped. Instant is not live-cited. priceMax 0 means Unknown for paid extracts. lastVerifiedUtc is 2026-09-04 because this live check was recorded.
What is the official Lesotho business registry?
The live host in this check is https://www.companies.org.ls (HTTP 200, Catalyst). The fetched page says the company register is an online register for incorporating and maintaining companies and for searching company, director, and shareholder details. The operator line on that HTML is Lesotho Ministry of Trade & Industry.
The old hostname obrs.gov.ls (and www.obrs.gov.ls) does not resolve (NXDOMAIN). Do not keep obrs.gov.ls as a working URL. The body link that pointed at obrs.gov.ls while using companies.org.ls as registryUrl is the same live host: use companies.org.ls.
Statutory entity types under the Companies Act 2011 (private companies, public companies, external companies, close corporations, non-profit companies) were not re-listed as a live result grid on the fetched homepage. Do not invent a fee schedule around them.
www.obfc.org.ls is named on the homepage for downloadable forms (Legislation tab). A GET of that host failed TLS (certificate name mismatch). Forms on obfc.org.ls are not live-cited from this check.
What can you search?
Homepage text (not a submitted query):
- Search the Register (FREE)
- Company Search: the page says details include shareholdings, directors, addresses, date of incorporation, and business activity, for internal and external companies
- Officers, Shareholders and Members Search
- Reserved Name Search
A working search-result HTML was not fetched. Do not invent extra result columns past that homepage wording.
Logon / Register is on the same page for administering a company. That is not required by the homepage text for the named FREE search.
How much does it cost?
| Item | Cost (LSL) | Cost (USD, approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Search the Register (homepage: FREE) | FREE (live-cited) | Unknown |
| Company extract / certified extract | Unknown | Unknown |
| Filing via Deposit account | Unknown | Unknown |
Search the Register (FREE) is on the fetched HTML. LSL 100-1,000 and USD 5-55 extract figures are not on that HTML and are dropped. The page says fees for filings are paid using a Deposit account set up at the One-Stop Business Facilitation Centre. Amounts are not published there. priceMax 0 means Unknown for paid items, not verified free extracts.
Do you need a local account or ID?
Homepage: FREE search is described without a login requirement. Logon / Register is described for administering companies and online filing. accountRequired is Optional. No Lesotho ID field was observed on the fetched homepage. captchaOr2fa is Unknown (not demonstrated).
Is the website in English?
Yes. The fetched HTML is English (lang="en"), title Welcome to Catalyst.
What’s the turnaround time?
Unknown. Instant is not live-cited. 5-10 business day extract times are not on the fetched HTML.
Is there an API?
No public API is live-cited on https://www.companies.org.ls.
What you legally cannot do
Terms of use were not a separate English legal page in this fetch. Do not bulk-scrape. Use director and shareholder data only for a stated compliance purpose.
Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers
- Use companies.org.ls. obrs.gov.ls is NXDOMAIN.
- FREE search is the live-cited product. Paid extract amounts are not on the homepage.
- Deposit account is for fees, not a published tariff. Do not invent LSL amounts.
- Logon is for administering a company, per the homepage, not described as a gate on the FREE search wording.
- FATF grey-list status was not live-cited from this HTML.
Alternatives if you cannot use the portal
- Live portal: https://www.companies.org.ls
- OpenCorporates (https://opencorporates.com): Direct GET with a Chrome UA on 2026-09-04 returned HTTP 200, title OpenCorporates, 194,727 bytes; the per-jurisdiction listing path returned an HAProxy Challenge page (200, 1,536 bytes); the DEC-055 Dual harness (curl_cffi Chrome, Direct and SOCKS, run by Ara on 2026-09-04 and posted on this PR) returned Direct 200 / SOCKS 200 for opencorporates.com. Non-official aggregator; coverage not verified here.
- Maseru counter retrieval was not observed on the fetched HTML
Local data suppliers
No local bureau was live-checked in this batch.
FAQ
Can a foreign company search without an account?
The homepage states Search the Register (FREE) and describes Logon for administering companies. A submitted anonymous query was not run in this check.
Is obrs.gov.ls the register?
No. obrs.gov.ls is NXDOMAIN. The live host is companies.org.ls.
Does Lesotho have a public UBO register on this portal?
Not live-cited. Do not invent one.
Last verified: 2026-09-04. Live GET of https://www.companies.org.ls returned HTTP 200, title Welcome to Catalyst, with Search the Register (FREE) on the HTML. obrs.gov.ls NXDOMAIN. Extract fees not on that page. For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.