Tunisia Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a Tunisian Business

TL;DR. Tunisia’s official business registry is the Registre National des Entreprises (RNE), operated by the Ministère du Commerce. The portal operates primarily in French and Arabic with no English interface. Basic company searches are free; certified extracts cost TND 10 to TND 50 (~USD 3.20 to USD 16.00). Foreign buyers can conduct searches without a local identity document, though the language barrier adds friction.

What is the official Tunisia business registry?

The Registre National des Entreprises (RNE) is Tunisia’s central business register, established under Law No. 2018-52 of 29 October 2018, which replaced the legacy commercial register system with a unified national platform. The RNE is operated by the Ministère du Commerce and is accessible at registre-entreprises.tn. The platform consolidates registrations that were previously fragmented across tribunal-level commercial registers across Tunisia’s governorates.

The RNE covers all legal entity types operating in Tunisia: limited liability companies (SARL, société à responsabilité limitée), public limited companies (SA, société anonyme), sole proprietorships (entreprise individuelle), partnerships (société en nom collectif), branch offices of foreign companies (succursales), and economic interest groupings (GIE). Post-2011 reforms following the Jasmine Revolution substantially restructured the business registration environment, with RNE consolidation completing its national rollout between 2018 and 2020.

The primary entity identifier in Tunisia is the Matricule Fiscal (MF), a unique fiscal identification number issued by the Direction Générale des Impôts (DGI, the tax authority). The MF appears on all RNE records and serves as the main cross-reference to the tax register. The RNE registration number and MF are linked at incorporation. The MF format follows a standard pattern of seven digits followed by letter-digit check characters, for example: 1234567/A/M/000.

Tunisia is a member of MENAFATF (Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force), the FATF-style regional body covering the Arab and North African region. For compliance buyers assessing counterparty risk in Tunisia, MENAFATF mutual evaluations provide the regional AML/CFT framework context.

What can you search?

The RNE public interface supports the following search dimensions:

• Company name (denomination sociale), partial match supported
• Matricule Fiscal (MF) for exact-match lookup
• RNE registration number
• Registered address (commune or governorate filter)
• Economic activity code (CNAP classification)
• Legal form filter

The free profile view returns: company name, registration number, MF, legal form, date of registration, registered address, primary economic activity description, and current status (active, dissolved, in liquidation, struck off).

Paid extracts include the full legal file, which encompasses the founding statutes (actes de constitution), any amendments filed since incorporation, and certified status certificates. Shareholder details and officer appointments are available in the paid extract but are not displayed in the free profile.

Data is updated on a filing-event basis. Changes filed through notarial acts or direct RNE submissions are reflected within 1 to 5 business days of processing.

How much does it cost?

Prices are as of May 2026 per the RNE published fee schedule. TND/USD conversion used: 1 TND = approximately USD 0.32 (verify at point of transaction). Payment is accepted by credit card on the RNE portal and by bank transfer for institutional buyers.

Do you need a local account or ID?

Free name and MF searches on the public interface are available without registration. Creating an account is required to order and download paid extracts. Account registration on the RNE portal requires an email address; no Tunisian national identity card (CIN, carte d’identité nationale) or local tax number is required for foreign buyers at the account creation stage.

Foreign buyers can complete the account creation process using any international email address. Payment by international Visa or Mastercard is accepted on the portal. For buyers in jurisdictions where French-language navigation creates friction, the process remains feasible but requires patience with the interface.

Is the website in English?

No. The RNE portal operates entirely in French and Arabic. There is no English-language interface. All search fields, navigation labels, status messages, and downloaded documents are in French or Arabic, with some sections presenting both languages in parallel.

For compliance buyers without French-language capacity, the core data fields (company name, MF, registration date, status, address) follow predictable patterns and can be navigated with a French-language translation tool. Arabic-script sections relate primarily to the Arabic transliteration of the company name and should be treated as the authoritative form for Arabic-alphabet counterparty names. The French-language version is the working legal language for most commercial documents.

What’s the turnaround time?

Free profile data is available instantly for any company in the RNE. Paid extract downloads are available as digital documents shortly after payment confirmation, typically within the same session. There is no manual fulfilment queue for standard digital extracts.

Certified physical copies with a notarial or administrative stamp, if required by a specific jurisdiction for legal proceedings, require processing through the RNE administration and may take 3 to 7 business days. For compliance purposes, the digital certified extract carries the RNE’s digital attestation and is accepted for standard KYC and counterparty verification workflows.

Is there an API?

No public API is available for the RNE as of May 2026. The Ministère du Commerce has not announced a developer access programme. Bulk data access for institutional or government users may be available through direct institutional arrangement with the ministry, but there is no published commercial API offering.

For compliance platforms requiring machine-readable Tunisian entity data, the practical option is to use the RNE web interface for individual lookups or to engage a regional data aggregator that covers North Africa.

What you legally cannot do

The RNE’s Terms of Use prohibit automated bulk extraction of registry data. Under the Tunisian Organic Law No. 2004-63 on Personal Data Protection, director names and addresses from registry records may not be repurposed for unsolicited marketing. Tunisia’s data protection authority (INPDP, Instance Nationale de Protection des Données Personnelles) supervises compliance with personal data processing obligations.

Redistribution or resale of RNE extracts as a commercial data product without authorisation from the Ministère du Commerce is not permitted. Compliance buyers accessing RNE data for their own KYC, CDD, or AML workflows are within the intended use of the public interface, provided they document the purpose of each access.

A new Personal Data Protection framework aligned with GDPR principles was under legislative discussion in Tunisia as of 2026. Compliance buyers handling Tunisian personal data through cross-border transfers should verify the current status of this framework and any adequacy decisions relevant to their jurisdiction.

Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers

• MF is the anchor identifier. The Matricule Fiscal uniquely identifies every legal entity and natural-person trader in Tunisia. Request the MF from your counterparty before starting any registry check. Name-based searches in France-script registries with Arabic transliterations return inconsistent results when the company name uses non-standard romanisation.
• Cross-reference with the tax register. The MF is issued by the DGI and links the RNE record to the tax filing history. A valid MF confirmed in the RNE is a good indicator that the entity is registered and tax-identified. A company without a traceable MF on the RNE should be treated as unverified.
• Status labels. Active companies show “Actif” or “En activité.” Dissolved companies show “Dissous.” Companies in liquidation show “En liquidation.” Struck-off or deregistered entities show “Radié.” Confirm the status field before proceeding with any counterparty transaction.
• MENAFATF context. Tunisia is a MENAFATF member. For AML compliance workflows, MENAFATF mutual evaluation reports for Tunisia provide the regional context on beneficial ownership rules and financial intelligence capacity. See fatf-gafi.org for the current MENAFATF-linked reports.
• Branch offices. Foreign company branches (succursales) are registered with the RNE separately from their parent. Confirm whether your counterparty is the parent entity or a Tunisian branch when reviewing agreements and obligations.
• Post-2011 registry depth. Records filed before the 2018 RNE consolidation may appear with incomplete digital profiles if originating tribunaux de commerce have not completed the migration. For older entities, a more complete record may require supplementary searches at the relevant regional commercial court.

For a broader framework on how to approach counterparty verification across registries worldwide, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.

Alternatives if you cannot access RNE directly

• Aggregator search (free, indicative only): OpenCorporates indexes some Tunisian company data but coverage of the post-2018 RNE migration is incomplete. Useful for a preliminary name check; not suitable for compliance-grade verification.
• Regional bureau alternatives: North African commercial credit bureaus such as CreditQ and some Experian-affiliated regional products include Tunisian entity data. Coverage depth varies. Confirm the data source and freshness before relying on these for formal KYC.

Local data suppliers

• Kompass Tunisia (tn.kompass.com). Part of the global Kompass B2B directory network. Provides company profiles for Tunisian businesses covering sector, employee count, and export/import activity. Primarily useful for sales intelligence and basic company existence checks; not a substitute for RNE certified extracts in compliance workflows.

Use the RNE for the authoritative legal filing record. Use a commercial bureau when you need payment behaviour or credit scoring layered on top of the registry extract.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access the Tunisia RNE directly?

Yes. The RNE public search interface is open to international users without a Tunisian identity document. Account registration for paid extracts requires an email address only. The language barrier (French/Arabic only) is the primary friction for non-Francophone buyers, not access restrictions.

What is the Matricule Fiscal (MF) in Tunisia?

The Matricule Fiscal is the primary tax and registry identification number assigned to every legal entity and individual trader in Tunisia by the Direction Générale des Impôts. It appears on RNE records, tax filings, VAT declarations, and commercial invoices. The format is typically seven digits followed by letter-digit check characters. The MF serves as the single anchor identifier across business registration and tax systems.

What entity types are registered with the RNE?

The RNE covers all commercial and civil legal entities in Tunisia, including SARLs (limited liability companies), SAs (public limited companies), sole proprietorships (entreprises individuelles), partnerships (SNC, SCS), foreign branch offices (succursales), and economic interest groupings (GIE). Agricultural cooperatives and some professional associations may register separately with sector-specific authorities.

Does Tunisia have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?

Tunisia has made legislative progress on beneficial ownership disclosure as part of its MENAFATF compliance commitments. Companies are required to declare beneficial owners above applicable thresholds under anti-money-laundering regulations. However, as of May 2026, a fully public centralised UBO register accessible to third parties is not yet operational. Beneficial ownership information may appear in the paid RNE extract for entities that have filed declarations, but systematic public access is limited.

How current is the data in the RNE?

The RNE updates on a filing-event basis. Corporate changes (address, officers, capital, dissolution) are reflected within 1 to 5 business days of the relevant filing being processed. The free profile is generally current for active entities. For entities that have not filed recent changes, the last recorded data may be months or years old. Cross-referencing with the MF via the DGI tax portal provides an additional data point on activity status.

Is Tunisia on the FATF grey list?

No. Tunisia is not on the FATF Increased Monitoring list (grey list) as of May 2026. Tunisia completed its MENAFATF mutual evaluation process and has not been subject to a FATF call for enhanced monitoring in the current cycle. Compliance buyers should still apply standard CDD given the regional AML environment and should monitor fatf-gafi.org for any future status changes.

What is the difference between the RNE and the tax register?

The RNE is the commercial registry holding the legal filing record: founding statutes, company structure, officer history, and registration status. The tax register, maintained by the DGI, holds the tax compliance record: tax filings, VAT registration, and tax clearance status. The two are linked by the Matricule Fiscal but serve different purposes. For a complete counterparty picture, compliance buyers need both: the RNE confirms legal existence and structure, while a tax clearance certificate (attestation fiscale) from the DGI confirms that the entity is current with its tax obligations.

Last verified: May 2026. Source: Registre National des Entreprises (registre-entreprises.tn). For FATF/MENAFATF context see fatf-gafi.org. For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.