Starting a business in Chile

Legal Forms of Companies

Empresa Individual de Responsabilidad Limitada (EIRL) is a Sole Propietorship company

Number of partners: One natural person.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount contributed.

Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (LTDA) is a Private Limited Company.

Number of partners: Minimum 2 partners, maximum 50 partners, who have property rights.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount contributed.

Sociedad Anonima (SA) is a Public Limited Company. Can be public or private.

Number of partners: Minimum 2 partners.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital. One-third of the capital must be paid at the creation of the company and the remainder within three years.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount contributed.

Sociedad en Commandita is a Limited Partnership.

Number of partners: Minimum 2 to a maximum of 50 partners. Two types of partners: active partners and silent partners.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount contributed for the silent partners, and unlimited for the active partners.

The Competent Organisation

All businesses from foreign capital must be registered with the Chilean committee for foreign investments.

Company Directories

Mercantil.com, Business portal

Source: Doing Business, 2016