Authorization License of Commercial Agency, Mediation, and Real Estate Brokerage Entities and Companies In Egypt

Firstly, registration in the registry of commercial agents:

The commercial agent is any natural person [or juristic] who ordinarily offers bids, concludes purchase, sale, or lease, and renders services in his name and for the account of the producers, merchants, and distributors, but without being bound by a contract of employment or service with any of the said persons.

SHURA is providing full registration procedures in the commercial agent’s registry and the issuing of the registration card after obtaining an authenticated and accredited commercial agency contract from a foreign company, whereas the competent authorities issue the registration card to the Egyptian agent after examining the entity’s documents and assuring its conformity with laws and regulations for a period of renewable five years, attached with it, the statement of the foreign company owning the product or the trademark.

The registration in the commercial agent’s registry is restricted to the agent, the merchants, distributors, or representatives that are not registered.

Purposes for registering in the commercial agents and mediators’ registry:

1- Engaging in tenders.

2- Establishing an industrial development service centre.

3- Issuing registration authorization, and importation approvals from pharmacists.

4- Import some products which require special conditions according to regulation 770/2005.

Secondly, registration in the foreign company’s registry:

Foreign offices are the offices that work on the market study and rendering scientific, technical, and consultancy services in the field of the foreign company’s products willing to open an office in Egypt according to Law No.120/1982 concerning commercial agency operations.

Also, the administration issues a registration card to foreign companies’ offices after obtaining a letter providing its willingness to be registered, as long as the foreign company has an agent in Egypt. Knowing that the office shall not practice any commercial acts, as its work is limited to being a mediator between the Egyptian agent and the foreign company.

The registration validity:

 1- Five years.

2- From the expiration date of the commercial agency contract.

3- Or from the expiry date of the agent’s registration in the commercial agents’ registry. Which is closer.

Thirdly, registration and re-registration in the advertising agents’ registry:

Advertising agents are companies and entities which provide services of print advertising, outdoor advertising, marketing, and organizing galleries and parties. However, a letter from the commercial agents’ registry shall be obtained before the registration or re-registration in the commercial registry. That letter is to prove that the entity is temporally registered in the advertising agents’ registry till the commercial registry is permanently issued.

Fourthly, registration and re-registration in the commercial real estate mediators/brokers’ registry:

The commercial mediator shall mean the person whose activity is to look for a contractor or negotiate with such a contractor to convince him to conclude a contract of selling or purchasing real estate -even if he executed only one transaction-, or conclude commercial agency operations or an employment contract with the manufacturer, the merchant, or the distributor.

The broker, mediator, and real estate mediator are falling within the scope of commercial real estate mediation.

The broker: shall mean the person who is concluding brokerage or seeking operations of purchasing, selling, or leasing of real estate, developed, or undeveloped lands, or mediating in any of the aforementioned works.

What are the documents required for registering in the commercial agents, mediators, and real estate brokers’ register?

1- The agency, mediation contracts, and real estate brokerage, as the case may be, these contracts shall detail the nature of the work of the agent, mediator, and broker, the responsibility of the contracting parties, the percentage of the commission agreed, and the conditions of its payment, especially the currency for payment.

2- The foreign companies or bodies issuing the agency, mediation, or brokerage contracts shall, in addition to the preceding conditions, be notarized by the concerned chamber of commerce or the official body replacing such chamber and ratified by the Egyptian consulate, and stipulate the obligation of the said foreign company or body to provide the Egyptian consulate with every amendment upon any agreed clause in the contract.

3- The foreign company or body shall not have a trade agent from the public sector’s companies unless the said agency contract expired/is terminated.

What are the risks of not being registered in the commercial agents, mediators, and brokers’ registry?

The law is prohibiting practicing commercial agency and mediation contracts without registering in the designed register, renewing upon incorrect statements, or carrying out these works after the termination of its conditions.

Also, the above-mentioned activities shall not be practiced except by a person whose name is listed in the registry of commercial agents, mediators, and brokers, prepared for this purpose at the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade.

Penalties:

1- Imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years.

2- A fine not less than fifty thousand pounds and not exceeding one million pounds or one of the stated penalties.

3- Depriving of practicing the profession and suspension from operating the job in his/her premise for a period not exceeding two years.

SHURA LAW FIRM is providing full registration procedures for commercial agencies, commercial mediation entities, and companies operating real estate brokerage.