Transferring your SCI's registered office: what formalities need to be completed?

A Société Civile Immobilière (SCI) is designed to enable several people to purchase and manage a portfolio of real estate assets. Popular with many French investors and families, it offers a number of significant advantages: the possibility of choosing your tax regime, flexible management and real facilities for passing on your assets in complete security.

There are several types of SCI: classic, family, etc. Just as an individual is free to change his or her place of residence, a company can also change its registered office address. This address is the first thing you need to know when setting up your company.

The home address makes it possible to determine the company's nationality, country of taxation and jurisdiction in the event of a dispute. Would you like to change the address of your SCI's registered office?

Let's take a step-by-step look at how to get there.

Step #1: Decide to change your head office address

The first step is to officially formalize your wish to change theaddress of your registered office. This must be done by means of minutes drawn up at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders. To be valid, the minutes must respect the rights of the SCI partners.

The minutes must clearly state the company's name, legal status (in this case, an SCI), share capital, the address of the former registered office, the SIREN number, the RCS registration number, the city of registration, the identity of the partners and the AGM chairman.

You should then indicate the precise resolutions passed, mentioning the old and new addresses of the registered office.

If necessary, the SCI's articles of association must be amended accordingly, signed and approved by all partners.

Step #2: Publish a legal notice in an approved newspaper

The second step is to legally advertise the change of your company's registered office. To do this, you need to publish an announcement in an approved newspaper in your département.

To find out how to proceed, ask yourself the following question: Is the address of your new head office in the same département as your previous one?

If so, you are only required to publish one ad.

If your new head office is located in a different département, you will need to publish an advert in an approved newspaper in each département. Two announcements will therefore need to be published.

To be valid, each notice must include the following information:

• The words "Transfer of registered office" must be clearly visible.
• The address of the new registered office, the company's legal status (in this case, an SCI) and its corporate name
• RCS identification number and city of registration
• Indication of the RCS (Trade and Companies Register) where the company will be registered after the transfer.

If your new head office is located in a different département, additional information must be provided:

• Its RCS identification number and the city of registration corresponding to the old and new head offices
• The identity of persons empowered to bind the company to third parties

Step #3: Submit your transfer request and modify your official documents

The final step is to submit your complete file to the clerk's office of the relevant commercial court. This must include the following information:

• The CERFA M2 form for changing your SCI's registered office
• A copy of the minutes evidencing the partners' decision to change the address of the registered office.
• Three copies of the new articles of association signed and certified as true
• Certificate of legal publication issued by the relevant newspaper
• List of former registered offices, only if the registered office is transferred to the jurisdiction of another commercial court.
• Proof of occupancy of the new head office premises
• Regulations governing court fees

Many SCI managers choose the services of a domiciliation company to benefit from a prestigious address for their head office, lighten their day-to-day workload and save on taxes.

It's possible to obtain a domiciliation address in one of the capital's most prestigious districts or in one of France's most highly-valued major cities.

Domiciliation companies also take care of all your time-consuming, low value-added tasks, such as mail management, and offer switchboard, administrative and legal assistance, as well as meeting room rental.

This allows you to focus on what matters most: the success of your SCI's projects!