A trade register number proves a company exists. It doesn't prove it's healthy, or that the person in front of you controls it. Here are the checks to run, from abroad, before committing a single dirham.
When you invest from a distance, you don't visit the workshop, you don't bump into the neighbour, you don't see the trucks leave in the morning. You read documents. So the question becomes: which ones, and how do you know they're telling the truth?
Key points
- OMPIC's DirectInfo service gives access to the legal records, articles of association, minutes and financial statements filed by Moroccan companies (OMPIC).
- Investment advice is regulated by Law 19-14 and requires prior registration with the AMMC, which urges investors to systematically check who they're dealing with (Le Matin, 2025).
- An up-to-date register entry proves a company exists, not that a project is sound. Verification works in layers.
How do you check that a company legally exists?
The first layer is the trade register. OMPIC, Morocco's industrial and commercial property office, keeps the central trade register and, through DirectInfo, offers a keyword search across it and the trademark and patent databases (OMPIC).
Start with the basics: exact company name, trade register number, ICE (the common business identifier), legal form, registered office. Compare them word for word with what the owner gave you.
A slightly different name, an office address that doesn't match, a legal form that changes from one document to the next: each discrepancy deserves a question. The answer should be in writing.
What should you look for in the articles and accounts?
DirectInfo goes beyond existence. Its legal documents include simplified and detailed company records, articles of association and minutes. Its financial documents include financial summaries, annual financial statements, statutory auditors' reports and ratios (OMPIC).
OMPIC's legal databases also hold a file of the company's representatives, a file of filed changes, and a shareholders file drawn from the capital distribution table (OMPIC).
| Document | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Articles and minutes | Who the partners are, who manages, who can bind the company |
| File of changes | Recent changes of manager, capital or address |
| Financial statements | Revenue, profit, debt, over several years if possible |
A change of manager three months before a fundraise isn't necessarily suspicious. It simply has to be explained.
Who really controls the company?
The partner named in the articles isn't always the one who decides. That's what the register of beneficial owners is for. OMPIC manages it and publishes the access request form online (OMPIC).
In practice, also ask directly. Who holds the capital? Are there shareholder agreements, shareholder loans, commitments that don't appear on the balance sheet? A serious owner answers in writing and attaches the documents.
Which warning signs should make you walk away?
In December 2025, the AMMC described the typical pattern of investment-advice scams: exaggerated promises, small first deposits, artificially displayed gains, repeated requests to reinvest, then blocked withdrawals and the platform vanishing (Le Matin, 2025).
That warning concerns trading and securities advice, not direct investment in a small business. The signals still carry over almost word for word.
- A guaranteed return. No business project can guarantee a return.
- Urgency. "Only two shares left", "you need to sign by Friday".
- Refusing documents. No articles, no accounts, "we trust each other".
- Payment to a personal account. The contribution goes to the company's account, never to a manager's or a relative's.
- An untraceable counterpart. No trace in the register, no identifiable partner.
The AMMC doesn't supervise every investment offer: a small-business project or a property sale falls outside its remit. Verification is up to you, which is why it needs to be methodical.
What checks can you run from abroad?
Beyond the registers, four steps cut the risk considerably.
A video call with all the partners. Not just with the person who contacted you.
A visit by someone you trust. A relative, an accountant, someone in your network on the ground. An hour on site is worth ten pages of file.
A lawyer or notary for the deeds. Amended articles, a capital increase, a current-account agreement: these are binding and need reviewing.
A traceable contribution. A transfer from abroad, in foreign currency, with records. That's also what protects your right to repatriate, as our guide to the convertible dirham account explains.
What the portal checks, and what it doesn't
A project published on the M Invest portal has passed a first layer of checks. Its owner supplied a legal identifier and a supporting document, plus the ICE for a company, and the M Invest team reviewed the file before publishing it at the "verified" level. The "certified" level is granted manually, case by case. The trust score, out of 100, then measures the quality of the file.
To go further, once your introduction request is accepted and you've signed the project's NDA, the data room opens the documents the owner reserves for signatories: financial statements, articles, legal documents. The compatibility score between your criteria and a project takes its verification level into account, alongside sector, ticket, stage and region.
What the portal doesn't do matters just as much. M Invest handles no financial transactions and is party to no agreement. The participations you declare in your investment tracker aren't verified by the platform: the owner confirms or contests them. The portal's verification is an aid, not a guarantee. It replaces neither OMPIC's registers nor your lawyer.
Getting support
For an outside view on a file before you commit, a 30-minute advisory call can be booked without membership, for MAD 599, cancellable free of charge up to 24 hours before.
For full project files, NDA data rooms and alerts on new projects that match your criteria, discover the investor plan. If you're just starting, begin with our guide to investing in Morocco from abroad. And to see the same list from the other side of the table, read our guide to finding investors.
This article is for information. It doesn't replace advice from a lawyer or accountant before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
Is a trade register or ICE number enough to prove a project is reliable?
No. It proves the company exists and is identified by the authorities. It says nothing about its financial health, who really controls it, or whether its file is honest. The articles, the filed accounts and a conversation with all the partners complete the check.
Can you search the Moroccan trade register online?
Yes. OMPIC's DirectInfo service lets you search for a company in the central trade register and obtain its legal records, articles of association, minutes and financial statements, along with statutory auditors' reports where they have been filed.
Does the AMMC oversee every investment offer?
No. The AMMC regulates financial markets and investment advice, which requires prior registration under Law 19-14. A direct investment in a small business or a property project falls outside its remit, so verification is up to the investor.
Does M Invest guarantee the projects published on the portal?
No. The portal checks the owner's legal identifier and documents before publication, assigns a certification level and calculates a trust score. M Invest handles no transactions and is party to no agreement: the decision and the risk remain the investor's.
Zakaria WAFDI
Partner at M Invest, Technical Lead & Data Engineer
A partner at M Invest, technical lead and data engineer, Zakaria leads M Invest's technical development.