As of June 2025, new Costa Rican companies Sociedad Anónima (S.A.- Corporaton) and Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (S.R.L-Limited Liability Company) in Costa Rica are identified only by the legal ID number (cédula jurídica). You don’t have the option anymore to pick a company name at incorporation. Instead, the National Registry assigns the number automatically, and every document must show that ID + the company type (e.g., “S.A.” or “S.R.L.”
What exactly changed?
1) No name at incorporation (S.A. and S.R.L. )
Under Law No. 10.729 and the National Registry’s Circular DPJ-003-2025, new S.A. and S.R.L. entities “will only be identified by the legal ID number” assigned automatically at registration. This is now the company’s official legal identifier.
For reference this new disposition, Law 10.729 was published in the official government Gazette (La Gaceta, Alcance No. 69 (May 30, 2025).
2) How you must display the company
For S.A.: the law states the company is identified by its cédula jurídica, preceded or followed by “Sociedad Anónima” or “S.A.”.
For S.R.L.: the cédula jurídica must be preceded or followed by “Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada”, “Limitada”, “S.R.L.” or “Ltda.”.
Who is (and isn’t) affected?
- Applies to: New S.A. and S.R.L. incorporations.
- Does not apply to: Entities governed by special laws (e.g., supervised financial entities) that must keep a traditional name under their own financial regulatory regime.
- Existing companies: Keep their already-registered names, but must respect the ID + type display rules going forward. (The reform text for S.A./S.R.L. makes the ID the legal identifier.)
Example:
- 3-101-123456 Sociedad Anónima (or 3-101-123456 S.A.)
- 3-102-789012 Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (or 3-102-789012 S.R.L. / Ltda.)
