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Good practice Imported

PSDI's Companies, Insolvency & Business Names Acts — Modernising Kiribati's Business Law

Kiribati · South Tarawa · See the Kiribati profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 63% 62/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

After a 2016 PSDI diagnostic found outdated laws deterred business creation, Kiribati's Parliament passed a modern Companies Act, Company Insolvency Act and Business Names Act in May 2021, simplifying company start-up, name registration and debt-resolution procedures.

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (ADB, with Australia & New Zealand)
Period
2014–2021
Keywords
business law reform, company registration, insolvency framework, regulatory reform

Context

PSDI, a technical-assistance programme run by the Asian Development Bank in partnership with the governments of Australia and New Zealand, began working with the Government of Kiribati in 2014 on business-environment reforms. A 2016 PSDI diagnostic identified outdated business legislation and high start-up costs as key constraints on private-sector activity.

Activities

Kiribati's Parliament passed three foundational laws in May 2021: the Companies Act, the Company Insolvency Act, and the Business Names Act, modernising company and business-name registration procedures and introducing more flexible rules for managing corporate debt, liquidation and receivership. Beyond the legislation, PSDI also worked to strengthen the Kiribati Provident Fund and the Development Bank of Kiribati's credit and risk-management policies.

Results

The three Acts were enacted in May 2021, confirmed in the official Kiribati government legal text lodged with the ILO's NATLEX database.

Conclusions

As with many law-reform projects, publicly available sources document the legislative milestone itself rather than post-enactment business registration or investment figures, so demonstrated on-the-ground economic impact remains to be independently verified.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
ADB PSDI technical advisers, Government of Kiribati legislative drafters, Kiribati Parliament, Development Bank of Kiribati and Kiribati Provident Fund staff (parallel institutional strengthening)

Conditions for success

  • an initial diagnostic to identify specific legal constraints (2016)
  • sustained multi-year technical assistance (2014–2021) to see reforms through to enactment
  • political will to pass legislation modernising company, insolvency and business-name law
  • coordination across supporting financial institutions (Provident Fund, Development Bank)

Common failure modes

  • no post-enactment monitoring of business registrations or investment identified, so uptake and real-world effect are unverified

Where it fits

Governance type
national legal reform with donor technical assistance
Scale
national (small island state)
Income level
lower-middle-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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