BIC companies in Colombia

The Commercial Companies of Beneficio e Interest Colectivo, or BIC companies in Colombia, are those Colombian companies configured as corporations of a commercial nature, which voluntarily intend to combine the advantages of their commercial and economic activity with concrete actions to promote the welfare of their workers, contribute to the social equity of the country and contribute to the protection of the environment. In other words, being a triple impact company means creating economic, social and environmental value.

How is a BIC company incorporated in Colombia?

Law 1901 of 2018 created this figure and contemplates the possibility that an already constituted company may voluntarily adopt the status of a BIC company. may voluntarily adopt the status of BIC company as well as that a company is born to legal life as a BIC company, for this it must meet certain requirements before the chamber of commerce:

1. Name. This type of company must include in its name, separately from the name and type of company, the corporate name, the acronym or abbreviation BIC, or the words “Sociedad de Beneficio e Interés Colectivo”. However, please note that the adoption of the BIC name does not imply a change of corporate type or the creation of a new corporate type.
2. Bylaws. Remember that the bylaws are the private document with which a company is constituted and in which the rules that it will have from its creation are defined. The bylaws must indicate the activity that the company is going to develop and, in order to be considered a BIC company, it must add to that activity other activities in the interest of the community and the environment. If the commercial company is already incorporated, the inclusion of new activities must be done through a reform of the company’s bylaws, which must be approved by the partners or shareholders gathered at a Partners’ Meeting or Shareholders’ Meeting.
3. Corporate purpose.
   Within its corporate purpose, it must clearly and expressly mention the activities of benefit of collective interest to be promoted,
   at least one of the activities
   of all the activities contemplated in the five dimensions:

• Count a business model in which they contract goods or services with local, women-owned or minority-owned businesses.
• Implement a Corporate Governance with boards of directors of diverse ethnicities, sexual orientation and gender diversity.
• Establish labor practices with fair and equitable salaries, training for their workers and seek options for them to have a shareholding in the company.
• They have environmental practices with supervisions on waste and emissions produced by the company.
• Create job options for unemployed for the unemployed population.
• Registration in the Commercial Registry. This is a fundamental step since the chambers of commerce are in charge of the registration of merchants by mandate of the Colombian state. Likewise, from the evidentiary point of view, it is fundamental since it is only from the moment the act is registered that it is enforceable against third parties.

Benefits of BIC companies in Colombia

In tax matters, BIC companies in Colombia will retain the obligations of the ordinary income tax regime, the VAT regime and other territorial obligations, i.e. there are no special tax changes that benefit this type of company, but it is expected that in the future they may benefit from taxation, however there are other benefits that could be interesting at the time of incorporating the company among which are

• Increase in reputational value: Many companies decide to become a BIC company because customers value much more a product that in its production and distribution takes into account practices that contribute to the welfare and social development, therefore being a BIC company would result in a higher number of sales.
• Attract foreign investment: Many foreign companies are interested in the social growth of countries such as Colombia, which is why they decide to invest especially in companies that have this social and human component.
• BIC companies have a differentiation within the “Compra lo Nuestro” platform, where they stand out as companies committed to sustainability.
• They can obtain products and services at preferential rates, with ICONTEC, with which they can continue to strengthen their corporate management, integrating and improving their practices in: social responsibility, sustainability, quality management, environmental management, occupational health and safety and business continuity, among others.

In conclusion

If you wish to incorporate or modify a corporate type with Beneficio and Interes Colectivo contact us and at Servicio Legal one of our lawyers, experts in corporate law, will gladly assist you to provide you with complete advice.