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Who regulates what in Peru: a map of agencies for investors

Argentina. For full detail on Argentina, go to The Argentine Thread.

Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Stable

A foreign investor in Peru deals mainly with SUNAT (internal taxes and customs), SUNARP (company and property registries), ProInversión (foreign investment registration and stability agreements) and, as employer, the Ministry of Labor and its inspectorate SUNAFIL. Money and markets sit with the Central Reserve Bank (monetary stability, reserves), the SBS (banks, insurers and pension funds) and the SMV (securities); INDECOPI reviews mergers above UIT based thresholds and enforces competition rules. Migraciones handles residence and work status for foreigners, OEFA supervises environmental compliance, and the Ministry of Justice acts as the national personal data protection authority.

USD figures use S/ 3.452 per US dollar, the banking system selling rate published by the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP for 27 October 2026 and shown in the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú statistics series PD04640PD. Amounts set in US dollars by law are quoted as written. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Merger control threshold, combined Peruvian sales or assets118000 UITLey 31112 art. 6.1 a), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Merger control threshold, each of at least two parties18000 UITLey 31112 art. 6.1 b), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Merger control combined threshold in soles at 2026 UIT649000000 PENLey 31112 art. 6.1 a); DS 301-2025-EF, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Merger control authorityINDECOPI Comisión de Defensa de la Libre Competencia Ley 31112 art. 6.2, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Data protection authorityMinistry of Justice (Autoridad Nacional de Protección de Datos Personales) Ley 29733 art. 32, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Foreign investment registration bodyProInversión gob.pe procedure 10613, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. SUNAT is competent to administer internal taxes and customs duties, and to give and request mutual administrative assistance in tax matters.TUO del Código Tributario (Decreto Supremo Nº 133-2013-EF), as amended by Decreto Legislativo Nº 1315, Art. 50, 2016-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-28
2. Every person or entity, national or foreign, that is a taxpayer or responsible for taxes administered by SUNAT, or uses customs regimes, must register in SUNAT's RUC.Decreto Legislativo Nº 943 (Ley del RUC), Art. 2, 2003-12-20 official text · verified 2026-10-28
3. Companies acquire legal personality on registration of their public deed in the Registry, and branches of foreign companies are established by public deed registered there; SUNARP runs the registration procedures and charges fees set in its TUPA.
Cost to do it: Company formation: 1.08 percent of the UIT (S/ 59.40 in 2026) plus 3 per thousand of capital.Ley Nº 26887 (Ley General de Sociedades); TUPA de la SUNARP (DS 008-2004-JUS), LGS art. 6 and art. 403; TUPA, Registro de Personas Jurídicas, 1997-12-09 official text · verified 2026-10-28
4. Foreign investment is authorized automatically and must be registered with the competent national body after it is made; ProInversión handles that registration (answer within 25 business days) and the legal stability agreements under DL 662.Decreto Legislativo Nº 662; ProInversión service sheet (gob.pe/10613), DL 662 art. 3, 1991-08-29 official text · verified 2026-10-28
5. The Central Reserve Bank is an autonomous public law entity whose purpose is to preserve monetary stability; it regulates money and credit of the financial system and manages international reserves.Constitución Política del Perú de 1993, Art. 84, 1993-12-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28
6. The Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS) controls banks, insurers, pension fund managers and other entities that take deposits from the public; it is a constitutionally autonomous public law institution whose purpose is to protect the public in the financial and insurance systems.Constitución Política del Perú de 1993 art. 87; Ley Nº 26702 (Ley General del Sistema Financiero y del Sistema de Seguros), Constitution art. 87; Ley 26702 art. 345, 1996-12-09 official text · verified 2026-10-28
7. The Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores (SMV) supervises and controls compliance with the securities market law, interprets it administratively and issues its regulations.TUO de la Ley del Mercado de Valores (Decreto Supremo Nº 020-2023-EF, published 10 February 2023), Art. 7, 2023-02-10 official text · verified 2026-10-28
8. Business concentrations are subject to prior control by INDECOPI's Competition Commission when, in the prior fiscal year, the combined Peruvian sales, gross income or assets of the parties reached 118,000 UIT and at least two parties each reached 18,000 UIT.
Example: At the 2026 UIT: S/ 649,000,000 combined and S/ 99,000,000 each for two parties. / About US$188,006,952 and US$28,679,027.Ley Nº 31112 (prior control of business concentrations), Art. 6.1 and 6.2, 2021-01-07 official text · verified 2026-10-28
9. SUNAFIL, a specialized technical agency attached to the Ministry of Labor, promotes, supervises and inspects compliance with labor and occupational health and safety law, imposes the corresponding sanctions and can enforce its fines through coercive collection.Ley Nº 29981 (creates SUNAFIL), Art. 1, art. 5 and art. 6, 2013-01-15 official text · verified 2026-10-28
10. The Labor Administrative Authority keeps the register of foreign workers' contracts; exemptions from the 20 percent and 30 percent foreign staff limits and contract extensions are approved automatically on filing through the virtual system.Decreto Legislativo Nº 689 and Decreto Supremo Nº 014-92-TR as amended by Decreto Supremo Nº 008-2018-TR, DL 689 art. 4 and art. 7; DS 014-92-TR art. 18 and art. 21, 1991-11-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28
11. Migraciones, a specialized technical agency attached to the Ministry of the Interior, is the authority on internal migration matters; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the authority on external migration matters.Decreto Legislativo Nº 1350 (Ley de Migraciones), Art. 5, 2017-01-07 official text · verified 2026-10-28
12. The Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA), a specialized technical public agency attached to the Ministry of the Environment, carries out environmental supervision, assessment, control and sanctions and leads the national environmental enforcement system.Ley Nº 29325 (Sistema Nacional de Evaluación y Fiscalización Ambiental), Art. 4 and art. 6, 2009-03-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28
13. The Ministry of Justice is the National Personal Data Protection Authority, with administrative, regulatory, oversight and sanctioning powers under the data protection law.Ley Nº 29733 (Ley de Protección de Datos Personales), Art. 32 and art. 33, 2011-07-03 official text · verified 2026-10-28
AgencyWhat it covers for an investorMain touchpointsLegal basis
SUNATInternal taxes and customsRUC, monthly and annual returns, PLAME, beneficial owner return, imports and exportsCódigo Tributario art. 50; DL 943
SUNARPCompany, branch, power of attorney and property registriesIncorporation, capital changes, officer appointmentsLey 26887 art. 6; SUNARP TUPA
ProInversiónForeign investment registration, legal stability agreementsRegistration of capital contributions and share transfersDL 662 art. 3; gob.pe/10613
BCRPMonetary policy, reserves, official statisticsPolicy rate, exchange rate dataConstitution art. 84
SBSBanks, insurers, pension fundsLicences, prudential rules, published exchange ratesConstitution art. 87; Ley 26702 art. 345
SMVSecurities marketPublic offerings, listed issuers, fundsTUO LMV art. 7
INDECOPIMerger control and competitionPrior merger filings above the UIT thresholdsLey 31112 art. 6
MTPE and SUNAFILLabor law and inspectionsForeign workers' contracts, inspections and finesDL 689 art. 7; Ley 29981 art. 1
MigracionesImmigration status of foreigners in PeruMigration status, residence and changes of status inside PeruDL 1350 art. 5
OEFAEnvironmental enforcementSupervision and sanctions of regulated projectsLey 29325 art. 6
Ministry of JusticePersonal data protectionNational register of personal data banks, oversight and sanctionsLey 29733 art. 32

Agency map for a foreign owned company (legal basis in the rules above).

Worked example

  • Two groups each with S/ 150,000,000 of Peruvian sales (about US$43,453,071) and S/ 700,000,000 combined must obtain INDECOPI clearance before closing, because both tests (S/ 99,000,000 each and S/ 649,000,000 combined at the 2026 UIT) are met.
  • A new manufacturing subsidiary typically deals with SUNARP (formation), SUNAT (RUC and taxes), ProInversión (capital registration), the Ministry of Labor and SUNAFIL (staff), Migraciones (expatriate managers) and the sector environmental regulator or OEFA.

Step by step

  1. List the agencies that touch the business model using the table, and assign an internal owner for each.
  2. Open SUNAT online access (Clave SOL) and SUNARP SID accounts at formation.
  3. Check merger thresholds in UIT before signing any acquisition with a Peruvian target.
  4. Before collecting customer data, review registration and security duties with the data protection authority's rules.
  5. Check which sector regulator also applies (for example energy, mining, telecoms or transport); see the sectors and regulation sections.

Common traps

  • Merger thresholds are set in UIT and use the prior fiscal year figures, so they move each year in soles (Ley 31112 art. 6.1).
  • SUNAT is both the tax and the customs authority, so a customs issue can affect a tax account and vice versa (Código Tributario art. 50).
  • Migraciones handles status inside Peru while visas abroad involve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DL 1350 art. 5).
  • SUNAFIL fines can be collected through its own coercive enforcement procedure without a prior court case (Ley 29981 art. 6).
  • Argentina: trade and payment flows with Argentina go through the same Peruvian agencies (SUNAT customs, BCRP and SBS data); for the Argentine regulators see The Argentine Thread guide.

Sources

Related pages

Related: Peru country profile · live dashboard · central bank and release calendar · our posts on X

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