A certificate of incorporation is a legal document/license relating to the formation of a company or corporation.
It is a license to form a corporation issued by the state government or, in some jurisdictions, by a non-governmental entity/corporation.
In English and Commonwealth legal systems, a certificate of incorporation is usually a simple certificate issued by the relevant government registry as confirmation of the due incorporation and valid existence of the company.
However, it has been held by the House of Lords in Cotman v Brougham (1918), AC 514, that because the issue of the certificate of incorporation is conclusive evidence of the formation of a company, the issuance of the certificate overrides any irregularities which may have occurred during the formation of the company.
[5] This certificate records fundamental information about the enterprise, including its name, registration number, address, business lines, charter capital, and other essential details.