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Can you sit on a board there?

Pick a market. You get the residency test, the nationality test, the work-authorisation position, the appointment steps in order, and the frictions that actually delay appointments — each cited to the instrument that creates it.

Open to foreign directorsMA

No nationality or residency requirement applies to a director of a Moroccan société anonyme. Language and the francophone legal tradition are the practical considerations.

Residency test
None.
Nationality test
None.
Work authorisation
A non-resident director attending board meetings requires no permit. Executive and resident roles require a work contract endorsed by the labour authorities.
Board language
Board documentation and statutory filings are in French and Arabic.
Tenure limit once appointed
Director terms are capped at six years and are renewable. The statutory independence criteria are reassessed on each renewal.
Time commitment
Typically 4–6 board meetings a year plus committees.
What a seat pays
Modest by European standards; directors' remuneration is fixed by the general meeting and disclosed in the annual report.
Tax on your fees
Directors' fees are Moroccan-source income with withholding for non-residents; treaty relief and exchange-control formalities both apply.

The appointment steps, in order

  1. 1Appointment by the general meeting, or co-option by the board pending ratification
  2. 2Registration of the appointment with the Registre du Commerce and publication in the legal gazette
  3. 3Filing of the independence declaration where the appointment is as an independent director
  4. 4For a credit institution, Bank Al-Maghrib approval before the appointment takes effect

What actually gets in the way

  • Board documentation and statutory filings are in French and Arabic
  • The phased gender timetable constrains the order of appointments at listed companies
  • Foreign-exchange rules affect how directors' fees reach a non-resident
  • This regime map has not yet had a second verification pass — confirm the current provisions of Law 17-95 as amended before relying on them

The instruments behind these answers

  • Law 17-95 on sociétés anonymes, as amended Governs the Moroccan public limited company, permitting either a conseil d'administration or a conseil de surveillance with a directoire, and setting director terms at a maximum of six years. (Kingdom of Morocco)
  • Amendments introducing independent directors Introduced the administrateur indépendant as a defined category in Moroccan company law, with statutory independence criteria and a requirement for listed companies to appoint independent directors. (Kingdom of Morocco)
  • Amendments on board gender representation Require listed companies to reach defined proportions of female board representation on a phased timetable, rising from 30% to 40% across the second half of the decade. (Kingdom of Morocco)
  • Code Marocain de Bonnes Pratiques de Gouvernance d'Entreprise Comply-or-explain guidance on board composition, committees, evaluation and shareholder relations, with a specific annex for listed companies. (Commission Nationale de Gouvernance d'Entreprise)

Reviewed against primary sources in September 2026. This is governance decision-support, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and transitional provisions frequently apply — verify against the primary instrument before you rely on it.

Eligibility is only the first question

Being allowed to sit on a board there is not the same as being read for one.

The mobility index answers the second question: whether your record is legible to a board in that market, whether you hold what it is currently short of, and whether you can do the job in the language its board works in.