What does the Latvian business register offer?

The Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republikas Uzņēmumu reģistrs) is a Latvian public body which registers businesses (companies), traders, their branches and representative offices and changes in their articles of association, and carries out other activities provided for in legislation. The Register of Enterprises also registers mass media, associations and foundations, commercial pledges, controlling interests, matrimonial property agreements and public-private partnership agreements, political parties, arbitration bodies, trade unions, religious organisations and religious institutions, and insolvency proceedings.

Do you have to pay to consult the business register?

Yes, there is no free online business register in Latvia.

However, using the search functions available on the website of the Register of Enterprises, the following basic information on legal entities entered in the registers maintained by the Register of Enterprises can be obtained free of charge:

• type of legal entity;
• registered office;
• new or current name or trade name and previously registered or historical name or trade name;
• registration number;
• Single Euro Payment Area beneficiary identification code (if allocated);
• date of registration;
• date of deletion of the legal entity from the register (or the date of reorganisation if the reason for the deletion is a reorganisation);
• deadline for registration of religious organisations that are re-registering;
• and checks can be performed on officials entitled to represent a particular legal entity.

The Latvian Register of Enterprises allows the following information on all registered legal entities to be obtained free of charge as open data:

• registration number;
• name or trade name of the entity;
• type of legal entity;
• which register the entity is registered in;
• date of registration;
• information regarding deletion of the legal entity from the register or its reorganisation;
• date of deletion of the legal entity from the register (or the date of reorganisation if the reason for the deletion is a reorganisation);
• registered office;
• area of activity of associations, foundations, and trade unions.

This information is provided in .csv, .txt or .xlsx data formats and it can be accessed here. The user can choose the data format in accordance with its intended use. Data are updated on a daily basis.

All the entries in the business register are published electronically on the website of the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis. The same procedure applies to the publication of documents submitted separately.

How to request information from the Latvian business register

The Register of Enterprises can provide information on all registered legal entities and legal acts.

Information can be obtained from the Latvian Register of Enterprises free of charge, on the Register’s information website, where all current data are available without the need for authentication, whereas registered documents, documents attached to the registration files and all historical records can be accessed upon authentication with a Latvian national eID card, e-signature, bank identification devices or EIDAS authentication services (for EU citizens).

Where there is a need to obtain a statement from the Enterprise Register concerning a registered legal entity, legal fact (contract) or natural person, an information request form or application is submitted in person, by post, or to the Register’s official email address pasts@ur.gov.lv as an electronic document with a secure electronic signature and digital time stamp. The request must give details of the payment made to the Register of Enterprises (a document certifying payment, a copy of such a document, or an online banking printout). When requesting information, please indicate your preferred means of receiving it (by post or electronically).

The Register issues documents from legal entities (private limited liability companies (SIA), associations, political parties, etc.) or legal fact (commercial pledge or contract) registration and record files. Documents from the public part of the registration file (as per the first paragraph of Article 4¹⁵ of the Law on the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Latvia may be obtained online on the Enterprise Register’s information website without a certificate of authenticity, free of charge and immediately, if they have been attached to or scanned into the file.

To obtain a copy of the document with a certificate of authenticity, a completed information request form must be submitted or a free-format submission made. The issuing of copies of documents with a certificate of authenticity is a service subject to the payment of a fee. This service can be provided either by post or by email.

To obtain documents not referred to in the first paragraph of Article 4¹⁵ of the Law on the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Latvia, in addition to the above, the written request must state the reason for the request and the purpose of use of the information.

A list of fees can be found on the internet.

How reliable are the documents included in the register?

As of 1 August 2021, all entries in the business register and all documents attached to the registration file which are in the business register and, in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 4¹⁵ of the Law on the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Latvia, in the public part of the registration file are published electronically free of charge on the Enterprise Register's information website, thus ensuring their availability to the public online from the outset. All entries made in the business register prior to 31 July 2021 and any information concerning specific documents have been published in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis.

Entries are deemed to have been published on (i.e. after midnight on) the day after they are made, and documents are deemed to have been published on (i.e. after midnight on) the day after they are attached to the registration file. Entries in the business register become binding on third parties only after their publication, unless the relevant information was known to the third party before publication. On the other hand, if a third party can show that they were not aware and could not have been aware of the published information, that information cannot be relied upon in respect of legal steps taken within 15 days of publication of the information.

If the information to be entered in the business register is recorded or published incorrectly, a third party may rely on the published information in relation to the party in whose interests the information was published, but not if the third party was aware that the information published in the business register did not correspond to the actual legal situation. For more detailed information please see Articles 11 and 12 of the Commercial Law.

How to contact the Latvian business register

Contact details:

History of the Latvian business register

The Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia was founded on 1 December 1990.

Links

Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia
European Business Register (access provided by Lursoft)