What information does the commercial register hold?
The Obchodný register [commercial register] is a public list containing statutory data concerning entrepreneurs, companies and other legal entities, where this is required under separate legislation.
The list is administered, from a programming and technical point of view, by the Ministerstvo spravodlivosti Slovenskej republiky [Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic].
The commercial register is kept by registrové súdy [registry courts] (the district court at the seat of the regional court).
Is access to the business register free of charge?
The commercial register and document registry are available to everybody. Access to and extracts from the commercial register are subject to payment of a fee.
However, if an applicant applies for an electronic extract from the commercial register or an electronic copy of a deposited document or electronic confirmation that a particular document has not been deposited in the document registry, the registry court issues the relevant documents electronically and free of charge.
It is also possible to apply free of charge for an extract from the commercial register, a copy of a deposited document or confirmation that a particular document has not been deposited in the document registry via the interconnection system for central commercial registers, commercial registers and companies registers (the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS)).
How to search the commercial register
The search is available in Slovak and English.
The obchodný register can be searched according to:
- obchodné meno [trade name]
- identifikačné číslo [identification number]
- sídlo [registered office]
- spisová značka [reference number]
- priezvisko a meno osoby [person's surname and first name]
To what extent can the documents in the register be relied upon?
Act No 513/1991 (the Commercial Code), as amended, specifies when data entered in the commercial register – and, where appropriate, the content of documents deposited therein – may be invoked.
The data entered in the commercial register are effective vis-à-vis third parties from their date of publication. The content of documents that must by law be published is effective vis-à-vis third parties from the date of notification in the Commercial Journal that the documents have been deposited in the document registry.
From that moment onwards, third parties may invoke published data or the content of documents. However, this does not apply if a registered person can demonstrate that a third party had prior knowledge of the data or document content.
However, a registered person may not invoke published data or the content of documents vis-à-vis third parties within 15 days of their publication in cases where the third parties can demonstrate that they could not have had prior knowledge of that data or document content.
After that period, the registered data and the content of the documents deposited in the registry of documents may be relied on.
Third parties may always invoke the content of documents or data not yet entered in the commercial register or deposited in the document registry, unless that content or data take binding effect only after their entry in the commercial register.
In the event of a discrepancy between registered data and published data or between the content of documents deposited and that of documents published, a registered person (company) may rely only on the published version vis-à-vis third parties. However, if it demonstrates that a third party had knowledge of the content of the registered data or the content of the document deposited, it may rely on them.
History of the commercial register
The commercial register was established in 1992 following the adoption of Act No 513/1991 (the Commercial Code) and it replaced the previous company register.
The Commercial Code (§ 27 - 34) amended the scope of the commercial register up to 2004.
On 1 February 2004, Special Act No 530/2003 on the commercial register and amending certain other acts entered into effect and introduced new legal requirements applicable to the commercial register. Upon the introduction of the special act, responsibility for the legal aspect of the commercial register was partially removed from the Commercial Code.
At present the commercial register is kept electronically. The registry of documents is kept on paper and electronically. (Since 1 October 2020 the registry of documents has been kept electronically unless otherwise provided for in Act No 530/2003 (the Commercial Register Act)).
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