In February, the Slovak Parliament approved a new Commercial Register Act. This Act replaces Act No. 530/2003, which had been in force since 2003. The new Act aims to improve the administrative process for registrations and changes in the Commercial Register and to accelerate procedures for entrepreneurs.
We would like to provide you with a brief overview of the new measures for entrepreneurs and business.
- Main purpose of the new Act
The main purpose of the new Commercial Register Act is to incorporate all Commercial Register rules into one legal regulation, including the creation of a basis for a new Commercial Register information system.
In order to accelerate procedures and reduce the administrative burden, the Act focuses on:
- introducing the legal binding effect of online published data without the need to prove Commercial Register data between entrepreneurs
- enabling the interconnection of data with other information registers
- reserving a company business name for 60 days for the purpose of building business awareness
- obtaining a trade licence for a free trade activity solely by registration in the Commercial Register
- enabling registrations through notarial deeds (so-called accelerated registration process)
New form of authorisation and representation of entrepreneurs
Selected legal documents submitted for registration in the Commercial Register will no longer require a notarised signature. This requirement will be replaced by:
- authorisation by an attorney-at-law
- execution in the form of a notarial deed
Also, an entrepreneur may be represented before the Commercial Register authority not only by its statutory representative or by the entrepreneur itself, but also by an attorney-at-law, a notary, or an employee of the entrepreneur authorised by a notarised power of attorney.
The new Act also introduces preventive measures in the processing of data, in particular:
- preventive review of submitted corporate documents before registration in the Commercial Register for verification purposes
- possibility to prepare amendments to foundation documents and articles of association in the form of a notarial deed in order to ensure legal certainty
Scope of published data
The new Act introduces a rule under which only data expressly required by law will be registered in the Commercial Register. The purpose is to align registered data with verified documents.
The catalogue of data maintained in the Commercial Register will have a uniform format for registered data, taking into account the registration of persons under special legislation that may require a different structure of published data.
- Abolition of the prohibition on company chaining
The abolition of the prohibition on company chaining means that entrepreneurs will no longer be restricted when establishing companies in the position of shareholders or partners. This change will allow a single-member limited liability company to establish another single-member limited liability company as its sole shareholder
- Penalties
The sanction mechanism will also change. Compared to the previous practice, where sanctions were imposed only rarely, the new approach introduces stricter rules for penalties. As with other administrative fees, penalties will increase. For example, the original penalty of EUR 3,310 for failure to submit an application for registration of changes within the statutory deadline will increase to EUR 4,000.
- Effective date of the Act
The new Act has been signed by the President of the Slovak Republic and will enter into force on 17 August 2026.
The Commercial Register will continue to be administered by the registration court, which is responsible for its active management. The rule remains unchanged that district courts are the competent courts for maintaining the Commercial Register.
