BUSINESS REGISTER AT EU LEVEL – INTERCONNECTION OF CENTRAL, COMMERCIAL AND COMPANIES REGISTERS

A significant step in the European company law is that from 7 June 2018, business registers in EU countries will be interconnected in the system called the Business Registers Interconnection System (“BRIS”). The BRIS allows for customers to search for certain information on companies registered in any EU Member State, furthermore Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway through the European Justice portal (website). The BRIS also establishes the interoperability of the individual registers allowing them to exchange information on certain cross-border matters (e.g. cross-border mergers or information on the opening and termination of any winding-up or insolvency proceedings).

Information will be available regarding the following Hungarian company forms: limited liability company, company limited by shares, European company limited by shares, branch office and representative office. The basic data with regard to these entities, such as name, form, seat and company registration number of the company will be available free of charge, while certain other information (like articles of association) will be available for an administrative fee. The companies will receive a so-called European Unique Identifier (“EUID”) for the purpose of the easy communication between the registers. The EUID will contain the country code, the identifier of the register and the registration number of the company.