Slovakia: New Commercial Register Act

Less paperwork, more digital filings, and practical changes for businesses

The new Commercial Register Act, effective from 17 August 2026, brings an important reform of company registration procedures in Slovakia. It replaces the current Commercial Register Act and aims to simplify incorporations, corporate changes and access to registered data.

The reform is not a complete redesign of Slovak company law. The main corporate forms remain unchanged. However, the way in which companies are registered, how changes are filed, and how businesses rely on data in the Commercial Register will change in several practical respects.

The new law should make the Commercial Register more digital, more reliable and less paper based. Data entered in the Commercial Register and documents filed in the Collection of Documents should be published electronically and usable for legal purposes. This should reduce the need to repeatedly submit paper extracts or prove information that is already available online.

The most significant changes compared to the current rules

The current Commercial Register legislation has been amended many times and is often criticized for being formalistic and administratively burdensome. The new law aims to consolidate the rules, simplify procedures and increase legal certainty.

The most significant changes include:

1. More reliable online data– registered data and documents published online should have legal relevance. In practice, businesses should be able to rely on electronic Commercial Register data more easily in dealings with authorities, banks, contractual partners and foreign counterparties.
2. Business name reservation– entrepreneurs will be able to reserve a business name before establishing a company. The reservation should be valid for 60 days, giving founders more certainty when preparing a new company, transaction structure or brand launch.
3. Simplified registration of selected free trades– for certain unregulated trades, it should no longer be necessary to first obtain a trade licence separately. The trade authorisation should arise together with the registration of the company in the Commercial Register.
4. Greater role of notaries– notaries will have broader powers in registration proceedings. During the transitional period, filings may still be handled by registration courts, but the reform gradually moves a significant part of the agenda to notaries. From 1 July 2027, most first registrations and changes should be processed exclusively by notaries, while certain matters will remain with courts.
5. Role of attorneys-at-law–attorneys-at-law will retain an essential role in preparing, authorising and filing registration documents. In many cases, clients will have a practical choice: documents prepared or authorised by an attorney-at-law followed by registration through a notary or court, or documents prepared by a notary followed by registration by another notary. From the client’s perspective, the attorney-at-law ris a fully-fledged legal advisor in company formations and corporate changes, while the actual registration act as registrar will belong to the notary.
6. Repeal of restrictions on company chaining– a limited liability company with a sole shareholder will again be able to be the sole founder or sole shareholder of another limited liability company. The restriction limiting one individual to being the sole shareholder in no more than three companies will also be removed.
7. Adjusted filing fees and free electronic outputs– the reform updates the court fee schedule for Commercial Register matters. First registration of a limited liability company and other legal entities will be subject to a 220 EUR fee (besides joint stock company of 550 EUR fee), while registration of changes concerning one registered entity will be subject to a 50 EUR fee. Electronic extracts, confirmations and electronic copies from the Collection of Documents will be available free of charge.

The new Commercial Register Act should have a positive impact on the Slovak business environment, especially for company formations, corporate restructurings and transactions. Faster and more reliable access to registered data, business name reservation and partial simplification of trade authorisations may reduce administrative delays.

At the same time, companies and their statutory bodies should expect greater responsibility for the accuracy and timeliness of registered information. The reform should make doing business in Slovakia more transparent and more predictable, but it will also require companies to pay closer attention to the quality of their corporate documents and filings.