Since 17 August 2026, some procedures have become simpler thanks to digitalisation and data exchange between government systems. At the same time, a notary or lawyer will now be required for a number of important corporate actions. Barikáda explains the main changes.
Setting Up a Company
The founding documents of most commercial companies must now be drawn up as a notarial deed or authorised by a lawyer. This applies primarily to limited liability companies (s. r. o.).
Lawyer authorisation includes verifying the identity of the parties, their authority to act and the contents of the document. Similar requirements now also apply to certain subsequent important company decisions.
Special formalities are required, in particular, for decisions by the shareholders of an s. r. o. concerning changes to registered capital, special arrangements for voting rights, as well as the appointment or removal of directors. The same applies to the transfer of an ownership interest in a company, changes to its legal form and a number of other corporate transformations.
Company Registration
Company registrations continue to be handled by eight courts in Slovakia’s regional capitals, but the new law expands the powers of notaries. In cases provided for by law, a notary may independently register a company or a change in the Commercial Register.
However, a notary who prepared the relevant document cannot register it themselves — this must be done by another notary or by a court. For certain special procedures, registration remains exclusively within the competence of the courts.
Unregulated Trades
If a company engages only in unregulated trades (voľné živnosti), there is no longer any need to contact the licensing authority in advance. The right to carry out such activities arises at the same time as the company is registered in the Commercial Register. The previous procedure remains in place for craft trades and other regulated activities.
Company Name
Slovakia has introduced a register of reserved company names. Any name can be reserved for a maximum of 60 days for a €50 fee. During this period, another person will not be able to register the same name. The check also takes into account similarities with the names of state authorities and official registers.
Verification of Information
One of the key principles of the reform is “once and enough.” If the required information is already available in government information systems, entrepreneurs will no longer have to submit it again. The Commercial Register will automatically exchange data with other government registers.
At the same time, registered information is being given clearer legal significance: in cases provided for by law, government authorities and business partners will be able to rely directly on the data in the register without requiring a separate up-to-date extract.
This increases companies’ responsibility for keeping their information up to date. For example, if a director has already been replaced but the change has not yet been entered in the register, third parties may, under certain circumstances, assume that the powers remain with the director listed in the register.
Registration Fees and Fines
The fee for the initial registration of an s. r. o. has been reduced from €300 to €220, while the fee for a joint-stock company has fallen from €750 to €550. Registering changes now costs €50 instead of €66.
Electronic access to the Commercial Register remains free, while a paper extract costs €10.
At the same time, fines for violations have increased. Late registration of changes, submission of inaccurate information or failure to provide mandatory documents may result in a fine of up to €4,000. In some cases, the fine may be imposed repeatedly until the violation is remedied.
Personal Data
This part of the reform has sparked the most controversy. Ordinary Commercial Register records should not publicly display, for example, a personal identification number (rodné číslo) or residential address. The date of birth, however, remains publicly available for identification purposes.
The problem arose because all documents in a company’s special document collection can now be viewed online without having to demonstrate a legal interest — they are publicly accessible. These documents may contain information that is not included in a standard register extract, including the addresses of shareholders, rodné číslo, identity document details or specimen signatures. Such information may, for example, appear in a company’s founding documents.
This has prompted criticism from business organisations and data protection experts. Slovakia’s Office for Personal Data Protection has launched its own investigation. The Ministry of Justice maintains that publication of the documents is expressly provided for by the new law and has a legal basis.
New Registers
As part of the reform, a Register of Disqualified Persons (Register diskvalifikácií) has been established — a database of people who are prohibited from holding certain positions in companies. A closed Central Register of Authorisations (Centrálny register autorizácií) has also been created, in which lawyers are required to store authorised documents.
What Should Existing Companies Do?
Nothing. The entry into force of the new law does not mean that existing companies have to be registered again. However, any subsequent change — such as replacing a director, transferring an ownership interest or changing the company’s legal form — will be subject to the new requirements.
