July 16 2001

Register of Enterprises is Expanded

Ellex | Corporate & Commercial - Latvia

Background
Decisive Control
Nuptial Agreements
Concession Agreements
Commercial Register
Electronic Registers


New legislation which will take effect on July 16 2001 has amended the Law on the Republic of Latvia Register of Enterprises, providing for various additional matters to be registered at this public register.

Background

The Register of Enterprises operates under the purview of the Latvian Ministry of Justice. The Register of Enterprises is managed by the chief state notary public, who is appointed and dismissed by the Cabinet of Ministers upon nomination by the minister of justice. The Register of Enterprises is responsible for the following functions:

  • state registration of enterprises, representative offices, affiliates and branches, mass information media, public organizations and associations;

  • state control over the legal compliance of foundation and operational documents of enterprises;

  • uniform state record keeping of enterprises, representative offices, affiliates and branches, mass information media, public organizations and associations;

  • public registration of commercial pledges of company assets; and

  • provision of information to the public regarding enterprises, commercial pledges and other matters.

Upon payment of a state fee, any person has the right to inspect the files at the Register of Enterprises and to receive information regarding any enterprise, representative office, affiliate, branch, mass information media establishment, public organization or association, as well as certified extracts and copies of documents registered in the journal of the Register of Enterprises.

Decisive Control

From July 16 2000 shareholders that enjoy decisive control over a company must be publicly registered in those instances specified in the Law on Groups of Companies. If the decisive control is the result of ownership or majority shareholding, then the basis of the decisive control and the names of the dominant and dependent companies must be registered. If the decisive control is based on a group company contract, then the type of contract and the names of the dominant and dependent companies must be registered.

Nuptial Agreements

Agreements between spouses that impact on property ownership must also be registered.

Concession Agreements

With respect to concession agreements, the following information must now be recorded in the Concession Agreement Register of the Register of Enterprises:

  • the title of the concession and its resources;

  • the term of the concession agreement;

  • the concession agreement amount in lats and other currency (if any);

  • the scope of rights granted to the concessionaire;

  • the number and date of the Cabinet of Ministers decision regarding the concession and execution of the concession agreement;

  • the name and registered address of the institution authorized by the Cabinet to enter into the concession agreement; and

  • the name, registration number in the Register of Enterprises and registered address of the concessionaire.

Commercial Register

When the new Latvian Commercial Law finally comes into force (currently postponed to January 1 2002), a new Commercial Register will be established.

Electronic Registers

Both the Register of Enterprises and the Commercial Register will be maintained in electronic format.


For further information on this topic please contact Filip Klavins at Klavins & Slaidins by telephone (+371 703 5222) or by fax (+371 703 5252) or by email ([email protected]).
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