Czech Register of Beneficial Owners (Evidence skutečných majitelů)

How to Change a Beneficial Owner Entry for a Czech Legal Entity

First of all, we should clarify that we are talking specifically about changing entries in the Czech Register of Beneficial Owners (Evidence skutečných majitelů), not the standard Commercial Register (Obchodní rejstřík). We have a separate detailed explanation of how to change the information of a Czech company in the Commercial Register; see the relevant page for full details.

To change information in the Register of Beneficial Owners of Czech legal entities, we need two things:

• Submit a formal application to the Register of Beneficial Owners.
• Provide documents substantiating the entries or changes being requested.

We explain each of these points in detail below.

Submitting an Application to Add or Change Information in the Register of Beneficial Owners

First, the application to register or change information in the Register of Beneficial Owners must be prepared and submitted — in other words, a formal request specifying what information we want to add or change. This is done using a standard form approved by the Czech Ministry of Justice. The Ministry's website provides a dedicated application through which an application to the Register of Beneficial Owners can be prepared. The application specifies the information to be entered or changed, as well as the grounds for the requested entry.

Such an application may be submitted by the director of the legal entity for which the changes are requested.

It can be submitted in the following ways:

• Electronically, through the company's Data Box (Datová schránka). The application must be sent to the Data Box of the Czech Commercial Court responsible for the legal entity (according to the company's registered office). In this case, the application does not need to be signed, as submission through the Data Box is considered an official filing.

• In person, at the filing office of the Commercial Court responsible for the company. In this case, the application must be signed by the director of the legal entity and the signature must be officially certified. A physical application may also be submitted by a third party authorised under a power of attorney issued by the company's director (in this case, as you understand, the director must issue a power of attorney with an officially certified signature).

A court fee of CZK 3,000 (approximately EUR 120) is charged for processing the application. It can be paid by bank transfer using the payment details generated directly on the application, or in cash at the Commercial Court when submitting the application.

Documents Substantiating the Entries or Changes

As you have probably understood, an application to add or change information in the Register of Beneficial Owners is not sufficient on its own. The requested entries or changes must be substantiated by documents demonstrating the basis on which the legal entity is requesting them.

Unfortunately, we cannot provide a universal answer as to what these documents should be because each situation is highly individual. It depends primarily on what the company is requesting and what exactly needs to be done. Overall, the Register of Beneficial Owners itself is a relatively new element of Czech legal practice, both for companies registered in it and for the employees of the Commercial Courts who review these applications.

The website of the Czech Ministry of Justice provides a fairly detailed guide to working with the Czech Register of Beneficial Owners (refer to the most recent version by date). It describes specific situations, explains how a company's beneficial owner is determined and who can be registered as a beneficial owner, and provides specific examples. Unfortunately, the guide is in Czech and is generally quite specialised and difficult to understand. Nevertheless, it can be a useful resource for determining who may be registered as a beneficial owner.

Once you have determined who may be registered as the beneficial owner of a Czech company in accordance with these requirements of the Czech Ministry of Justice, you need to provide an appropriate document substantiating this.

For example, the most common situation we encounter is where a Czech company is owned by a foreign legal entity. The owners of that foreign legal entity are not visible in the Czech registers, so in this case a certified extract relating to the foreign legal entity that owns the Czech company will be required. This document must allow the Czech authorities to trace the entire ownership chain and identify and register the beneficial owners of the Czech company.

Please note that documents submitted to substantiate entries in the Register of Beneficial Owners must be properly certified in order to be recognised in the Czech Republic. Foreign documents will often also need to be apostilled. You can check whether an apostille is required for documents from a particular country to be used in the Czech Republic using the special country-by-country checker available through the link on our website.

If you do not know how to substantiate the requested changes or are unsure about the specifics of your situation, you can contact us. We will review your case, recommend how to proceed, and advise you on the specific document that may be required. It is no trouble for us, and we often find these cases genuinely interesting.