Register of legal entities

What it means

The Register of Legal Entities, Entrepreneurs and Public Authorities, known as RPO, is a central public administration information system kept by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. It brings together in one place basic data on entities entered in various source registers, such as the commercial register, the trade licence register, or the registers of civic associations and non-profit organisations.

Data reach the RPO not from companies themselves but from the source registers in which the entity is entered. If the registered office changes in the commercial register, the change also appears in the RPO. The register mainly contains the name, registered office, legal form, statutory officers, dates of formation and dissolution, business activities and, for some entities, beneficial ownership data.

The Statistical Office assigns legal entities and entrepreneurs their IČO, the organisation identification number, which stays the same throughout the entity's existence. The RPO serves as a reference source for authorities, which can check data without repeatedly asking the company for it.

How it works in practice

For a business the RPO is especially useful for checking partners. It shows data from different registers in one place, which helps with non-profit organisations, associations or sole traders who are not in the commercial register. The data are public and can be searched by name and IČO.

Authorities use the RPO under the once-only principle: they should not ask an entrepreneur for data the state already holds. It is therefore important that data in the source register are correct and up to date. An error in the commercial or trade licence register spreads into the RPO and on into the systems that draw on it.

For certain entities, beneficial owner data are entered in the commercial register and flow from there into the RPO. Companies doing business with the state must also be entered in the register of public sector partners, which is separate and has stricter verification rules.

What to watch out for

The RPO does not replace the source registers. If you need an official document, such as an extract proving authority to act for the company, you must obtain it from the source register. Changes may appear in the RPO with some delay, so for important decisions check the data directly in the commercial register as well.

Mind the difference between the IČO and the DIČ. The IČO is assigned by the Statistical Office and identifies the entity in registers; the DIČ is assigned by the Financial Administration for tax purposes. Invoices and contracts show both numbers, and VAT payers also their IČ DPH. Mixing up the numbers is a common error when completing documents.