Company registry
*Currently implemented in Municipal Court in Sarajevo and Municipal Court in Travnik , other courts coming soon*
*Currently implemented in Municipal Court in Sarajevo and Municipal Court in Travnik , other courts coming soon*
From the comfort of their proper home, users can with just a few clicks execute the whole business registration process
IOBRS also provides the change and update possibility applicable on all already existing business subjects
Through the e-Registration portal, one can search through all existing business subject activities with their corresponding codes
During the enrollment of a business entity and the change of activity (adjustment, expansion, or deletion), the following documents are required to be submitted:
- Application for registration signed and certified in accordance with the provisions of Article 22, paragraph 1 of the Law.
- Proof of payment of the court fee.
- Decision on change of activity.
- Decision on change of statute, rulebook, or founding deed, only if there is no obligation to adopt a statute or rulebook for a particular form of business entity organization.
A one-stop system is defined as a system for providing conditions to applicants at a unique physical or virtual
location in the process of registering a business entity in the competent registry court.
In addition to the registration process, it also includes:
- The procedure for assigning a unique identification number.
- Classification of a legal entity according to activities by the competent authority.
- Register entry of customs payers.
- Registration in the register of persons liable for indirect taxation if there are technical and organizational possibilities.
The one-stop system simultaneously includes the actions of the competent registry court, the Tax Administration of FBiH,
the Bureau of Statistics of FBiH, as well as the Administration for Indirect Taxation of BiH.
This registration system will enable a faster, simpler, and more complete way of registering business entities.
When making a decision on registration, each business entity will have a record in the competent tax and statistical
authority responsible for keeping this type of records and affairs,
with a note that changes in the regulations governing the work of those bodies are expected.
This will make it redundant and unnecessary to carry out additional procedures with those authorities after the adoption of the decision on registration.
It is clear from these amendments to the Law that the legislator's intention was a faster, simpler, and more comprehensive registration of business entities,
in such a way that after registration in the court register, it would not be necessary to undertake additional actions with the competent tax authorities and statistics.
Instead, the registration court would have the role of linking all competent authorities in connection with the registration procedure.
All of the above should result in the creation of preconditions for the start of economic activity in the shortest possible period,
which is the purpose of the amendments to this law. The above is reflected precisely through the introduction of a one-stop-shop system through the notification
and allocation of tax, statistical, customs, or VAT numbers, which the court ex officio informs the competent authorities about.
The establishment of this system is also confirmed by the definition of the term "register system" in Article 3, point 5) of the Law on
Amendments to the Law on Registration of Business Entities of the FBiH from 2021.
It prescribes that the register system is an information system that serves for the registration of
business entity subjects and consists of electronic communication and data exchange between:
- Participants in the registration procedure of all registration courts.
- Register of annual financial reports of the Financial and Information Agency (FIA).
- Tax Administration of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Indirect Taxation Authority BiH.
- Federal Statistical Office and Competent Municipal Services for Administration.
The provisions of this Law specify a part of the register system and define it as a "unified register base" as part of the register system.
It represents a central place for storing register, record, and statistical data of register courts,
as well as documents and other evidence stored in electronic form in the document collection.
Therefore, the establishment of a one-stop-shop system establishes the unity of the necessary procedures in the procedure for the registration of
business entities and the necessary steps for starting business activities. And this means, in practice, that the registration process will include:
• Unity of registration of business entities with registration courts.
• Unity in the process of assigning a unique identification number and registration with the tax authority.
• Classification of the legal entity according to the classification of activities by the competent authority, i.e. statistics.
• Registration in the register of customs payers and the register of payers for indirect taxation if communication with that system is enabled.
Therefore, business entities will be registered with the tax administration and statistics at the moment of issuing the decision on registration,
primarily, and the customs number, i.e. the register for indirect taxation if communication with that system is enabled.
It is also necessary to mention the very important fact of the establishment of a new unique database that will contain all the registration data of already registered business entities.
In the previous period, a very extensive procedure of scanning the complete register was started,
including complete solutions of all business entities and a complete collection of documents for business entities
in the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which resulted in several million scanned sheets,
metadata indexing was also performed for each business entity. Therefore, in this way, all active and passive data
of the court register are combined, and the same are available in electronic form, both individual data for each business entity,
and the complete collection of documents, as prescribed by the Law on the Registration of Business Entities.
For the first time so far, an electronic collection of documents is being established.
It is also necessary to mention the very important fact that with the establishment of this registration system and the way
of keeping the court register in an digital registry, it will be available to the state, entity, and authorities of the
Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina through the telecommunications network or IT media. All these should be part of a single
communication system, which was not the case until now, because the court register was available in electronic form only to the registry courts.
This should contribute to the faster, more efficient, and more effective work of competent inspection bodies,
but also of all those bodies that supervise the implementation of laws in certain areas and that relate to business entities.
Furthermore, with the establishment of this system, the registry courts will no longer be obliged to deliver these decisions
in printed form to the competent authorities, as they did until now by mail, i.e., by physical delivery of these decisions.
Instead, the decisions will be delivered electronically, which will speed up the delivery process and reduce court filing costs.
Likewise, the establishment of this unique registration system will make it possible to publish registration decisions in accordance with
the amendments to this law from 2021. Registration decisions will be delivered via the court notice board and the court registry website as
part of the overall system, and business entities will no longer
be obliged to bear the costs of publishing the decision on registration in the Official Gazette of FBiH, as they had to do until now.
The Law on Amendments to the Law on Registration of Business Entities of the FBiH, enacted in 2021,
introduces a new method of submitting applications for registration, namely the online application.
The online application serves as the prescribed form in electronic format,
initiating the process of registering business entities and making data changes for already registered entities.
The online application for registration will be accessible on the unified platform of the court registry,
which will be established as part of the new unified information system, including the new digital register of the court registry.
Through this platform, interested individuals can download the printable version of the registration application.
The online application for registration encompasses all general and special data required by the Law on Registration of Business Entities of the FBiH.
It also includes data for tax administration and statistics. Applicants are obligated to provide this data in the registration application.
The registration court will enter all the data from the application, including those required by tax and statistical authorities,
into the digital register, which functions as a unified system.
The recent amendments to the law in 2021 introduce a completely new electronic registration procedure for business entities.
This means that business entity registration can now be carried out electronically. To implement the online registration procedure,
the Federal Ministry of Justice must issue a regulation specifying the conditions, procedures, and requirements for electronic registration,
as well as the content, format, and method of completing the registration application.
The process of online registration begins with the submission of an application in online form, requiring a user account.
Essential to this procedure is attaching documents as electronic documents. All documents must be prepared in a format that has the characteristics of an electronic document,
as defined by the Law on Electronic Documents of BiH ("Official Gazette of BiH," number 58/2014). The registry court will authenticate these documents.
The verification of the applicant's identity and the registration documents follows the regulations governing electronic signatures and electronic documents.
The Law on Electronic Signature ("Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina," No. 91/2006) defines a secure electronic signature as having the following characteristics:
1) Exclusively assigned to the signatory.
2) Enables the identification of the signatory.
3) Formed using funds fully under the control of the signatory.
4) Linked to the data to which it relates, enabling the determination of any subsequent changes to that data.
5) Based on a qualified certificate and formed using technical means and procedures that comply with the security requirements stated in this law and related by-laws.
Individuals possessing a verified and secure electronic signature can submit an online application,
allowing the registry court to verify the applicant's identification.
An electronic document is a type of document that can be verified for credibility, originality, and immutability.
Verification is conducted by the competent authority designated by the Law on Electronic Signature.
In the online registration process for business entities,
the registry courts must be able to verify each electronic document submitted with the online application for registration.
It should be noted that fulfilling the conditions for conducting the online registration procedure requires
submitting an online application to the registry court, accompanied by electronic documents.
Scanned documents or documents not issued in electronic form, without
the ability to determine their authenticity, do not constitute an online registration procedure.
With the implementation of the new unified registration system,
registration courts now issue decisions on registration in the form of electronic documents,
which are signed by the registration judge using an electronic signature.
Practically, this means that once the registration judge verifies that all the necessary requirements for entry into the court register have been met,
they sign the registration decision using an electronic signature.
The decision includes a unique code that serves as its identification. This code allows for the verification of its accuracy and authenticity.
Similarly, when issuing a statement from the court register, it will be provided as an electronic document, signed with an electronic signature.
The identification and authentication of the statement, as well as the registration decision, can be determined through this signature.
It should be noted that all documents issued by the competent registration court during the electronic registration process are considered public documents.
Their legal validity cannot be challenged simply because they were issued in electronic form. Therefore, both printed and electronic versions of registration
decisions hold equal legal validity. Decisions made in electronic form, following the provisions of the law and utilizing new software supporting electronic
signatures and stamps, have the full force of a public document.
Consequently, the legal validity of these documents cannot be disputed due to their electronic format.
This equivalence ensures that both electronic and printed documents have the same legal effect.
It can be concluded that the implementation of this type of registration procedure and the entire system of registration in the
court register will undoubtedly expedite the registration process. It will enable applicants to fulfill
the registration requirements more efficiently and cost-effectively, facilitating a
faster start to their business activities. Additionally, it will lead to quicker accessibility of statements from the court register in the form of electronic documents.
Taking into consideration the current state of registration in the court register of all business entities,
it is evident that the majority of registered entities are limited liability companies. Therefore, this section
will outline the documents required for submitting an application for the establishment of a limited liability
company, as well as changes to data such as name, registered office, activities,
and changes in authorized representatives, which are the most common types of changes to registration data.
First and foremost, it should be noted that, as per Article 22, paragraph 1 of the Law on
Registration of Business Entities, the application for registration must be signed by a person
authorized for representation, and the signature on the application must be certified by the competent authority for signature certification.
Additionally, the registration courts are obliged to conduct an ex officio check of the
Registry of Fines in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Misdemeanors of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
If there are any outstanding fines, the registration court may request a certificate from the Registry of Fines.
When registering a change in activity (adjustment, expansion or deletion) of a business entity
it is necessary to submit:
- Application for registration, signed and certified in accordance with the provisions of Article 22, paragraph 1 of this Law.
- Proof of payment of the court fee.
- Decision on the change of activities.
- A decision to amend the articles of association, regulations, or bylaws due to the change in activities,
only if there is no obligation to adopt such documents for a particular form of organization of a business entity.
For certain activities, prior consent for registration in the court register is required.
It is important to note that in the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are numerous regulations at the cantonal level that
impose different conditions for the performance of specific activities, particularly in the fields of health and education.
These regulations may impose restrictions on the registration of certain activities in the court register.
Therefore, the activities listed below do not represent an exhaustive list of activities subject to restrictions or prior approvals.
It is necessary to consider the existence of cantonal regulations.
The following activities require prior consent or cannot be performed by companies at all:
20.51 Production of explosives
25.40 Production of weapons and ammunition
30.40 Production of military combat vehicles
47.78 Retail sale of new goods in specialized stores - sale of weapons
21.10 Production of basic pharmaceutical products
21.20 Production of pharmaceutical preparations
46.46 Wholesale trade in pharmaceutical products
35.12 Transmission of electricity
49.10 Intercity passenger rail transport
49.20 Railway transport of goods
53.10 The activity of providing universal postal services
60.10 Broadcasting of a radio program - limitation for individual investors
60.20 Broadcasting of television programs - restriction for foreign investors
32.11 Production of coins
64.11 Activities of the Central Bank
64.19 Other monetary intermediation
64.20 Activities of financial holding companies
64.30 Trusts, funds and similar financial entities
64.91 Financial lease (leasing)
64.92 Other credit intermediation
64.99 Other financial service activities, except insurance and pension funds
66.11 Business of financial markets
66.12 Intermediation activities in the business of securities and commodity contracts
66.19 Other activities auxiliary to financial services, except insurance
and pension funds
65.11 Life Insurance
65.12. Other insurance
65.20 Reinsurance
65.30 Pension funds
66.21 Assessment of risk and damage
66.22 Activities of insurance agents and intermediaries
66.29 Other auxiliary activities in insurance and pension funds
66.30 Activity of fund management
69.10 Legal activities
75.00 Veterinary activity
80.10 Private protection activity
80.20 Protection services with the help of security systems
80.30 Investigative activities
84.11. General activities of public administration
84.12 Regulation of activities of public entities that provide health care, services in education and culture and other social services, except mandatory social insurance
84.13 Regulation and contribution to business improvement in the economy
84.21 Foreign affairs
84.22 Defense Affairs
84.23 Judicial and judicial activities
84.24 Affairs of public order and security
84.25 Activities of the fire department
84.30 Mandatory social insurance activity
85.10 Preschool education
85.20 Elementary education
85.31 General secondary education
85.32 Technical and secondary professional education
85.41 Post-secondary education other than higher education
85.42 Higher education
88.91 Day care activities for children
85.53 Activities of driving schools
86.10 Activities of hospitals
86.21 Activities of general medical practice
86.22 Activities of specialist medical practice
86.23 Activities of dental practice
86.90 Other health care activities
87.10 Activities of institutions with accommodation that include a certain degree of health care
87.20 Activities in institutions with accommodation for persons with developmental disabilities,
the mentally ill and persons addicted to alcohol, drugs or other intoxicants with a certain degree of health care included
87.30 Social protection activities in institutions with accommodation for the elderly and people with disabilities without or with minimal care
87.90 Other social protection activities in institutions with accommodation
88.10 Social protection activities without accommodation for the elderly and people with disabilities
88.99 Other social protection activities without accommodation, d. n.
90.02 Performing arts
90.03 Artistic creation
91.01 Activities of libraries and archives
91.02 Activities of museums
92.00 Gambling and betting - only for the casino
94.11 Activities of business organizations and employers' associations
94.12 Activities of professional membership organizations
94.20 Union activity
94.91 Activities of religious organizations
94.99 Activities of other member organizations
97.00 Activity of households as employers
98.10 Activities of private households that produce various goods for their own needs
98.20 Activities of private households that perform various services for their own needs
Registration of a change in the person authorized for representation
When registering a change in the person authorized to represent a business entity, the following documents must be submitted:
- Application for registration, signed and certified in accordance with the provisions of Article 22, paragraph 1 of this Law.
- Proof of payment of the court fee.
- Decision on the dismissal of the person authorized for representation.
- Decision on the appointment of a new person authorized for representation.
- Certified signature of the newly appointed person for representation by the competent authority for signature certification.
- Statement of acceptance of duties by the person authorized for representation,
in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Business Entities or any separate law if prescribed.
* In order to establish the facts entered in the court register, a copy of the identity card and
a certificate of residence or a copy of the passport for a foreign natural person must be submitted.
However, please note that these data will not be indicated on the registration decision.
For registration follow next steps:
1. Click 'Login' button.
2. Click 'Register' button.
3. Enter a valid Email and Password, after which the following notification will be displayed and a verification link will be sent to the email. By clicking on the link in the e-mail, you will receive a confirmation that you have successfully verified the user account.
4. Log in to the system and populate the data about the logged in user.
5. Clicking on 'Confirm' opens the home page, where the 'Start registration' option is available.
6. On 'Frames' and 'Applicant' boxes, you can see the way in which the application can be submitted if you do not have an authorized digital signature. A unique code is generated for each application. By clicking on 'Browse
application', the generated application from enetered values is opened and this application needs to be printed and taken to the court with the generated code.
e-Registar Federacija BiH
Online olakšice za bolje poslovanje.
"With the financial support of the Government of Switzerland, the International Financial Corporation - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is implementing the Business Environment Improvement Project and the establishment of an Integrated Online System for the registration of business entities in FBiH. The e-Registration portal was implemented as part of this project. The content published on this portal does not necessarily reflect the official views and policies of the Government of Switzerland, nor the executive directors of the World Bank Group and the governments they represent."
