Estonia: Company Registration Portal

Company Registration Portal

http://www.ettevotjaportaal.rik.ee

1. Implementation procedure

Name of the institution running website/application:	Centre of Registers and Information Systems
Type of the institution running website/application:	an implementation execute by a government institution
Source of financing:	public resources - state budget
Year of launching the website/application:	2007
Service's/application's rating:

2. Implementation's characteristics

The Company Registration Portal is an internet environment that enables electronic submission of documents to the Department of Courts without the mediation of a notary. Its main purpose is to make the life of the existing and future entrepreneurs easier and to save time spent communicating with the Commercial Register. The portal enables fast, convenient and easy registration of a company while maintaining legal capacity, hence making the entrepreneurs the key target group of the portal.

The Company Registration Portal was launched in 2007. Today over 85% of the new private limited companies are registered through the Company Registration Portal. About 99% of all annual reports are submitted trough the portal reducing the amount of paperwork both for the companies and the state.

In 2009 a World Record in registering a new private limited company via the Company Registration Portal was registered. The record time for the registration of a new legal entity is 18 minutes and 3,5 seconds.

The portal enables:

Fast registration of a private limited company, sole traders, general and limited partnerships
To change the data in the commercial register
To file annual reports in XBRL format
To submit lists of the members of the political parties

How does it work?

The Company Registration Portal includes security measures that provide the portal users with maximum security. These measures include log-ins and digital signatures using ID cards or mobile ID and digital signing. Applications completed in the portal are digitally signed and the legal equivalent of the former notarized applications. Entry to the Company Registration Portal is also possible with a Portuguese, Belgian or Finnish ID-card or Lithuanian mobile-ID.

Notarized memorandums and articles of association have been replaced by standard articles of association in the portal. It is possible, however, to make changes to the template articles of association offered by the portal. Furthermore, it is no longer necessary to go to the bank to pay the share capital and state fee. Both can directly be paid for in the portal via Internet bank.

“It is certainly one of the most successful self-service portals in Estonia and its success is based primarily on the good computer skills of its users, the widespread use of the Internet, and the innovation of the IT experts,”

Mehis Sihvart, Director of Center of Registers and Information Systems

3. Detailed description categories

Type of the service's/application user:	G2B: business
The application service's usage area:	services: cooperation of institutions and citizens in the implementation of public tasks ("we inform, talk and cooperate")
A communication - an indication of all the media and dissemination	A website of the institution that provides application / solution eGov; includes a thematic section of the application
Access to the full functionality of the service	Access to the service requires you to register your account on the site - registration requires a specific data Name Surname postal code state
The service's/application's usage areas	Document-related issues Solutions for business
Forms of interaction with users:	An application form
Service's/Application's integration to social networking sites	Yes
Availability of service/application use instruction	None
Is the connection encrypted?	Yes