The business register in Hungary is the cégjegyzék (company register), kept by the cégbíróságok (company courts), which are organisational units of the regional courts. Information from it is supplied by the Céginformációs Szolgálat (Company Information Service), an organisational unit of the Ministry of Justice, through a free public search. Sole traders are the exception: they are not in the company register but in a separate register of sole traders kept by the tax authority.

The company registry in Hungary

Two statutes govern the system: 2006. évi V. törvény a cégnyilvánosságról, a bírósági cégeljárásról és a végelszámolásról (Act V of 2006 on company publicity, court company proceedings and voluntary liquidation), known as the Ctv., and 2013. évi V. törvény a Polgári Törvénykönyvről (Act V of 2013, the Civil Code). The company courts conduct registration and change-registration proceedings, enter and delete data, supply information on register data and company documents, and run legality-supervision proceedings.

Company publicity in Hungary rests on three pillars: the company court, the Cégközlöny (Company Gazette) in which court publications appear and which is what makes register data effective towards third parties, and the Company Information Service, which supplies authentic company information from the register in Hungarian, English, German and French, operates the free online information service and runs the financial statement repository.

Electronic filing

Company proceedings are lawyer-only and paperless: legal representation by an attorney or in-house counsel is mandatory in registration and change proceedings, and the application must be filed electronically. Companies communicate with the authorities through the Cégkapu (company gate).

Sole traders

The egyéni vállalkozó (sole trader) is registered under 2009. évi CXV. törvény (Act CXV of 2009 on sole traders and sole proprietorship companies) in the Egyéni Vállalkozók Nyilvántartása (Register of Sole Traders), whose keeper is the Nemzeti Adó- és Vámhivatal (National Tax and Customs Administration), with a public query service. The egyéni cég (sole proprietorship company) under the same Act is by contrast a company-register entity.

Legal forms that can be registered in Hungary

  • Korlátolt felelősségű társaság — kft. (Private limited liability company) — members are not liable for the company’s debts; the minimum registered capital is HUF 3,000,000 with a minimum quota of HUF 100,000. The standard vehicle for small and medium businesses and holdings.
  • Zártkörűen működő részvénytársaság — zrt. (Private company limited by shares) — shareholders are not liable for company debts; minimum share capital HUF 5,000,000.
  • Nyilvánosan működő részvénytársaság — nyrt. (Public company limited by shares) — shares may be admitted to public trading; minimum share capital HUF 20,000,000.
  • Közkereseti társaság — kkt. (General partnership) — members are jointly, severally and unlimitedly liable for the partnership’s obligations.
  • Betéti társaság — bt. (Limited partnership) — the beltag (general partner) is unlimitedly liable while the kültag (limited partner) is liable only for the agreed contribution.
  • Egyesülés (Co-operation grouping) — a non-profit grouping coordinating its members’ business activity.
  • Szövetkezet (Cooperative) — a member-owned enterprise in which members are liable up to their contribution.
  • Egyéni cég (Sole proprietorship company) — founded by a single natural person and entered in the company register, unlike the sole trader.
  • Külföldi vállalkozás magyarországi fióktelepe (Hungarian branch of a foreign undertaking) — no separate legal personality; the foreign parent is liable.
  • Külföldiek magyarországi közvetlen kereskedelmi képviselete (Commercial representative office of a foreign entity) — promotion and liaison only, with no business activity of its own.
  • Európai részvénytársaság — SE (European Company), európai gazdasági egyesülés (European Economic Interest Grouping) and európai szövetkezet — SCE (European Cooperative Society) — the EU-law forms, including the Hungarian establishment of a grouping seated abroad.
  • Vízgazdálkodási társulat (Water management association) and erdőbirtokossági társulat (Forest holders’ association) — sectoral forms for shared water works and forest holdings.
  • Végrehajtói iroda (Bailiff’s office) and közjegyzői iroda (Notary’s office) — the practice vehicles of judicial enforcement officers and notaries.
  • Vállalat (State enterprise) — a legacy form retained in the register’s catalogue of company forms.

Information available from the Hungarian business register

The Ctv. makes the register broadly open. Existing and deleted register data and the company documents, including those filed electronically, are fully public; after a successful tax-registration procedure even pending applications and their annexes become public. Anyone may inspect company documents at the company court free of charge and take notes, and the Company Information Service provides inspection of existing, deleted and not-yet-registered data free of charge and without restriction, publishing core register data free on its website. No legal-interest test applies.

Annual financial statements are filed electronically with the Company Information Service and, by statute, become available on its website immediately and free of charge, searchable by company name or registration number. Cross-border access is provided through the EU Business Registers Interconnection System.

What is restricted

Personal data are the first limit. The registered lakóhely (residence) of a natural person is not freely disclosed: bodies performing public duties — courts, prosecution, investigating and administrative authorities — receive it without a separate request, while anyone else must make a separate request substantiating a legal interest. Mother’s name and birth data are held in the file but do not form part of freely disclosed company information. Legality-supervision files are public only in the cases the Ctv. specifies.

The second limit is beneficial ownership. The tényleges tulajdonosi nyilvántartás (register of beneficial owners) is kept by the tax and customs administration under the anti-money-laundering legislation, fed through account-keeping payment service providers. It is expressly not a public register. Unrestricted access belongs to the authorities, the municipal tax authority, the chambers, the prosecution service, the courts and supervisory bodies; obliged service providers query it free of charge for customer due diligence; and data subjects and reporting entities may access their own data.

A distinctive Hungarian feature is the TT index (reliability index) attached to each entity’s beneficial ownership data. It starts at ten points; a discrepancy report by an authority deducts two points and one by a service provider deducts one. Below eight the data are marked uncertain, and below six, after an unsuccessful cure period, the entity is marked unreliable, in which case service providers must treat it as high risk and refuse transactions above a statutory threshold. Unreliable entities, and uncertain ones after a further period, are published by the tax administration; confirmation or correction restores the index.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Cégkivonat (Company extract) — all register data currently in force, with the date on which each item was entered. The standard proof of existence, seat, representation and ownership, used for banks, tenders and notarial deeds.
  • Cégmásolat (Full company copy) — all existing and deleted register data with their entry and deletion dates; the document for corporate history and due diligence.
  • Cégbizonyítvány (Company certificate) — only the specific existing or deleted data requested, or a certification that a given entry does not appear and never appeared in the register; used for name checks and targeted confirmations.
  • Hiteles és nem hiteles változatok (Certified and non-certified versions) — the certified version is a public document with evidentiary force, the non-certified version is informational. All three documents carry an endorsement flagging any change-registration procedure pending on the data.
  • Cégiratok (Documents of the company file) — the articles of association, corporate resolutions, specimen signatures and annexes, open to free inspection at the company court, with copies available on request.
  • Beszámoló (Annual financial statements) — the balance sheet, profit and loss account and notes, with the business report and audit report where applicable, free from the financial statement repository.
  • Cégtörténet és cégfigyelés (Company history and company monitoring) — further information products offered by the Company Information Service.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the business register in Hungary called?

The cégjegyzék (company register), kept by the company courts within the regional courts, with information supplied by the Company Information Service of the Ministry of Justice.

Is the Hungarian company register free?

Yes. Existing and deleted data and the company documents are public, inspection at the company court is free, and the Company Information Service provides information free of charge and without restriction.

Are sole traders in the company register?

No. Sole traders are entered in the separate Register of Sole Traders kept by the National Tax and Customs Administration. The sole proprietorship company is different and is a company-register entity.

What is the minimum capital of a Hungarian kft.?

HUF 3,000,000, with a minimum quota of HUF 100,000. A private company limited by shares requires HUF 5,000,000 and a public one HUF 20,000,000.

Where are Hungarian financial statements published?

In the financial statement repository operated by the Company Information Service, where they are available immediately and free of charge, searchable by name or registration number.

Can I look up beneficial owners of Hungarian companies?

Not as a member of the public. The beneficial ownership register kept by the tax and customs administration is expressly not a public register; access belongs to authorities, obliged service providers for due diligence, and the data subjects themselves.

Sources

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