Romania Company Register Search, What Each Check Shows

Romania company register, Romania trade register, commercial register, business register and company registry all mean one thing, the Trade Register (registrul comerțului). It is public by law (art. 11(1) Law 265/2022, 2022 text, later amendments not read). The Oficiul Național al Registrului Comerțului (ONRC, the National Trade Register Office) keeps it. ONRC is a public institution under the Ministry of Justice (art. 19). It has county offices at the tribunals (art. 20(1)).

This guide covers looking up a company that already exists, not registering a new one. Registrations and mentions (mențiuni, registered changes) bind third parties from their entry. Where the law so provides, they bind from publication in the Official Journal or the electronic Bulletin instead (art. 46(1)). For a buyer, this matters. A share transfer has effect against third parties only from its entry (art. 203(2) Law 31/1990, text of January 2024). A search the day before therefore still shows the seller. See the transfer of SRL shares.

A Romania company check has three layers. The first is free public searches that anyone can run. The second is paid documents that ONRC issues on request. The third is what belongs to the seller or sits behind an access tier. A so-called company registration check is a search of the register itself.

Each layer has a blind spot. No layer alone clears a company. The section on what each check proves gathers the blind spots in two tables.

The Romanian trade register is part of BRIS, the Business Registers Interconnection System (art. 9(1) Law 265/2022). The European access point is the e-Justice portal and, nationally, the central trade register (art. 9(2)). ONRC's information and electronic copies are also made available to the public through BRIS (art. 11(5)).

The EU sets a minimum that member states must make free through BRIS. It includes status: closed, struck off, wound up, dissolved, or economically active or inactive where recorded (art. 19(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1132 as replaced by Directive (EU) 2019/1151). A state may keep the website and the object free only for other states' authorities (art. 19(4)). Romania used the option for the object only (art. 12(3) Law 265/2022).

The EUID is built from the member state, the domestic register and the company number (art. 16(1)). The BRIS technical rules give four elements, and the verification digit is optional (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1042, Annex, section 9). A Ministry of Justice order sets the Romanian structure. We have not read that order (art. 10 Law 265/2022). In ONRC's open data of 9 January 2026, read in part, it reads ROONRC. plus the J number as printed. We have not read the live e-Justice page and describe no screen.

ONRC also keeps the beneficial-owner register (registrul beneficiarilor reali, RBE) of the companies registered at the trade register (art. 17(1) Law 265/2022). See also art. 19(5)(a) Law 129/2019, as consolidated to Law 86/2025.

Three tiers can see it. Authorities and ONPCSB, the anti-money-laundering supervisor, see it without restriction and without alerting the person concerned (art. 19(8)(a)). Obliged entities (entități raportoare), such as banks, notaries and lawyers, see it when applying customer due diligence (art. 19(8)(b)). They may not rely on it alone (art. 19(10)). Anyone able to show a legitimate interest (interes legitim) can see it (art. 19(8)(c)), after online registration and a fee. The Minister of Justice sets the fee by order (art. 19(8^2)). We have not read that order. This tier sees name, month and year of birth, citizenship, country of residence and the nature and extent of the interest (art. 19(9)).

The general public stands outside since the Court of Justice judgment of 22 November 2022 in Joined Cases C-37/20 and C-601/20. The declaration is filed at ONRC, not at ONPCSB (ONPCSB's own FAQ). After a purchase it is updated within 15 days of the change (art. 56(3)). A missing declaration is fined 5,000 to 10,000 lei. It can end in dissolution if it is still missing 30 days later (art. 57(1)-(2)). The update has its own guide, the beneficial-owner declaration page.

The Trade Register Bulletin (Buletinul electronic al registrului comerțului) is free to publish in and to consult (art. 15(4) Law 265/2022). Registrar decisions reach it within 3 working days of the entry (art. 15(2)-(3)). Dissolution and strike-off decisions and liquidator appointments are free to view (art. 237(12) Law 31/1990, text of January 2024).

A list of companies the registrar will find dissolved ex officio is posted at least 15 calendar days before (art. 237^2(2)). An expired right to use the registered office is one ground (art. 237^2(1)(a)). We have not reconciled this 15-day rule with the 5-day rule of the Law 239/2025 list.

The courts portal offers a case search across the courts' rolls. We did not read the insolvency bulletin, so this guide promises no search of all litigation and insolvency. The insolvency status itself appears in the free ONRC status.

The tax certificate (certificat de atestare fiscală) is not a lookup. A third party may ask the tax authority for it only with the taxpayer's express and unequivocal consent (art. 160(1) Fiscal Procedure Code). The same holds for documents on a taxpayer's position. The certificate lists overdue tax standing on the last day of the month before the request and not extinguished by the issue date (art. 158(2)). It is issued within 3 working days and usable up to 30 days (art. 158(5)). The certificate has a guide of its own, the ANAF tax certificate of a Romanian company.

In a share transfer the seller or the buyer may request it (art. V(2) Law 239/2025). Art. V(1) covers the shares of any SRL member since 9 March 2026 (OUG 13/2026, art. I). The balance date for the certificate issued after the transfer notification is the date of issue. That follows the draft of July 2026, not the adopted rule.