KRS newsletter – the ministry’s response to company thefts

Assumptions of the KRS Newsletter

In June this year, the Ministry of Justice announced on the government website the launch of the National Court Register Newsletter (KRS Newsletter). This solution was introduced as part of the amendment to the National Court Register Act prepared by the Ministry of Justice. The purpose of the legislation is to increase the security of legal and economic transactions. In particular, the authors of the amendment aimed to combat the crime of company theft. This phenomenon involves changes in the entries in the National Court Register based on forged documents. The changes most often concern the company’s representation rules (without the knowledge of authorised representatives), such as changing the method of representation and persons authorised to represent the company, or even changes in the ownership structure. This enables criminals to represent the company without the knowledge of the authorised shareholders and members of the management board. Such actions may lead to the loss of the company’s assets, for example, through withdrawal of funds, taking out loans, or selling company property.

The newsletter is designed to provide entrepreneurs with easy and immediate access to information about register changes made to the company. The KRS newsletter service involves automatically notifying about events such as the registration of a case concerning a given entity or making an entry in the KRS. In this way, basic information about the change is sent. However, the recipient of such information will be able to review the case details only by examining the register files or by consulting the current or full information about the entity entered in the KRS.

According to the creators of the solution, in the event of an attempted company theft, the newsletter will enable the entrepreneur to react quickly and thwart the fraud with the help of enforcement authorities. It should be emphasised that the new regulations do not exempt participants in economic turnover from the obligation to familiarise themselves with the content of the data contained in the National Court Register and with the registration files. The newsletter is intended only as an additional mechanism to prevent economic crimes. For this reason, some experts criticise its practical significance.

How to Use the KRS Newsletter Service

The KRS newsletter service is available only to users who have an account on the Court Registers Portal and have logged into that account. On the Court Registers Portal website, the company to be monitored must be added by entering the correct data (KRS number and email) and accepting the subscription. The entity is selected based on its KRS number (by entering the KRS number of the entity or using the KRS search engine). The newsletter service is free of charge.

The system automatically delivers to the user (by email to the address provided during registration on the PRS) information about events concerning the entity indicated by the user that is registered in the KRS. The list of events concerning monitored entities is also available to the user from the subscription management interface.

The scope of information provided in the newsletter notifications includes:

• case registration upon request: information indicating the KRS position, case number, and date of case registration (without description of the case type),
• case registration ex officio: information indicating the KRS position, case number, and date of case registration (without description of the case type),
• entry in the register: information indicating the KRS position, case number, date of entry, and entry number (without description of the entry type).

A user may order up to 50 subscriptions and define parameters for each, such as the subscription duration (maximum one year), receiving notifications by email, renewal of the subscription when approaching expiry, and cancellation of the subscription. The system notifies about expiring subscriptions and allows their renewal. If the subscription period is not extended, the service will be automatically deactivated upon expiry.

Get Help from Experts

If you require additional information or services regarding the newly established KRS newsletter or are seeking alternative methods to protect the interests of shareholders or management board members, please contact us. Providing legal services in the area of company law and corporate law is one of the main areas of ATL Law’s practice. The legal solutions offered by the ATL Law team enable clients to achieve their business goals and objectives. We protect the interests of companies, management board members, shareholders, and stockholders. We minimise the risk of disputes. We have experience working with entities operating in various economic sectors.