Commercial acts and contracts are registered in a commercial registry.
Recording is the process and result of recording (the action of observing something and taking note or specifying information in a document). The concept is also used to name the system , instrument or paper where the data is stored. Mercantile , for its part, is that which is linked to commercial activity and merchandise.
The institution through which contracts and commercial acts are registered is known as the commercial registry . It is a public entity whose limits and scope are set by law .
This administrative institution allows the legal status of registered merchants to be disclosed. Typically, those engaged in commerce must report certain data and the commercial registry disseminates the information to contribute to general legal certainty.
Characteristics of the commercial registry
What the commercial registry does, in short, is to disclose data about those people, both legal and physical, who are involved in commercial operations. Thanks to this registry, potential investors, individuals analyzing the contracting of their products or services, and public offices that require the data, have access to the information.
The characteristics of the commercial registry depend on each country. This registration is generally considered to be the proof that certifies the legal existence of a merchant and his trade.
The data recorded for each business in the commercial registry may include the commercial registration, the certificate of formation of a company , the accounting books, inheritances and embargoes, among others.
The commercial registry contributes to legal certainty.
The Spanish case
In Spain, a related concept is the Official Gazette of the Commercial Registry , which is often referred to as BORME .
This is the official body in charge of publicizing any legal act that needs to be made known to the general public. It is published in digital and paper format, and this work, as well as the dissemination of the bulletin, is carried out by the Official State Gazette State Agency.
Functions of the Commercial Registry of Spain
* legalizes company books . Entrepreneurs must present those that are mandatory in the Commercial Registry corresponding to their domicile, in order to carry out their legalization, which consists of the following two steps:
1) leave a written record on the first page of the book of the businessman's identification data, the type of book (which may be inventories , journals or annual accounts), the content and the sealing system, the number of books belonging to the businessman. that they are of the same type and number of pages as the book in question;
2) seal all sheets through a procedure that demonstrates the authenticity of the procedure, such as mechanical perforation, stamping or printing.
* appoint independent experts or experts to assess contributions to the company that are not made in money. For example, if one of the partners contributes a piece of real estate, the way to know its valuation is to go to the Commercial Registry and request this calculation , which will be placed in the hands of a specialist;
* the appointment of auditors or experts , as necessary, as occurs in the event of a division or merger;
* act as a point at which the annual accounts that companies are required to present within the first six months of the following year are deposited. In the Commercial Registry, they are kept for six years from the date of publication in the Official Gazette ( BORME );