June 2019 – In accordance with Act No. 346/2018 on the Register of Non-Governmental Non-Profit Organisations (the "Act"), a new public register of non-governmental non-profit organisations has been established in Slovakia. As outlined below, the Act imposes certain obligations on the following types of organisations:

i. Foundations (nadácie),

ii. Non-profit organisations providing generally beneficial services (neziskové organizácie poskytujúce vaeobecne prospeané slu~by),

iii. Non-investment funds (neinvestičné fondy),

iv. Civic associations (občianske zdru~enia),

v. Trade unions (odborové organizácie),

vi. Employers' associations (zdru~enia zamestnávateľov),

vii. Organisations with an nternational element (organizácie s medzinárodným prvkom)

(together the "NPOs").

In addition to the obligation of NPOs to disclose their ultimate beneficial owners by 31 December 2019 (for more information please see this article), civic associations, trade unions and employers' associations that were registered prior to 31 December 2018 must report details of their statutory body and/or its members (if they have a collective statutory body) to the Slovak Ministry of Interior (the "Ministry") by 30 June 2019.

The deadline to provide information on the statutory bodies of foundations, non-profit organisations providing generally beneficial services, non-investment funds and organisations with international element is the date when the Register of Non-Governmental Non-Profit Organisations becomes effective, i.e., 1 January 2021.


NPOs must report
the following to the Ministry:

(a) the full names of the statutory body members;

(b) the addresses of their permanent residence;

(c) their dates of birth and birth numbers;

(d) the date of their appointment to the office;

(e) a document showing their appointment to the office, i.e., a resolution of the General Meeting on the appointment to the office.


The report containing this information must be signed by the statutory body in the manner required by the applicable by-laws of the NPO, and the signatures must be verified by a notary.

Specific reporting forms are currently in place only for civic associations. The Ministry is preparing a reporting form template for other types of NPOs. Once ready, they should be available at this link.

Until then, NPOs can meet their reporting obligation in two ways:

(i) by providing the required information in writing and submitting it to the address of the respective registration authority;

(ii) by providing it to the respective registration authority electronically and submitting it via the "General agenda" tab available on the central public administration portal www.slovensko.sk.

Submission of the required information about the statutory bodies is free of charge for trade unions, employers' associations, civic associations and organisations with an international element until 30 June 2019. Other NPOs or late-reporting organisations (i.e., reporting after 30 June 2019) will be charged a fee of EUR 16.50.

Sanctions

NPOs that do not provide details of their statutory bodies to the Ministry as outlined above will not be able to receive public funds, e.g., European Union funds or various domestic or foreign grants and will be prohibited from acquiring any state, municipal or other public assets.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.