ECRF / CRF Survey of 2008

Annika BränströmSwedish Companies Registration Office

Goal

Gather and compare annually data on:

– Company registration practices– New registrations, total registrations and

business terminations

Survey questions

• About the organization• Company registration process• Business terminations • Annual accounts • Online services • European companies (only for

ECRF members)• Share capital • Data on registrations

New questions for ECRF 2008• Refusal of bankruptcy• Transfer of seats

Number of participating countries or jurisdictions in ECRF/CRF survey of 2008

0

10

20

30

40

50

Number ofparticipatingcountries orjurisdictions

20 29 31 42 42

2002 2005 2006 2007 2008

ECRF participants of 2008

Austria *

Czech Republic

Denmark *

Estonia *

Finland *

France *

Great Britain *

Guernsey (new)

Hungary

Ireland *

Isle of Man

Italy *

Jersey *

Latvia *

Liechtenstein *

Lithuania *

Luxembourg *

Netherlands *

Norway *

Portugal (new)

Romania *

Serbia

Slovenia

Spain (x2 registrars)

Sweden *

Switzerland *

(27 registrars of 32)

(* trend available

for 18 registrars)

CRF participants of 2008

Australia *

Botswana (new)

Canada *

Cook Islands

Hong Kong *

India *

Malaysia *

New Zealand *

Pakistan *

Samoa

Singapore *

South Africa *

Sri Lanka

United Kingdom *

Zambia

(15 registrars of 21)

(* trend available

for 10 registrars)

How would you classify your organization

2

0

13

6

2

18

0 5 10 15 20

other

Court of justice

Governmental (state-owned)

other

Court of justice

Governmental (state-owned)

CR

F*

EC

RF

What type of structure does your organization have

1

5

9

2

9

16

0 5 10 15 20

Other

Decentralized

Centralized

Other

Decentralized

Centralized

CR

F*

EC

RF

Type of structure versus type of organization

Type Centralized Decentralized Other

Governmental ECRF Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Great Britain, Guernsey, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Sweden

Austria, Ireland, Isle of Man, Lithuania, Romania, Switzerland

CRF Botswana, Canada, Cook Islands, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom

Australia, India, Zambia

Singapore

Court of justice ECRF Czech Republic, Slovenia (Germany*), Hungary

Other ECRF France, Serbia Italy, Netherlands Spain

CRF Malaysia, Pakistan

* Non-respondents data is from 2007

What type of funding do you receive

6

5

4

10

4

13

0 5 10 15

Other

No funding at all

Governmental funding

Other

No funding at all

Governmental funding

CR

F*

EC

RF

Does your legislation permit you to carry on a profit

8

2

5

13

10

4

0 5 10 15

No

Yes, but with some restrictions

Yes

No

Yes, but with some restrictions

Yes

CR

F*

EC

RF

Do you apply the cost-covering principle when setting your prices

3

3

9

3

8

16

0 5 10 15 20

No, never

Yes, sometimes

Yes, always

No, never

Yes, sometimes

Yes, always

CR

F*

EC

RF

What fees and charges do you collect ?

ECRF CRFcount % count %

Information fees 25 93 12 79

Company formation fees 24 89 15 100

Some services are free of charge 23 85 12 79

Application fees for changes 22 81 13 86

Fees for reg. of annual accounts 13 48 8 57

Other fees 13 48 12 79

Annual fees to keep a company on the register

6 22 8 50

What are the most frequent changes in your companies register?

ECRF CRFcount % count %

Change of particulars for Director or Secretary 22 81 14 93

Change of address of registered office 17 63 11 73

Change of business/company name 9 33 8 53

Increase/Decrease in capital 9 33 8 53

If other, please specify 3 11 3 20

Change of accounting reference date 2 7 1 7

ECRF Trend: Frequent changes

02468

10121416

2005 2006 2007 2008

Change ofparticulars

Increase /Decrease incapital

Processing times for formation/incorporationECRF CRF

max median max median

goal in workdays 7 2 3 1

average number of workdays 7 2,5 5 2

minimum number of workdays 2 1 3 1

maximum number of workdays 30 6 60 3,5

ECRF Trend: Workdays for company formation

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2005 2006 2007 2008

Average goal

Averagenumber ofworkdays forcompanyformation

ECRF Trend: Workdays for company formation

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2005 2006 2007 2008

Average goal

Average number of workdays for companyformation

ECRF Trend: New company registrations

0

500 000

1 000 000

1 500 000

2 000 000

2005 2006 2007 2008

Processing times for changesECRF CRF

max median max median

goal in workdays 7 3 6 2

average number of workdays 10 3 7 2

minimum number of workdays 3 1 4 1

maximum number of workdays 30 6 7 2,5

ECRF Trend: Processing time for changes

0

2

4

6

8

10

2005 2006 2007 2008

Max

Average

Min

Most popular means of communication regarding filed documents

ECRF CRFcount % count %

Letter 25 93 14 100Phone 19 70 13 86E-mail 18 67 10 64Fax 6 22 9 64Sms 3 11 2 14Other 3 11 4 21

Portugal

Spain x2

New Zealand

Singapore

ECRF Trend: Popular means of communication

0

5

10

15

20

2005 2006 2007 2008 … 2015

E-mail

Letter

ECRF Analysis: Differences in most popular means of communication

0%

50%

100%

percent 59% 7% 33% 0%

n 16 2 9 0

E-mail and Letter

E-mail only

Letter only

Neither

How do you examine the company/business namesCompany name Business name

ECRF CRF ECRF (n=14) CRF (n=6)

count % count % count % count %

formally 19 70 10 67 9 64 4 67

legally 23 85 13 87 9 64 5 83

against national trademark database

8 30 4 27 2 14 2 33

against ALICANTE trademark database

4 15 * * 1 7 * *

against companies register

22 85 14 93 9 64 4 67

don't examine at all 1 4 0 0 2 14 1 17

* not available for CRF members

Lithuania SpainSwedenFinland

ECRF analysis: Company formation time differences

0123456

(*) ALICANTE examiners other ECRF countries

Mean Average workdays for company formation

Lithuania SpainSwedenFinland(*)

ECRF analysis: Company formation time when examining both company and business

name0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

ECRF mean

formally

legally

companies register

nat. trademark DB

ALICANTE

What payment methods do you accept

ECRF CRF

Count % count %

Cash 22 81 13 87

Online payments 18 67 11 73

Major credit/debit cards 17 63 10 67

Bank draft/checks 16 59 13 87

Invoice 13 48 4 27

Money orders 12 44 9 60

Deposit accounts 11 41 8 53

Postal/money orders 10 37 9 60

If other, please specify 7 26 4 27

ECRF Trend: accepted payment methods

0

5

10

15

20

2005 2006 2007 2008

Cash

Onlinepayments

Do you register / decide on the following types of business termination

decide on registerECRF CRF ECRF CRF

count % count % count % count %

Bankruptcy

1 4 0 0 21 78 0 0

Wind up/ Liquidation

11 41 3 20 24 89 13 87

Merger 9 33 4 27 24 89 10 67

Strike off 17 63 11 73 22 81 12 80

Austria

How do you accept annual accounts

ECRF (n=22) CRF (n=11)

count % count %

By mail (hard copy) 18 82 8 72

Electronically (other format) 13 59 4 36

Electronically (XBRL) 7 31 2 18

By e-mail (pdf, word format, etc.) 3 14 2 18

By fax (paper copy) 1 5 0 0

If other, please specify 10 45 7 64

Netherlands

Liechtenstein

Latvia

ECRF Trend: annual accounts accepted formats

0

5

10

15

20

2005 2006 2007 2008

XBRL

E-mail

Mail

Receivesannualaccounts

What formats of the annual accounts are available to the public

ECRF(n=22) CRF(n=11)

count % count %

pdf/ps/eps 21 95 5 45

scanned images 14 64 5 45

tiff/giff 6 27 3 27

rtf/doc 3 14 1 9

If other, please specify 12 55 4 36

ECRF Trend: annual accounts available formats

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

2005 2006 2007 2008

PDF RTF

Do you charge penalty fees for the late filing of annual accounts (excluding non-respondents)

ECRF CRFcount % count %

Yes 18 75 12 92

No 6 25 1 8

Comparison: Charging of penalty fees for annual account

0

20

40

60

80

100

ECRF CRF

%

Filing services on your website

0 10 20 30

Forms in national language

Forms in foreign languages

Electronic formation

Electronic change

Software for e-filing

ECRF CRF

ECRF Trend: filing services on your website

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

2005 2006 2007 2008

Elec. change

Elec.Incorporation

Electronic certificates supplied

0 2 4 6 8 10

Sole trader

GeneralPartnership

Private limited

Public limited

ECRF CRF

Complete online registration

0 5 10 15

Sole trader

Generalpartnership

Private limited

Public limited

ECRF CRF

ECRF Trend: Complete online registration

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2005 2006 2007 2008

Generalpartnership

Sole trader

Graph shows mean percentage filed on time

Dotted lines are maximum and minimum percent filed on time

Data on ECRF-members that have not answered 0%

ECRF Trend: What percentage of companies files their annual accounts on time (annual average)

78 7780 82

0

25

50

75

100

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Percent filing accounts on time

Analysis: Does penalty fees increase the percentage of companies files their annual accounts on time (annual average)

50

75

100

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Percent filing accounts on time

penalty fees: No(3 members)

penalty fees: Yes(11 members)

Shown: difference between members mean percentage filed on time by penalty fee (yes/no)

Data on ECRF-members that have not answered 0%

Do you register that a refusal is caused by the inability of the

company to pay for the bankruptcy proceedings? (NEW)

0 5 10 15

Situation not possible

Not registered

Registered

Automatically registered

No answer

Do you register that a refusal is caused by the inability of the

company to pay for the bankruptcy proceedings? (NEW)

0 5 10 15

Situation not possible

Not registered

Registered

Automatically registered

No answer

Do you register a refusal of bankruptcy when the decision to

refuse is taken by a foreign bankruptcy court? (NEW)

0 5 10 15

Situation not possible

Not registered

Registered

Automatically registered

No answer

Do you accept a transfer of seat? (NEW)

0 5 10 15

Yes, to any jurisdiction

Yes, to specific jurisdiction

Not accepted

No answer

Which institution performs a legal check of transfer of seat process? (NEW)

ECRF (n=16)

Count %

Our registry 12 75

Public notary 4 25

Governmental authority 0 0

Other institutions 4 25

When leaving your jursidiction do you wait for it’s new registration in the other country? (NEW)

ECRF (n=16)

Count %

We do not delete such leaving entities 3 19

Yes, we wait for the other registry before deletion 11 69

No, we do not necessarily wait for the other registry before deletion 1 6

If you delete such entities that transfers their seat, do you notify the entity’s new registry of your deletion?

(NEW)

ECRF (n=16)

Count %

No 10 63

Yes, we notify the central registry 2 13

Yes, we notify the local registry 1 6

Yes, we notify to other authorities 1 6