Under Government Ordinance 18/2022 entered into force on August 7^th , a new procedure was established for the authorization and operating the Representatives of non-resident companies in Romania, procedure to become operational within a maximum of 180 days from the entry into force of the regulation.

As a novelty, the entire process of authorization and extension of the authorization is to be carried out online on a dedicated platform made available by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, which has the competence under the legal norm to issue the Operating Authorization.

Operating Authorizations will be issued with a validity of 1 year, same as at present, and the authorization fee in the amount of 1000 Euro/year is paid in Ron, at National Bank of Romania exchange rate on the date of payment, to the competent central fiscal body where the Representative has its office.

The registration application of a Representative office and the issuance of the Operating authorization is completed electronically through the above-mentioned platform and will include the following information:

a) the name, registered office, and tax registration number of the foreign entity.

b) the object of activity of the Representative office, in accordance with the object of activity of the requesting foreign company or economic organization.

c) duration of operation of the Representative office.

d) representative of the agency in relations with third parties.

e) headquarters of the Representative office.

The application will be accompanied by the following documents:

a) the document issued by the competent authority of the country in which the foreign company or economic organization has its registered office, which shows the identification and registration data of the foreign company or economic organization, the object of activity and the share capital, also the authorized translation of this document with qualified or advanced electronic signature.

b) the constitutive document or other supporting documents regarding the form of organization and way of functioning of the foreign company or economic organization also the authorized translation of this document with qualified or advanced electronic signature.

c) the power of attorney for designated individuals to represent the foreign company or economic organization for the registration, with authorized translation, as the case may be.

d) confirmation of payment of the authorization fee.

e) a confirmation of creditworthiness from the bank through which the foreign company or economic organization carries out its main financial operations.

f) proof of the existence of the representative office on the territory of Romania for a period at least equal to the period of validity of the authorization or to the period for which the extension of the authorization is requested.

The deadline for issuing the Operating Authorization is 30 days from the date of registration of the application and/or its completion. The Operating Authorization will include the identification data of the foreign company or economic organization, the object of activity of the representative office, the representative in relations with third parties of the representative office, the validity period of the authorization, the conditions for exercising the activity and the office of the representative office.

The foreign companies or economic organizations represented in Romania have the obligation to communicate to the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism any changes that have occurred in relation to the data entered on the operation authorization of the Representative office, as well as regarding the legal status, the object of activity, the share capital or the headquarters of the foreign company, within 30 days from the date of occurrence of these changes, and to request, if necessary, the modification of the operating authorization, according to the changes that have occurred.

Any modification of the data entered in the Operating Authorization is done in the dedicated platform and is completed within 30 days from the registration of the modification request.

The extension of the validity of the Operating authorization is done only at the request of the Representative office, addressed to the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, within at least 30 days before the expiry date, by completing the electronic form within the electronic platform, accompanied by proof of payment of the authorization fee.

The Operating authorization can be withdrawn by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, before the expiration of validity, within 30 days from the request of the authorities with control powers, for the following reasons:

a) the violation by the personnel of the representative office of the legal provisions in Romania regarding money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

b) non-compliance with the object of activity listed in the operating authorization and the conditions for exercising the activity.

c) non-compliance with fiscal obligations.

The financial-banking operations of the Representative offices are carried out through accounts opened at banks legally established on the territory of Romania, in compliance with the national and European Union legislation in force.

The authorizations of the Representation offices of foreign companies or economic organizations issued until the date of entry into force of the new regulations shall remain valid until their expiration date.