Deregistration

Instead of placing the company into liquidation, it shall be deregistered i the assets of the company are not sufficient for covering the liquidation costs, or if it is not possible to establish the value of the company’s assets, and no shareholder, creditor or a third party has agreed to bear the liquidation costs. Deregistration is carried out by the Board of Patents and Registration subject to the same preconditions and on the initiative of the same parties as the company can be placed into liquidation [6.4.4.2 Liquidation].

The assets of a deregistered company may not be distributed to shareholders without liquidation proceedings. Pursuant to a special provision of the Companies Act, this is, however, possible after expiry of five years from deregistration, provided that the no creditors have appeared and the company’s assets do not exceed 8,000 euros.

A deregistered company has, in principle, similar legal status as a dissolved company, i.e. it has no capacity to make commitments on the company's behalf. Representatives of such company may, however, take measures that are necessary for repayment of the company’s debts, or preservation of the value of the company’s assets. Such representative or representatives shall be appointed at a shareholders’ meeting, which is subject to the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to general meetings of shareholders.