Company set up in Hungary

In
order to establish a Hungarian company, it needs to be registered with the
Hungarian Court of Registration. The registration process requires the
involvement of a lawyer who countersigns the corporate documents and files the
electronic application for registration. The signing of corporate documentation
does not require a travel to Hungary, they can be signed abroad, however, the
opening of the bank account of the company generally requires the presence of a
signatory at least for one business day.

The
main steps of the establishment of a limited liability company are as follows
(this may vary a bit at other company forms):

1. You need to decide on the specifics of the
   company, such as the name, registered office, management, amount and type
   of share capital, person of delivery agent.
2. The Hungarian lawyer prepares the
   corporate documents, including the articles of association, statutory
   declarations from the management.
3. If the shareholder is a foreign company,
   its legalized company registry extract or similar certificate needs to be
   obtained and then translated into Hungarian. The certificate should
   confirm that the shareholder is duly established and existing in its
   jurisdiction, furthermore, the certificate should verify the registered
   seat and the person signing on behalf of the shareholder.
4. The corporate documents are signed either
   in front the Hungarian lawyer or abroad, in which latter case notarization
   and superlegalization may be necessary (Hungarian consular or embassy
   certification or Apostille).
5. A Hungarian bank account needs to be
   opened where the share capital shall be deposited.
6. The Hungarian lawyer files the executed
   and countersigned corporate documents and the electronic application for
   the registration of the company.
7. The Court of Registration registers the
   company. As the registration process is a one-stop-shop action, it also
   provides the company with the VAT number and statistical number.

With
some restrictions, the company can start business activities as from the
filing. From the filing (Step 6), the registration takes generally 1-2 weeks.

It
is possible to apply for an expedited
registration (usually within a week), however in such case, the articles of
association needs to be prepared on the basis of a template without any
additions or deletions.

The
registration of a general partnership, a limited partnership and a limited
liability company is free of statutory fees. The duty fee of registering a
private company limited by shares is HUF 100,000 and it is HUF 50,000 of
registering a branch office. Statutory publication fees (HUF 5,000),
translation, legalization and courier fees would also apply.

The above is a non-exhaustive description of
the relevant Hungarian legal provisions. The above summary should not be
considered as legal advice and should not be relied upon when making business
decisions. Before resolving on investment in Hungary, we recommend that you
contact our law firm for detailed, tailor-made legal advice.