The evolution of the registration system of legal entity establishment in Russia: Main stages and trends

Abstract

In this paper, the author describes various stages of the evolution of the registration system of legal entity establishment in Russia. It has been noted that the rule making was unsystematic in the beginning, which influenced its subsequent development, thereby resulting in a variety of acts regulating the activities of registration entities and registration authorities. The beginning of the formation of the system under consideration refers to the period of radical economic changes in the late 1980s, the transitional stage in its formation ended in 1994 along with the adoption of the first part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Particular attention has been paid to the period when the registration system configuration was defined in line with the liberal approach, which implies minimal restrictions on the establishment of a legal entity, the formal nature of the grounds for refusal, and the absence of a preliminary verification of the legality / reliability of the information included in the registry. This approach was heavily criticized and, finally, reversed: under the slogans of combating false information entered into the register by unscrupulous market participants, as well as counteracting the so-called sham companies, the preliminary control over the creation of legal entities sharply increased, up to the assessment of the advisability of establishing a new subject of law – a legal entity. Among the current trends in the development of the registration system, an excessive appeal to various letters, explanations to regulate the relations, and active use of information resources have been highlighted.

Keywords

• d.i. meyer
• legal entities
• state registration
• unified state register of legal entities
• history