Notarial procedures for online notarisations and online certifications

Act on the Expansion of Online Notarial Procedures in Company and Registry Law (formerly Act on the Expansion of Online Notarial Procedures in Company and Registry Law, on the Digitisation of Certificates of Good Conduct and on Extension)

The draft text largely corresponds to the withdrawn notification 2026/0017/DE. The new notification is required because the new draft proposes a further expansion of online notarial procedures. The act expands the provisions of the Act implementing the Digitalisation Directive of 5 July 2021 (BGBl. I p. 3338), which came into force on 1 August 2022, and transposes the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/1151 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 20 June 2019, amending Directive (EU) 2017/1132 as regards the use of digital tools and processes in company law (OJ L 186, 11.7.2019, p. 80), as well as the provisions of the Act supplementing the provisions implementing the Digitalisation Directive and amending other provisions of 15 July 2022 (BGBl. I p. 1146), which came into force for the most part on 1 August 2023.

The draft law to expand online notarial procedures in company and registry law proposes to extend the scope of online notarial certification to include the formation of public limited companies and limited partnerships with shares, resolutions by the founders to appoint the first supervisory board and the auditor for the first full and partial financial year, powers of attorney for registration with the commercial, company and partnership registers, powers of attorney for voting in shareholders' meetings of limited liability companies, powers of attorney for submitting declarations of acquisition of shares in a limited liability company, the sale of shares in a limited liability company with mutual legal counsel, and online certifications of applications for registration in the foundation register