An association can be established by a group of persons, legal entities, or partners with similar goals usually stated in the articles of association of the entity. Registering an association in the commercial register of associations and foundations takes a minimum of two people and at least seven days. An acquisition is a process whereby an association transfers its property to another association known as the acquirer. When the transfer is a merger, the joining association stops existing without having to liquidate itself and its rights and obligations are automatically transferred to the acquiring association. All the associations involved in the acquisition must submit the required documents three months before the publication of the notice in the official publication ‘Latvijas Vēstnesis’.
If you are thinking of transferring property to another association or an acquiring association looking to expand, this article provides information on transferring property from one association to another (acquisition), how to carry out the process, and other information you may be interested in knowing.
Features of transferring property (acquisition)
The features of acquisition between two associations are the key points to note before carrying out a transfer of property. They include the following:
- Purpose of the transfer
- Instrument of the transfer
- Period of association
- Settlement of the consideration (If the transferor and the transferee are associated, it may be deemed a debt to the transferor)
- The obligation of the Transferee
- The obligation of the Transferor
- Payment of Stamp Duty
Completing the registration form
To transfer a registered property belonging to one association to another association, an application must be made to the Commercial Register through a form. The application form B4 has to be filled out and signed by the board members of the transferee or a representative mandated by a power of attorney. The application form should contain the following:
- Name of the transferee
- The registered address of the associations
- Form of activity carried out by the associations
- When the decision to transfer property was made
- Details of the board members of the associations, etc.
Paying the registration fee
A registration fee has to be paid for the process of transferring property between associations to take place. The amount payable differs depending on the type of service an applicant requires and the country in such the applicant is applying. In Latvia, the enterprise register charges around EUR 5 as a state fee. This must be paid to the treasury account two days before the submission of the required documents.
Submission of required documents
Without presenting certain documents to the Register, an association’s application for the transfer of property may not be processed on time. The documents have to be presented some months before publishing a notice in the official publication. The following are documents to be submitted during registration:
- Application form B4
- Contract of reorganization contract or a certified copy
- Minutes of the meeting of members or a summary
- Receipt or printout of the payment of the registration fee
- The instrument for the transfer of assets
- Power of attorney (if a foreign organization is represented by a fiscal agent), et cetera.
Method of submission
There are two ways an applicant can submit his application and documents to the register. The first method is sending electronically via email. You can send do this from anywhere in the world. Note that the documents have to be duly signed by the founders of the associations before they are submitted. The second method is by post. This method requires an applicant to send an order for the payment of the registration fee along with the attached documents and filed form.
