Romanian corporate law · Practical guide for shareholders

Changing an SRL administrator in Romania involves more than signing a shareholder decision. A company must identify who has authority to decide, record the appointment and departure correctly, prepare the Trade Register file, and hand over the practical controls that keep the business running.

What does changing an SRL administrator in Romania mean?

In Romanian company law, the office relevant here is the administrator of an SRL. International shareholders sometimes use “company director” as an English shorthand, but “director” may describe a different corporate or employment role in Romanian law, especially in an SA. The SRL administrator’s legal powers, term and method of representation are set by statute and the company’s constitutive act (act constitutiv). A general manager, an employee whose job title contains “director,” and an SRL administrator are not necessarily the same person. Identify the office that is changing before preparing the documents.

Article 194(1)(b) of Law no. 31/1990 gives the shareholders’ meeting the power to appoint and revoke SRL administrators. Article 197(1) governs SRL administration: one or more administrators may serve, and they may be shareholders or persons from outside the ownership group. In a single-shareholder SRL, the sole shareholder exercises the powers of the general meeting and records decisions in writing under Article 196¹.

A change of administrator does not by itself transfer shares or necessarily change the beneficial owner. Examine who ultimately owns or controls the company and whether the registered beneficial-owner information has changed. The change also does not automatically terminate a separate employment agreement, settle an outgoing administrator’s mandate-related claims, or transfer personal access to a bank account. Those questions deserve a separate document review. For the wider risk landscape, see our guide to Romanian company director liability.

Which administrator-change route fits the company?

Start with the event that creates the vacancy or change of powers. The same ONRC category can cover several materially different governance situations.

Who can appoint or remove the administrator?

For an SRL with several shareholders, Article 192(1) of Law no. 31/1990 sets the ordinary rule of an absolute majority of both shareholders and share capital, unless the constitutive act provides otherwise. In practical terms, more than 50% of all shareholders must vote for the decision, and those shareholders must together hold more than 50% of the share capital. For example, in an SRL with five shareholders, three voting in favour still need to hold over half the share capital between them. Do not use an old template demanding unanimous consent for every amendment: Article 192(2), which previously addressed amendments, was repealed in 2022. Equally, do not assume a bare majority works where the company’s own act provides a different threshold or the meeting was called incorrectly.

Review the notice clause and the proposed agenda before circulating a decision. Article 195(3) refers first to the form in the constitutive act; without a special provision, it provides for registered-letter notice at least ten days before the meeting, stating the agenda. The court’s interpretation of when that period starts may matter where an attendee contests service. The current Article 195¹ of Law no. 31/1990 permits remote participation where the constitutive act provides for it, the shareholders decide by the Article 192 majority, or all shareholders agree in writing. The means used must allow identification, effective participation, continuous transmission of deliberations and verification of votes; the adopted resolutions are signed by hand or electronically in accordance with the law. A foreign parent company’s wish to sign remotely is therefore a document and procedure question, not a reason to skip formalities.

Where one administrator is removed and another appointed, draft the decision around both acts. Make the precise change to any named administrators in the constitutive act, state the new term and method of representation, and confirm who may implement the filing. A decision that says merely “appoint our new administrator” can leave registrable facts uncertain. If shareholders disagree over the process, consider whether the meeting, vote and grounds for any challenge need legal review before a filing is attempted.

Which documents go into the ONRC filing?

The ONRC guidance on changes to management bodies lists the registration application, the competent corporate body’s decision, identity documents for incoming members, and an updated constitutive act for an SRL where applicable. Its additional items are explicitly conditional. Use the current checklist and the facts of your case, including the identity and tax status of a foreign appointee.

Select a row to see the practical filing check.

The ONRC page says applicable fiscal-record information is obtained by the office from ANAF ex officio. Depending on the case, ONRC also lists a foreign individual’s declaration where the individual is not registered for Romanian tax purposes, a signature specimen, a declaration that the new administrator meets legal conditions, evidence for a legal-entity office holder, required sector authorisations and an attorney’s authority. A beneficial-owner declaration is listed if applicable. Replacing an administrator does not necessarily change beneficial ownership, but the company must assess the actual ownership and control structure, any change to registered beneficial-owner data and the ONRC requirements for a beneficial-owner declaration applicable when it files. A person’s management role should not be treated as a universal answer to who ultimately controls the company.

What should the shareholder resolution actually say?

Clear drafting reduces both registration questions and disputes about who may act for the company. Identify the Romanian company by its full legal name, registration number and registered office. Identify the decision-maker, how the meeting was convened or the sole shareholder’s authority, the date, attendees and vote. Then state the outgoing administrator’s name and reason or legal mechanism for cessation without implying that a dispute is resolved merely by using a label.

Set out the incoming person’s full identifying details, the appointment, its effective date and duration, and whether the administrator represents the company alone or together with another named office holder. If a specific approval is needed for certain transactions, distinguish internal authorisation from the registered external representation rule. Decide whether discharge of management activity is on the agenda; appointment and discharge are related but distinct shareholder decisions under Article 194.

Where the constitutive act names the administrator or states the representation method, attach an updated full text reflecting the amendment, consistent with Article 204(4) of Law no. 31/1990 and the ONRC checklist. Ask counsel to check whether the particular appointment requires an act amendment; not every change presents an identical filing set. Keep signing authority, dates and spelling the same throughout the decision, constitutive act, identity copy and application.

How soon must the change be filed, and how is it submitted?

ONRC’s current guidance states the general rule that an application for a legal entity’s registration is filed within 15 days from conclusion of the constitutive or amending act, unless the law provides otherwise. Determine what instrument actually changes this company and whether a special provision applies. Put the decision date, signature date, proposed start of office and filing date on a single timetable. Do not treat fifteen days as a promise that a bank or counterparty will update its records within the same period.

ONRC lists physical submission, postal or courier submission and electronic transmission among the available routes. It states that electronic submissions require a qualified electronic signature in the relevant format; paper and electronic requirements should not be conflated. The same guidance notes that filings can be made at any Trade Register office under Article 85 of Law no. 265/2022. A representative filing on a company’s behalf needs the appropriate authority document. For a broader overview of digital company filings, see our guide to online company registration and electronic signatures.

The guidance describes a one-working-day decision period for the registrar calculated from registration of the application, with power to request further documentary evidence. That is a procedural decision standard, not a guarantee that the entire corporate change, publication, banking update and business handover will be complete the next day. Check the actual case status and retrieve the updated registration evidence before presenting a new signatory to counterparties.

How do foreign shareholders or foreign administrators sign?

International groups commonly have a Romanian SRL owned by a foreign company and want its parent-level officers to approve an administrator change without travelling. The corporate decision still has to be made by the correct Romanian company’s decision-maker, represented by someone authorised to act for the foreign shareholder. Review the foreign parent’s current registry evidence, internal powers and any power of attorney before settling the Romanian resolution. A job title alone does not always prove authority to sign.

Document language, certification, translation and any apostille or legalisation question depend on where the document originates and how it will be used. ONRC states that documents submitted for registration must be typed in Romanian and legible; foreign source documents may require additional formalities under the relevant rules. Do not assume every foreign document requires an apostille or that an electronic signature substitutes for all underlying evidence of authority. Clarify the exact package before circulating originals internationally.

If the proposed administrator is a foreign individual, compare the ONRC conditions for identity, fiscal status, declarations and specimen of signature with the individual’s actual situation. Appointment as administrator is a company-law question; the person’s immigration, work, residency and tax position may create additional questions that are outside the registry filing itself. Build time for those checks if the administrator will manage operations from Romania.

Does a resignation or contested removal require a different approach?

A voluntary resignation and a shareholder revocation may lead to the same need to update registered management, but the underlying evidence and possible private claims differ. Preserve the resignation communication, proof of receipt, mandate or service agreement and relevant shareholder decision. Check whether the company will still have a person who can represent it during transition. If the former administrator is also a shareholder or employee, treat those capacities separately.

If shareholders are divided, meeting procedure, voting rights, access to records and the accuracy of the existing register become central. Article 196 of Law no. 31/1990 addresses challenge of an SRL general-meeting decision, applying rules from joint-stock companies and a specific knowledge-based starting point for the fifteen-day period stated there. A dispute over the decision calls for case-specific litigation analysis; a Trade Register filing should not be portrayed as settling all private-law disputes.

Revoking an administrator does not automatically extinguish liability for conduct during an earlier mandate, just as a disagreement over performance does not itself invalidate every corporate decision. Conversely, the outgoing administrator may have contractual claims even where the shareholder resolution is valid. Keep evidence of the handover, account access and communications in a controlled file, particularly when control of financial information or customer contracts is disputed.

What should the company put in its handover file?

A registry update is one part of continuity. The incoming administrator may need to approve payroll, tax submissions, supplier payments, litigation instructions or an imminent lease. Create an indexed file and assign a named person to confirm each handover. The following checklist is interactive for planning only; selecting an item does not save or upload company information.

Click each card as you assemble the file.

• ✓Current constitutive act, registration extract and shareholder register.
• ✓Notice, attendance and voting evidence or signed sole-shareholder decision.
• ✓Acceptance, identity copy and case-specific ONRC statements or signature specimen.
• ✓Filed application, receipt, registrar decision and updated registration evidence.
• ✓Bank mandate and payment approval matrix, with old access reviewed.
• ✓Contracts requiring a signatory update or change-of-control style notice.
• ✓Accounting, tax, payroll, IT and e-signature access ownership.
• ✓Written outgoing handover of live disputes, deadlines and key assets.

The checklist does not imply that all eight documents must be submitted to ONRC. Bank forms, contract notices and IT credentials belong to an operational workstream. The registry workstream has its own legally required papers. Separating the two prevents a common problem: the new administrator appears in the public record but still cannot release a payment, or the former administrator retains access after their authority has changed.

How should the handover be sequenced with the bank and counterparties?

Before the shareholder decision, identify urgent transactions and who can sign them. Then align the effective date in the decision with any necessary acceptance, the outgoing administrator’s access changes and the planned ONRC submission. After the registrar has decided and the public record is updated, obtain the extract the bank needs and follow its own mandate process. Banks and contract partners may require additional identity or corporate documents under their own procedures.

Review loan agreements, leases, licences, supplier frameworks and insurance policies for named signatories, notification duties or key-person conditions. An administrator change is not automatically a change of share ownership, but a contractual notice clause may still respond to a management or control event as defined in that contract. Record notices and acknowledgments. In regulated sectors, check whether an authority’s approval or notification must precede the registration or a person beginning their functions; the ONRC checklist itself flags prior sector authorisations where the law requires them.

Give the incoming administrator a concise briefing on pending payment runs, deadlines, tax correspondence, pending claims and employment decisions. Where a departure is contentious, a neutral inventory of company assets and records protects the integrity of the transition. Avoid copying personal material unrelated to company duties; the point is a complete business record that another authorised person can actually use.

Two illustrative administrator-change situations

A foreign parent replaces its Romanian subsidiary’s sole administrator. The parent wants the new appointee to begin signing contracts next week. Counsel first checks its authority to sign the sole-shareholder decision, the Romanian constitutive act and the proposed representation date. The filing pack includes the decision, the incoming person’s identification and any additional ONRC documents triggered by the facts. The bank’s mandate timetable is checked separately so a legal appointment is not mistaken for immediate payment access.

Two shareholders disagree after an administrator resigns. The company has a time-sensitive supplier payment and conflicting views on who can call the meeting. The team preserves the resignation, the current articles, notices, voting evidence and bank-authority records. It then decides what valid corporate action can fill the vacancy, whether a challenge risk arises and how the Trade Register and temporary operational controls should be managed. These scenarios are illustrations, not claims about actual clients or guaranteed outcomes.

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