Slovakia: step-by-step guide to entering the insurance market

Insurance companies from EU countries are free to provide insurance services in Slovakia either directly or through a branch office.

Direct operation

To commence insurance business in Slovakia, an EU insurance company:

• remains subject the insurance laws of its home country and to regulation by its home regulator
• requires no special licence
• does not need to establish a branch office
• does not need to register with the Slovak Commercial Register, as its business is not considered an entrepreneurial activity
• must inform its home regulator before commencing business of the scope of insurance activities to be provided in Slovakia
• must await confirmation from the home regulator that it has notified the National Bank of Slovakia, which regulates the insurance market in Slovakia. Any changes in the scope of the insurance company’s business must also be notified to the National Bank of Slovakia via the home regulator in the same way.
• is only indirectly regulated by the National Bank of Slovakia

Branch office

To establish a branch office in Slovakia, an EU insurance company:

• does not need to observe any minimum capital requirements for the branch
• can appoint a non-Slovak citizen as branch representative
• must inform its home regulator of the scope of insurance activities to be provided in Slovakia
• must then await confirmation from the National Bank of Slovakia that it has received notification by the insurance company’s home regulator of the scope of those insurance activities
• must then await notification via its home regulator of any regulations applicable to the branch office. These must be notified to the home regulator by the National Bank of Slovakia within 2 months of receiving notice of insurance activities from the home regulator
• must register the branch with the Slovak Commercial Register (which takes approximately 5 days)
• will then be able to commence insurance business in Slovakia via its branch office, which will be supervised by the National Bank of Slovakia and subject to Slovak insurance law
• must give the National Bank of Slovakia at least 30 days’ notice of any changes to the branch’s address, organisational structure, branch representative or the scope of its insurance activities