Registration of Lithuanian companies is performed by the state enterprise Centre of Registers. The Centre of Registers was established by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania on 8 July 1997 by using State resources.

The most significant function of the Centre of Registers is management of the following three principal registers of the state:

Real Property Cadastre and Register
Register of Legal Entities
Register of Addresses
The Centre of Registers took over the responsibility to register legal entities from local governments in 2004; however, the company data have been collected by the register since 1990.

In fact, the Centre of Registers is considered an excellent example in the public sector of Lithuania of how to create and develop a system of register databases.

The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Latvia believes that the most appropriate form of enterprise for management, maintenance and development of registers is exactly a state enterprise, which can gain profit, because it ensures more possibilities to improve efficiency of the registration process. Unlike the institutions financed from the State budget, a state enterprise also has the possibilities to attract appropriate information technology (IT) specialists and to ensure development of IT.

Register of Legal Entities
The Register contains complete information and historical data on the form and status of legal entities, their fields of activity, their size and information on representatives, members, management bodies and obtained licences, etc. of legal entities. Since 2004, most of the companies have to comply with a mandatory requirement to submit annual finance reports to the Register. Likewise, since 2010 private limited liability companies have a duty to declare a list of shareholders by submitting this information to the Centre of Registers.

The Register of Legal Entities applies in practice the principles of transparency and publicity, because the information on legal entities: enterprises, institutions and non-governmental organisations is public.

Statements from the Register of Legal Entities, annual reports, lists of shareholders or any other documents, such as minutes of Board meetings, are kept in the archives of the Centre of Registers, and they are available to all interested persons. This is a paid service.

Electronic registration
In 2010, the Centre or Registers launched the electronic registration of legal entities online. Taking into account that no documents are submitted in written form when using this service, a safe electronic signature is necessary. So far, online registration of legal entities has been available only to the citizens of Lithuania, but the Centre of Registers is actively working on ensuring equal possibilities for foreign investors to use this service. Therefore, the e-Guide for establishment of enterprises is introduced in Lithuania to provide foreign customers with the required assistance by offering the information on how to carry out procedures of establishment and registration.

Types of entities
The Centre of Registers offers to register various forms of legal entities. For example:

a public limited liability company
a private limited liability company;
a cooperative enterprise
an individual enterprise
a state enterprise
a budget institution
an association
a traditional religious association
a trade union
an agricultural company
a co-operative society
a credit union
a municipal enterprise
a public institution
a charity and benefits foundation
a political party
other religious associations and societies
a branch or representative office of a foreign company