Poland's Register of Pledges (Rejestr Zastawów) is a statutory public register maintained under the Act on Registered Pledges and the Register of Pledges of 6 December 1996. It records security interests over movable assets and assignable rights. An extract from this register is a primary instrument for establishing whether a target company's assets carry encumbrances that limit the transferability or value of those assets.
Control over a Polish company is not only a matter of who holds shares. It also depends on what security interests encumber the assets that give the company its operating capacity. A buyer who establishes the shareholder structure without checking the pledge register has an incomplete picture of what is actually controlled.
What the register showsRegistered pledges over movable assets and assignable rights, including the pledgor, pledgee, subject of the pledge, and the maximum secured amount. Source: Rejestr Zastawów, Ministry of Justice of Poland · verified 2026-09-15 Access mechanismQueries are submitted to the Central Information of the Register of Pledges (Centralna Informacja Rejestru Zastawów) or to a district court maintaining the register. Online query is available via the Ministry of Justice portal. Source: Rejestr Zastawów · verified 2026-09-15 What the register does not showMortgages on real property (those appear in land and mortgage registers), tax liens, customs security interests, and contractual pledges not submitted for registration. Source: Rejestr Zastawów · verified 2026-09-15 Coverage levelLevel A — the register is a statutory public source with defined query procedures and issued extracts carrying official status.What the Polish Register of Pledges records
The register was established to create a centralised, publicly accessible record of security interests over movable property and assignable rights. Registration of a pledge under this act gives the pledgee priority over other creditors and over subsequent acquirers of the encumbered asset.
Each entry in the register contains:
- the identity of the pledgor (the party granting the security)
- the identity of the pledgee (the secured creditor)
- a description of the encumbered asset or right
- the maximum amount of the secured claim
- the date of registration and the registration number
An extract (odpis) issued by the Central Information of the Register of Pledges is an official document confirming the current state of a given entry. A certificate of non-entry (zaświadczenie o braku wpisu) confirms that no pledge is registered against a specified subject.
Source: Rejestr Zastawów, Ministry of Justice of Poland · verified 2026-09-15
Why the register matters for control analysis
A registered pledge does not transfer ownership. It does, however, create a right of enforcement. If the pledgor defaults, the pledgee may enforce against the encumbered asset — including by taking ownership or selling the asset outside ordinary insolvency proceedings, depending on the pledge agreement.
For a buyer assessing control, this means the following:
- Key operational assets of the target may be subject to enforcement rights held by third parties.
- Those third parties may have consent rights or notification rights that affect a transaction.
- The maximum secured amount in the register indicates the ceiling of the claim, not its current balance.
The register entry does not show whether the underlying obligation has been repaid. A pledge remains registered until formally deleted. An entry in the register is therefore not conclusive evidence that the debt is still outstanding — but it is conclusive evidence that the security interest was created and has not been formally released.
Source: Rejestr Zastawów, Ministry of Justice of Poland · verified 2026-09-15
How an extract is obtained
Queries to the Register of Pledges may be submitted by any person. The register is public. The Central Information of the Register of Pledges accepts queries by subject of the pledge (asset identifier), by pledgor (entity name or identifier), or by registration number.
The Ministry of Justice operates an online portal for electronic queries. District courts that maintain local sections of the register also accept in-person and postal queries.
The result of a query is either:
- an extract (odpis) confirming the content of a specific entry, or
- a certificate of non-entry (zaświadczenie o braku wpisu) confirming that no pledge is registered against the queried subject or entity.
Both documents carry an official stamp and are issued with a date. They reflect the state of the register at the moment of issuance.
The query requires identification of the subject of the search. For a company as pledgor, the query is typically run against the company's name and KRS number. For an asset, the query requires a description sufficient to identify the asset in the register.
Source: Rejestr Zastawów, Ministry of Justice of Poland · verified 2026-09-15
Relationship to other Polish registers
The Register of Pledges covers movable assets and assignable rights. It does not cover real property. Security interests over real property in Poland are recorded in the land and mortgage register (Księga Wieczysta), maintained by district courts and accessible via a separate Ministry of Justice portal.
Tax security interests and customs security interests are not systematically reflected in the Register of Pledges. They may appear in other administrative records not consolidated with the register.
Financial collateral arrangements under the Act on Financial Collateral of 2 April 2004 are exempt from the registration requirement. Such arrangements do not appear in the register even if they are legally valid and enforceable.
A complete encumbrance picture for a Polish company therefore requires queries across multiple sources. The Register of Pledges is one layer; it is not a consolidated security register.
Source: Rejestr Zastawów, Ministry of Justice of Poland · verified 2026-09-15
The limit of what the sources allow
The Register of Pledges shows what has been submitted for registration and has not been formally deleted. It does not show:
- whether the secured obligation has been repaid or otherwise discharged
- the current outstanding balance of the secured claim
- financial collateral arrangements exempt from registration
- tax and customs security interests
- mortgages over real property
- contractual pledges not submitted for registration under the 1996 Act
- pledges registered in other EU member states over assets located in Poland
An extract issued today reflects the register as of the moment of issuance. It does not reflect the economic reality of the underlying debt. A pledge entry that has not been deleted may correspond to a fully repaid obligation — or to an active enforcement risk. The register does not distinguish between these states.
For assets subject to leasing, factoring, or retention-of-title arrangements, those interests typically do not appear in the Register of Pledges at all. They are governed by contract and are not publicly recorded in a consolidated form.
The ceiling of what the sources allow is stated before payment. The extract establishes that a pledge was registered and has not been deleted. It does not establish the current economic status of the secured claim.
Source: Rejestr Zastawów, Ministry of Justice of Poland · verified 2026-09-15
Scope and fixed price
| Tier | Price | What is included | What is NOT included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €440 | Query of the Register of Pledges by pledgor (company name and KRS number); certificate of non-entry or extract for each entry found; summary of entries in English; statement of what the register does not cover | Query of land and mortgage register; verification of tax liens; analysis of underlying debt status; legal qualification of findings |
| Standard | €890 | Everything in Signal; query by asset category where identifiers are available; cross-reference against KRS filing for asset descriptions; English-language report with entry-by-entry summary and limit-of-source statement | Verification of financial collateral arrangements; query of customs security records; legal advice on enforcement risk |
| Extended | €1800 | Everything in Standard; query of land and mortgage register (Księga Wieczysta) for real property identified in KRS filings; cross-register encumbrance map; timeline of registration and deletion events; English report with source-by-source coverage statement | Verification of off-register arrangements; legal qualification; representation in enforcement proceedings |
Where the sources disagree
The Register of Pledges and the KRS (National Court Register) are maintained independently. Asset descriptions in KRS filings may not match pledge register entries precisely. Where a discrepancy exists between an asset described in a KRS document and the subject of a pledge entry, the register entry governs for the purpose of the pledge — but the discrepancy itself is a finding that warrants attention.
A pledge entry may remain in the register after the pledgee has been dissolved or merged. In such cases, the registered pledgee may no longer exist as a legal entity, but the entry has not been deleted. The register does not automatically reflect changes in the pledgee's legal status.
Where the sources disagree, the report states the disagreement explicitly. A discrepancy between sources is a result, not an error in the analysis.
Source: Rejestr Zastawów, Ministry of Justice of Poland; Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy · verified 2026-09-15
FAQ
Does the Register of Pledges cover all security interests over a Polish company's assets? No. The register covers registered pledges over movable assets and assignable rights under the Act of 6 December 1996. Mortgages over real property, financial collateral arrangements, tax security interests, and retention-of-title arrangements are not recorded here. A full encumbrance picture requires queries across multiple registers.
Does a pledge entry mean the debt is still outstanding? Not necessarily. A pledge entry remains in the register until formally deleted. The register does not show whether the secured obligation has been repaid. The entry confirms that the pledge was created and has not been released through the official deletion procedure.
Can a foreign entity query the register? Yes. The register is public. There is no requirement of Polish residence or nationality to submit a query. The query requires identification of the pledgor or the asset subject to the pledge.
What is the difference between an extract and a certificate of non-entry? An extract (odpis) reproduces the content of a specific pledge entry. A certificate of non-entry (zaświadczenie o braku wpisu) confirms that no pledge is registered against the queried subject. Both are official documents issued with a date and stamp.
How current is the information in an extract? An extract reflects the state of the register at the moment of issuance. It does not reflect changes submitted after that moment. For time-sensitive transactions, the extract should be obtained as close as possible to the relevant date.
Sources
- Rejestr Zastawów (Register of Pledges), Ministry of Justice of Poland — https://rzs.ms.gov.pl — verified 2026-09-15
- Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy (National Court Register), Ministry of Justice of Poland — https://ekrs.ms.gov.pl — verified 2026-09-15
- Act on Registered Pledges and the Register of Pledges of 6 December 1996 (Dz.U. 1996 nr 149 poz. 703, as amended) — verified 2026-09-15
- Act on Financial Collateral of 2 April 2004 (Dz.U. 2004 nr 91 poz. 871, as amended) — verified 2026-09-15
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Disclaimer: This report is a factual compilation from official registers and public sources. It is provided for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and contains no legal qualification of the facts established. VLO Law Firm assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@vlolawfirm.com.
Author: Katharina Berg — Partner, Central Europe, VLO Law Firm
