Pre-flight check · Law 220/2007
Moldovan company
name check.
Test a proposed SRL or SA name against ten statutory rules and a current snapshot of the active State Register, before you submit to ASP. Catches the rejections the registrar filters out at the counter.
Type the distinctive part of the name only. We add the legal-form indicator automatically. Cyrillic input is transliterated.
Legal form
Full name preview
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Methodology and statute citations
- Law 220/2007 Art. 9 on the State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs governs company-name rules. Civil Code Art. 66 governs the denomination of legal persons.
- Latin alphabet, Romanian diacritics (ă, â, î, ș, ț), digits, and standard punctuation are accepted. Foreign-language elements must be transliterated to Latin; raw Cyrillic in the registered form is rejected.
- The state name Moldova, Republica Moldova, and derivatives require a special Government Commission authorisation under a 30-day review with a 100,000 lei state fee. Eligibility: ≥50% export revenue, large-taxpayer status, foreign parent with global brand, or ≥25% state capital.
- Sector terms (bancă, asigurare, bursă, fond, schimb valutar, microfinanțare) require the corresponding sectoral licence from BNM or CNPF before ASP will register the name.
- Public-authority references (ASP, SFS, BNM, CNPF, Guvern, Ministerul) are prohibited absent specific authorisation.
- Reservation fees at ASP: 5 business days free (NGOs), 3 days 71 lei, 24 hours 142 lei, 4 hours 213 lei, 1 hour 284 lei. Reservation locks the name for up to six months.
- The active register is loaded from official Moldovan open-government sources, indexed locally and refreshed weekly. Active entities only; liquidated names may become reusable after a statutory cooling period.
- Trademark cross-check with AGEPI is run separately by your advisor and is not covered by this tool.
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Ten statutory rules + a live lookup against the active State Register.
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The naming rules in depth
How ASP decides
what passes.
The pre-flight tool mirrors what a registrar at ASP would refuse at the counter. The reasoning sits in the statute itself.
The statutory standard
Article 9 of Law 220/2007 on the State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs is the central source. The denomination must include the legal-form indicator in Romanian (the full Societate cu Răspundere Limitată in the long form, or the SRL abbreviation in the short form), must be evidently distinguishable from existing entries on the State Register, must use the Latin alphabet, and must not breach moral or public-order norms. Article 66 of the Civil Code adds that the denomination is the legal identifier of the legal person and binds it in all dealings with third parties.
The "evidently distinguishable" rule, in practice
ASP applies a string-similarity test that goes beyond exact-string matching. Names rejected at the counter typically differ from existing entries only by a single letter (Mayb Tech vs Maib Tech), a plural or singular flip (Solutions vs Solution), a word reorder (Tech Maib vs Maib Tech), a punctuation tweak (Maib-Tech vs Maib Tech), or the addition of a generic descriptor (Maib Tech Solutions vs Maib Tech). The tool emulates the same standard with a Jaro-Winkler distance plus a token-set ratio, scored on the distinctive part of the name after stripping common generic words like "innovations" or "solutions" so a shared suffix does not produce a false positive.
Words ASP refuses outright
References to the Moldovan state (the name Moldova, Republica Moldova, derived adjectives like Moldovan or Moldovenesc) require a special Government Commission authorisation issued after a thirty-day review with a state fee of 100,000 lei. The eligibility test is narrow: at least 50 per cent export revenue, large-taxpayer status, foreign parent with a global brand, or 25 per cent state capital. Local-authority names (Chișinău, Bălți, Cahul) need the corresponding council's consent. Public-authority references like ASP, SFS, BNM, CNPF, or Ministerul are refused without specific authorisation. Sector-restricted terms (bancă, asigurare, bursă, fond, schimb valutar) are conditional on a prior licence from the relevant supervisor (BNM, CNPF). International-organisation references (UN, UNESCO, Olympic, Red Cross) and trademark conflicts surfaced by AGEPI's separate register also fall outside the registrable space.
The reservation step, optional but recommended
Once the pre-flight is clean, the denomination can be reserved at ASP for up to six months. Reservation fees scale by turnaround: five business days free (NGOs only), three days 71 lei, twenty-four hours 142 lei, four hours 213 lei, one hour 284 lei. The reservation locks the name and gives the founder room to finalise the dossier, draft the articles, and gather the founder declarations without race-condition risk. Our team normally files the reservation and the SRL registration in a single submission so the name is never sitting on hold separately from the rest of the formation dossier.
Why a borderline match needs a human check
Algorithmic similarity scoring is a sharp tool, not a perfect one. ASP's own check is partly discretionary: a registrar may take a stricter or looser view of the "evidently distinguishable" standard depending on sector overlap, the founder's existing portfolio, and the visual similarity of the candidates side by side. When the tool returns a "Likely rejected" verdict, the prudent path is a manual confirmation with ASP before any reservation fee is paid. Our team runs that confirmation in writing, in less than four business hours, and proposes distinguishing tweaks when the registrar is leaning against the original.
For the wider context on what a clean Moldovan SRL setup looks like end to end, see the deep guide on choosing a company name in Moldova and the most common SRL registration mistakes.
Frequent questions
Asked every week.
If yours is not here, write to us. We answer within one business day.
Is the Moldovan company name check free?
Yes. The name-check tool is free and runs in your browser. It validates the proposed denomination against the ten statutory rules of Law 220/2007 Article 9 and checks for matches and similar names in a current snapshot of the active Moldovan State Register. You only pay if you ask our team to handle the ASP reservation and SRL setup.
How do I check if a company name is available in Moldova?
Type the distinctive part of the proposed name into the tool, pick the legal form (SRL, SA, II, SNC, SCS, or CP), and read the verdict. The tool flags ten statute-level issues and surfaces exact matches plus similar registered denominations with a similarity score. ASP applies its own string-similarity check at submission, so close matches above 88 per cent should be confirmed with the registrar before filing.
What makes a Moldovan SRL name acceptable to ASP?
Article 9 of Law 220/2007 requires the denomination to be evidently distinguishable from existing entries, written in the Latin alphabet (Romanian diacritics allowed, raw Cyrillic refused), and to carry the legal form indicator (SRL, SA, and so on). The name must not reference the state of Moldova, central or local authorities, regulated sectors such as banking and insurance, or international organisations without specific authorisation. Names that contravene moral norms are also refused.
What does the State Register check return?
For each query the tool returns: any exact match in the active register (denomination string equality after normalisation), close matches above 88 per cent similarity using Jaro-Winkler plus token-set ratio (likely to be rejected by ASP), and related matches above 55 per cent (listed for awareness). Each match shows the IDNO, registered denomination, legal form, and date of registration.
Can I use the name "Moldova" or "Moldovan" in my company name?
Only with a special Government Commission authorisation issued after a thirty-day review and a state fee of 100,000 lei (around 5,000 EUR). Eligibility is narrow: at least 50 per cent export revenue, large-taxpayer status, foreign parent with a global brand, or 25 per cent state capital. The tool flags state-name references as warnings so you can decide whether the authorisation path is worth the cost.
How does ASP define "evidently distinguishable"?
In practice ASP rejects denominations that differ from existing entries only by punctuation, a single letter, a plural or singular flip, a word reorder, or the addition of a generic descriptor such as "Solutions" or "Group". The tool emulates this standard with Jaro-Winkler similarity plus token-set ratio, scoring the distinctive part of the name and stripping generic suffixes so an "Innovations" overlap does not produce a false positive.
Are sector terms like "Bank", "Insurance", "Exchange" allowed?
Only if your SRL already holds the corresponding sectoral licence from BNM (banking) or CNPF (insurance, investment funds, securities exchange). ASP cross-checks the activity register and refuses denominations that imply regulated activity without authorisation. The tool surfaces sector-restricted terms as hard fails so you know to address the licence path first.
What is the difference between name reservation and registration?
Name reservation is the optional first step: you ask ASP to lock a denomination for up to six months while you finalise the SRL setup. Reservation fees range from free (five business days, NGOs only) to 284 lei (one hour). Registration is the second step: filing the articles, the founder declarations, and the dossier under power of attorney. Our team typically reserves and registers in a single submission so the name does not have to sit idle.
Does this tool replace the AGEPI trademark check?
No. ASP only verifies that the denomination is distinguishable in the legal-entity register; AGEPI (Agenția de Stat pentru Proprietatea Intelectuală) maintains the separate trademark register. A name that clears ASP can still infringe a registered Moldovan or international trademark. Our team runs the AGEPI cross-check as part of every name reservation we file.
What happens if ASP rejects the name I want to reserve?
ASP returns a written refusal with the legal basis cited. You can amend the denomination and resubmit, file a different reservation, or contest the decision. Most refusals fall into predictable categories the tool catches in advance (sector-restricted terms, state references, near-matches to existing entries). When the verdict is "Likely rejected" or borderline, our team confirms the precise outcome with the registrar before any fee is paid.
Disclaimer
Indicative pre-flight check based on Law 220/2007 and a current snapshot of the active Moldovan State Register. ASP runs its own string-similarity uniqueness check at submission that may flag near-matches not surfaced here. Final availability is confirmed during ASP review and by our team before filing.
How we handle your input: queries stay in your browser. A small anti-abuse counter is kept in localStorage only. See the privacy policy for the full statement.
Name passes the check?
Reserve it with our team.
We submit the reservation to ASP within four business hours, confirm the final string-similarity match, and lock the name for up to six months.