Can a company's financial statements be apostilled?

Not directly: they are a private document. The apostille can only be issued after a notarial procedure, for example certification of the director's signature or a certified date. Practice differs between chambers of notaries, so check with the competent chamber and with the recipient.

Where is the trade register certificate apostilled?

At the tribunal, on the original issued by the Trade Register. The tribunal issues the apostille on court decisions, bailiffs' documents and Trade Register documents.

Is the apostille translated too?

Yes. When a document is apostilled before translation, the apostille becomes part of it and is translated together with it.

What changes with the EU company certificate?

Directive (EU) 2025/25 introduces a multilingual company certificate valid in all member states. States must transpose it by 31 July 2027 and apply it from 1 August 2028. Until then, the procedure in this guide remains the one that applies.

Guide · Companies

Romanian company documents for use abroad: what is translated, notarized and apostilled

Updated: 25 September 2026 · Kalimera, translation agency in Bucharest since 2005 · all guides

In short: a company's documents fall into two categories, and the difference decides everything when you send them abroad. Official documents issued by the Romanian Trade Register (ONRC), such as the trade register certificate (certificat constatator), are apostilled at the tribunal. The company's private documents, such as financial statements, shareholder resolutions, contracts and powers of attorney, cannot be apostilled as they are: they first need a notarial procedure. Both are translated by an authorized translator, and the translation is notarized when the recipient asks for it.

1. Official documents: those issued by the Trade Register

This category includes the trade register certificate and certified copies issued by the Trade Register, for example of the articles of association or of resolutions filed with the register. As documents issued by a public authority, they can receive an apostille.

The apostille is issued by the tribunal, not by the chamber of notaries or the Prefect's Institution: the tribunal is competent for Trade Register documents, court decisions and bailiffs' documents.
The original is apostilled. A simple printout of a downloaded document is not an original, so check first which copy the tribunal accepts.
The apostille is translated together with the document, because it is part of it.

2. Private documents: financial statements, resolutions, contracts, powers of attorney

Financial statements signed by the director, general meeting resolutions, contracts and ordinary powers of attorney are private documents. The regulation of the chambers of notaries on the apostille states that notarized translations of private documents cannot be apostilled, except for those that have gone through a notarial procedure, such as a certified date or certification of signature.

In practice, for a private document that must reach its destination apostilled:

the document first goes through a notarial procedure: for example, the director has their signature certified by a notary, or the document receives a certified date;
then the apostille is issued, on the notarial deed or on its notarized translation, as the recipient requires.

Practice differs from one chamber of notaries to another: some do not accept, for example, a mere notarized copy. Check with the competent chamber before you start.

Not every recipient requires an apostille. Some banks, parent companies or partners accept a certified translation, possibly notarized, without an apostille. Ask exactly which form they require: it is the simplest way not to lose days.

3. The steps, in order

For a Trade Register document (for example, the trade register certificate requested by a foreign partner):

obtain the original from the Trade Register;
have the apostille issued at the tribunal;
get the certified translation of the document, including the apostille;
have the translation notarized, if the recipient asks for it.

For a private company document (for example, financial statements requested by a foreign bank):

find out which form the recipient requires: certified, notarized or apostilled translation;
if an apostille is needed, the document first goes through a notarial procedure;
get the certified translation and have it notarized;
have the apostille issued at the chamber of notaries, for a Hague Convention country; for other countries, legalization is used.

The differences between certified, notarized and apostilled translations are explained in the guide certified, notarized or apostilled translation.

4. The other way round: a foreign company's documents for Romania

When a foreign company opens a subsidiary or branch in Romania, or files documents with an institution here, the rule is reversed: the apostille, or legalization, is obtained in the country that issued the documents. The certified translation into Romanian, and usually its notarization, is then done in Romania. A foreign document cannot be apostilled in Romania.

5. What changes in the coming years

Directive (EU) 2025/25, on the digitalisation of company law, introduces an EU company certificate that is multilingual and valid in all member states, together with a standardised EU power of attorney. Member states must transpose it by 31 July 2027 and apply it from 1 August 2028. Within the EU, part of the translations and formalities will become simpler. For countries outside the EU, the procedure in this guide remains valid.

How we work at Kalimera

Company documents are the largest part of our work. We handle the whole process: certified translation by translators who know the financial and legal fields, notarization and the apostille, whether at the tribunal, the Prefect's Institution or the chamber of notaries, depending on the type of document. You receive the documents ready to send. Details on the pages financial translations, legal translations and apostille and legalization.

Sources

the Regulation on the methodology for issuing the apostille or legalization by the chambers of public notaries (2013), art. 8;
the public information of the Bucharest Chamber of Public Notaries on the apostille competence of tribunals, prefects' institutions and chambers of notaries;
Directive (EU) 2025/25 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 on digital tools and processes in company law (consulted in September 2026).