A representative office of a foreign company is its separate organizational unit that may perform preliminary and preparatory activities with the purpose of concluding legal transactions on behalf of that business entity. Unlike a branch, which acts in the name and on behalf of the foreign business entity and may, through such actions, assume rights and obligations for the foreign company, a representative office does not have such capacity. It may only “prepare the ground” for the conclusion of such legal transactions.
A representative office does not have the status of a company and may enter into only those legal transactions that arise from its current operations. For all obligations toward third parties that arise from the activities of the representative office, the foreign company is fully liable.
A representative office ceases to exist upon the decision of the competent authority on its termination, as well as upon the dissolution of its founder (the foreign compan).
All changes related to the representative office must be duly registered with the Serbian Business Registers Agency.