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ECRF survey -

Electronic signature

Mr Yves Gonner

Luxembourg, June 12, 2009

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Purpose of the survey on e-signature

• Electronic transmission of information between Registries and their customers has been one of the major challenges in the last years

• The purpose of the survey is to gather information on the implementation of e-signatures in European Registries

• The objective of this survey is to obtain an overall picture of electronically transmitted information in European Registries

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• Legal provisions in article 3, 3. §5 of Directive 2003/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2003 amending council Directive 68/151/EEC, as regards disclosure requirements in respect of certain types of companies.

• ‘Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that certification of electronic copies guarantees both the authenticity of their origin and the integrity of their contents, by means at least of an advanced electronic signature within the meaning of Article 2(2) of Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures’

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Structure of the survey

The survey is based on two distinctive parts :• Part 1 : Electronic transmission of information by

customers to the Register – 14 questions• Part 2 : Issuing of documents in electronic format by

the Register – 5 questions• Definitions used in the survey are consistent with

those given in article 2 of Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures

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Definitions – Electronic signature

• ‘Electronic signature’ means data in electronic form which are attached to or logically associated with other electronic data and which serve as a method of authentication;

• ‘Advanced electronic signature’ means an electronic signature which meets the following requirements:(a) it is uniquely linked to the signatory;(b) it is capable of identifying the signatory;(c) it is created using means that the signatory can maintain under his sole control; and(d) it is linked to the data to which it relates in such a manner that any subsequent change of the data is detectable;

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Definitions - Certificate

• ‘Certificate’ means an electronic attestation which links signature-verification data to a person and confirms the identity of that person;

• ‘Qualified certificate’ means a certificate which meets the requirements laid down in Annex I and is provided by a certification-service-provider who fulfils the requirements laid down in Annex II;

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Survey

• 30 ECRF members were invited to participate in the survey

• 16 members responded

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Part I : Electronic transmission of information by

customers to Registers

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• 14 out of 16 participants allow electronic transmission of information (data and / or documents) by customers to the Register

→ Voluntary : 9→ Mandatory : 2→ Both voluntary and mandatory : 3

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• 7 participants accept electronic transmission of alltypes of formalities

• 7 participants accept limited transmission of certain types of formalities (one or more answers possible) :

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4

4

3

2

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Others

Annual Accounts

Change of details

First time registration

Strike off requests

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During the last 5 years :

- electronic filing has become mandatory in 2 member countries- 12 member countries have not withdrawn any paper based formalities

In 2 member countries annual accounts will have to be transmitted electronically in the near future.

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How do users deliver information electronically to the Register?

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5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Online forms

Web Services or otherB2B services

E-mail

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Authentication of users when delivering information electronically to the Register

by Electronic certificate : 10by User ID and password : 4

Electronic signing of information that is transmitted electronically by the customer to the Register

11 members out of 14 require that information transmitted to the Register is signed electronically

→ Advanced electronic signature : 10→ Electronic signature : 1

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What kind of information needs to be signed by an electronic signature?

Data (e.g. : XML message) : 6Presentation and data (e.g. : pdf) : 10

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What type of electronic certificates do you accept ?

Certificate : 3Qualified certificate : 9None : 1

The requirement of using an electronic certificate is due to:

A regulation that concerns your authority : 5A national / governmental standard : 8An EU standard : 3

Do you issue your own certificates or are 3rd parties involved?

Own certificate : 33rd party certificate : 9

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Part II : Issuing of documents in electronic format by

Registries

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Issuing of electronic documents to the public by the Registry

- 13 members do issue electronic documents to the public

→ 8 members do not sign electronically the documents that they issue to their customers

→ 5 members do sign electronically the documents that they issue to their customers using an advanced

electronic signature

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Issuing of electronic documents to the public by the Registry :

- 3 members do not issue any electronic documents to the public

- 3 member countries do not have an electronic signature available

- 3 members issue their own electronic certificate that they use when signing documents that are issued electronically to the public

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Issuing of electronic documents to the public by the Registry :(one or more answers possible)

Company profiles : 13Scanned documents : 11 Certificates : 8

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CONCLUSIONS

- 87,5 % of members accept documents in electronic format from their customers

- in 14,3 % of member states, electronic filing is mandatory - 79 % of the members ask for an advanced electronic signature on the documents that they receive

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- 81 % of members do issue documents in electronic form to their customers and 61 % do not sign these documents electronically,

- those who sign electronically apply an advanced electronic signature issued by a qualified certificate

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Thank you for your attention

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Any questions ?