A commercial pledge is a pledge right which is registered in the Commercial Pledge Register in accordance with the procedure set out in the Commercial Pledge Law.

The subject of a commercial pledge may be:

• a movable tangible or intangible property (including the right to claim) which belongs to a merchant or another legal person;
• properties subject to registration (such as a vehicle, agricultural machinery, livestock herd, trademark, patent, or industrial design), as well as an undertaking as an aggregate of properties, cooperative shares, stocks, and bonds, which may constitute the subject of a commercial pledge regardless of the ownership of such properties.

The subject of a commercial pledge may not be a vessel, a financial instrument recorded in a financial instruments account, credit claims within the meaning of the Financial Collateral Law, financial resources, or a claim arising from a cheque or a bill of exchange. Furthermore, it is prohibited to pledge or otherwise encumber with proprietary rights the shares of the equity capital of a sworn advocate’s office.