Great Britain

An electronic network and portal site enabling users to access and retrieve information directly from the European Business Register national corporate registers and other unaffiliated national companies registers. It is currently connected to 22 national registers. The documents are the originals that are filed with the relevant corporate register and the information will be in the local language.This is a priced, pay as you go service. (Note: you must have money in your account before you search.) Prices vary depending on the type of document you wish to view and the country. A price list is available at http://www.gbrdirect.co.uk/GBRDirect%20Pricelist.pdf

Austria

Companies that are required to file do so with the the commercial register. Financial statements must also be published in the Wiener Zeitung. There is also a searchable database, the «Firmenbuch» for which you need to register. In German only. Priced Service.

Belgium

Coface Euro DB

Euro dB manages the Belgian central commercial register. Subscription service.

Bulgaria

Trade Register

Companies have to be entered into the commercial register kept with the relevant district court, where they can be viewed by the public. The electronic register is available at www.brra.bg, but only in Bulgarian. Information on the different types of companies can be found at D&B Report Guide Bulgaria, Establishing a Business in Bulgaria.

Croatia

Biznet

Maintained by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce Biznet, this site provides information and statistics on the Croatian economy, and access to the Register of Business Entities. The Biznet home page is in Croation and the link to the Register is under Registar poslovnih subjekata. You can view data for a single company or a selected set of companies grouped according to certain criteria for example industry, company size. Available information includes identification number, short and long name, county, municipality, address, phone, fax, E-mail, company size, main activity, legal form, number of employees, membership of professional associations.The Register is available in both Croatian and English and is free of charge.

D&B Report Guide Croatia

Provides information on legal forms and filing requirements.

Cyprus

Department of Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver

The Department of the Registrar of Companies is responsible for keeping the Register of Companies, Partnerships, Business Names, Trade Marks, Patents and Industrial Designs and is also responsible for administering properties of insolvent legal and natural persons. You can search by company name and fre information includes name, registration date, status, and status date. An alternative source for companies search in Cyprus is Cyprus-Data.com(www.cyprus-data.com) where you can search by name, registration number and registration date. Free of charge.

Czech Republic

Czech Judicial System

The database can be searched by company and personal name. The amount of information available can be quite detailed depending in the legal form of the company but most of it is in Czech. The latest version of the Google translation service now covers Czech to English and does a reasonable job of translating the text but it is not exact.Free of charge.

Denmark

Danish Commerce and Companies Agency (DCCA)

This is the official registry for Danish Businesses. There is a searchable database at the Central Business Register(CVR).

Estonia

Äriregistri teabesüsteem

The Central Commercial Register is an online service based on the central database of Estonian registration departments of the courts. This central database includes digital data from the commercial register, the register of non-profit associations and foundations and the commercial pledge register. The database is searchable by company or registry code. Free information includes name, registry code, status, area, share capital and address. Annual reports, if available, are priced.

Finland

National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland

Official company register for Finnish companies. As well as information on registering a company, there is a Trade Register of 470,000 Finnish companies that can be searched via BIS Search. Information includes name of a business, trading names, company form, address, contact information, principal line of business. It also provides information on termination, interruption of trade, bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganisation proceedings. Free of charge and available in Finnish, English and Swedish.

France

Infogreffe — Trade and Companies Register — Commercial Court Registry

Official register of over 3,200,000 French companies. Basic company and contact information free of charge. Priced service for detailed information and accounts. In French.

Georgia

D&B Report Guide Georgia

Summary of legal forms and filing requirements.

Germany

Judicial register of the federal states

The joint portal of the federal states for Internet register information provides a standard interface to the registers of the federal states. You can search across all of the databases using Normale Suche or Erweiterte Suche (Advanced/Extended Search). Both the interface and the information are in German. Most of the documents are priced. There is also a centralised online point of access for company information through the Unternehmensregister. The interface is in German, English, French, Italian and Spanish. Again, search is free but many documents are priced.

Guernsey

Guernsey Registry

The new Guernsey Registry was launched on 1 July 2008 following a review of the Companies (Guernsey) Law and the existing company processes. The Registry also includes the Bailiwick of Guernsey Intellectual Property Office which administers all Trade Mark and Design registrations and activities, and provides information on the Intellectual Property Laws enacted in the Bailiwick. As well as providing e-filing services for companies, there is a searchable databaseat . You can search by registered number or company name (current and previous). Company number, name, type, status, registered address, activity, and date registered are available free of charge. Company profiles, certificates of good standing and of incorporation are priced as are the annual reports. There is a link to the Companies (Guernsey) Law 2008, which can be downloaded free of charge.  Be warned — it is 569 pages long!

Hungary

Court of Company Registration

For free company information go to the menu on the left hand side. Under Ingyenes céginformáció (Free company data), which is in red, you can search on cCompany registration number (Cégkeresés a cég cégjegyzékszáma szerint), company name (Cégkeresés a cég elnevezése szerint) or tax number (Cégkeresés adószám szerint). Click on ‘Mehet’ and type the letters and numbers displayed on the right hand side of the screen into the box provided. A list of companies meeting your search criteria will then be displayed. In Hungarian.

Cégtaláló — CÉGKIVONATwww.cegtalalo.hu

To search for a company use the yellow area in the centre of the screen. Click on the appropriate tab to search by company name (cégnév), tax number (adószám, cégjegyzékszám), seat (székhely) or activity (tevékenység). In Hungarian.

Ireland

Companies Registration Office

The company directory can be searched free of charge and provides name, registered number, address, status, date registered, last and next annual return date, and last accounts date. Company documents can be ordered for a fee and payment is by credit card or deposit account.

Isle of Man

The Companies Registry — Isle of Man Government DED

As well as the regulation of Manx companies, the Isle of Man Companies Registry is now also responsible for the administration of legislation relating to foreign companies, limited liability companies, business names, limited partnerships and societies incorporated under the Industrial and Building Societies Acts. There is a searchable directory and free information includes name, registered number, status, entity type (IOM company, business name, foreign company etc.), name type (current, previous), address and date of registration. Company documents can be purchased online.

Italy

Infocamere — Società Consortile di Informatica delle Camere DI Commercio Italiane per Azioni

The Italian Chambers of Commerce, which operates the national system linking Italy’s Chambers of Commerce. Company information can be obtained from Infocamere and via the European Business Register (EBR). The site is in Italian but there is a document in English that outlines their services.

Jersey

JFSC Companies Registry

This area of the Jersey Financial Services Commission provides access to information in the Companies Registry. You can search by name or registration number and the results list gives you the registration number, type of company, name and date of registration. The company types are coded: RC (Registered Company — private), RCD (Registered Company, Dissolved), RCP (Registered Company — Public), RBN (Registered Business Name) and RCO (Registered Company Overseas), LP (Limited Partnership) and CP (Reserved Company Name). The full record includes name, registration number, business address, date registered, business code (e.g. RCP, RC). country, dissolved date (if applicable) and year end. Documents such as Annual Returns are priced. Quick search and basic information free of charge. Documents are priced.

Latvia

Lursoft

Provides information about all enterprises, public organizations and foreign company agencies registered within the territory of Latvia including their managers, shareholders fixed capital and annual accounts. The information is based on original documents of the Register of Enterprises (RE). Main pages are in Latvian and English but the company information is in Latvian. Basic company information free of charge. Priced service for more detailed information including accounts.

Luxembourg

Registre de Commerce et des Sociétés — Accueil

Searchable directory . Search by company name or number. At present, the results only give you registered number, name and legal form. In French.

Malta

MFSA Registry of Companies

Free basic company details including registered address and company ID/number. You can browse the companies alphabetically or search by name or company ID/number. There is also a list of companies that have registered over the last 15 days.

Netherlands

Kamer van Koophandel : Trade Register

In the Netherlands registration in the trade register is compulsory for almost every company. Searching the trade register and name, address and registration number are free, but there is a charge for the business extracts, accounts and other information products. In Dutch and English.

Norway

Brønnøysund Register Centre

The Brønnøysund Register Centre is a government body under the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry, and consists of several different national EDP registers. These registers contain information and key data on: liabilities and titles in mortgaged movable property; more than 280,000 business enterprises; more than 1,300,000 annual accounts and auditor’s reports of limited companies; bankruptcies and compulsory liquidations; approximately 200,000 marriage settlements. The English pages have only basic information so for the full range of services you need to use the Norwegian pages. Free information, which is in Norwegian, includes registered number, name, address, telephone, fax, email address, legal form, activity and directors.

Poland

Ministry of Justice Poland

The Polish National Court Trade Registry. A free service enabling you to search for companies by KRS number (official company register number) or by name. The main site and the information it provides is in Polish. There is an English language version but it does not have all of the options that are available on the Polish pages.

Serbia

Serbian Business Registration Agency

The Business Registers Agency runs three registers: the Business Register consisting of Business entities and Entrepreneurs, Register of Pledges over Movable Property and Rights, and the Register of Financial Leasing. Search and display of information is free of charge but the information is not available in English. The Central Secuities Depository and Clearing House, including ownership structure of companies .

Slovakia

Companies Register of the Slovak Republic on Internet

Free searchable directory. Information includes company name, registered number, registration date, legal form, business activity, address, ‘other legal facts’, and a list of deposited documents. Documents can not be purchased or viewed online. The interface is in Slovak and English. Much of the company information, though, is in Slovak.

Slovenia

AJPES — Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Public Legal Records and Related Services

AJPES provides access to the Slovenian Business Register online (ePRS), and Annual Reports of companies, cooperatives and sole proprietors (JOLP) free of charge. ePRS currently has around 211,000 entries and includes companies (partnerships and corporations), sole proprietors, legal entities governed by private law, societies, natural persons performing registered or regulated activities, subsidiaries and other divisions of business entities and main offices of foreign business entities. You can search on a range of criteria: name, identification number, tax number, address, activity, sector and legal form. The amount of information available on each business entity varies depending on its legal form but typically includes identification number, company name, tax number, details of representatives and founders, etc. Credit rating reports (eS.BON) are also available for a fee. The interface to the site is available in English, Slovene, German and Italian. The information is available in English and Slovene. Free registration is required to view the free documents.

Spain

Central Mercantile Registry. Legal Information of companies, statistics and company names

Subscription service. In English, French, German and Spanish.

Sweden

Swedish Companies Registration Office — Bolagsverket

The information pages are in both Swedish and English but the Trade and Industry Register is only in Swedish, although there is a guide in English. Company name, registered number, status and legal form are free but you have to register to view the data. Additional information is priced. An easier way to access the data is available via Företagsinformation om alla Sveriges bolag(www.allabolag.se).

Företagsinformation om alla Sveriges bolag

This site is in Swedish only but is a quick and easy way to access basic official information on Swedish companies free of charge. On the home page there are two boxes: in the first you can enter a company or a person’s name, whereas the second is for entering components of the address. You can view contact details, key financials and executives free of charge and there is an option to order various reports. If you have the Google toolbar installed in your browser, the ‘Translate into English’ option works well enough to enable you to understand most of the headings and financial items.

Switzerland

Central Business Names Index

Contains information business names of corporate bodies (corporations, corporations with unlimited partners, limited liability companies, co-operatives, non-profit associations and foundations) and public-law corporations registered in the Commercial Register. General or limited partnerships and sole proprietorships are all registered since January 1st 2000 (new names and changes in existing names). Information available includes current registered business name, former names, legal form, legal domicile (political municipality). Some cantons provide the full record free of charge, others charge for more than the most basic of details. There are currently ca. 45 cantonal commercial registers in Switzerland. New entries and changes in the commercial register are published in Swiss Commercial Gazette (SHAB). In English, French, German and Italian.

UK

Companies House

The official UK body to which UK companies have to send their accounts. You can order company documents online. This site also gives free access to Companies Name and Address Index and the disqualified directors database. Documents such as annual accounts are priced.

Ukraine

Інформаційно-ресурсний центр — Пошук в ЄДР(State Enterprise Information Resource Centre)

Searchable official companies register for the Ukraine. The interface and information is in Ukrainian only but Google’s translation option does a good enough job to help you through the site.