Saimaa ringed seal, Rantasalmi, Finland. Photo: Jan Ebr and Ivana Ebrová, CC BY 4.0

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Official company registers by country. Where every company is recorded.

Stored contact databases hold the companies someone has already collected. The national register holds every company, including local, family-owned and non-English-speaking ones, and it is the legal record. This is a reference list of where those registers are.

Nordics

Open data is strong here: Finland, Norway and Denmark publish company data in bulk.

CountryOfficial registerWhat you getAccess
FinlandPRH / YTJY-tunnus, name, status, industry, address; bulk open dataFree + open data
SwedenBolagsverketOrg.nr, name, status, board, annual reportsFree search, paid extracts
NorwayBrønnøysund , EnhetsregisteretOrg.nr, roles, NACE, accounts; open APIFree + open API
DenmarkCVR (Virk)CVR no., name, status, directors; open dataFree + open data
IcelandSkatturinn (fyrirtækjaskrá)Kennitala, name, statusFree search

DACH and Benelux

Many family-owned and Mittelstand companies are visible mainly in these registers.

CountryOfficial registerWhat you getAccess
GermanyHandelsregister , BundesanzeigerHRB no., legal form, managing directors, annual filingsFree search, paid docs
AustriaFirmenbuch (JustizOnline)FN no., legal form, officersFree search, paid extracts
SwitzerlandZefixUID, name, purpose, officers; cantonal linksFree
NetherlandsKvK HandelsregisterKvK no., SBI codes, status; APIFree search, paid extracts
BelgiumKBO / BCEEnterprise no., NACE-BEL, status (FR/NL/DE)Free
LuxembourgRCS (LBR)RCS no., legal form, accountsFree search, paid docs

UK and Ireland

Companies House is one of the most open registers in the world.

CountryOfficial registerWhat you getAccess
United KingdomCompanies HouseCompany no., officers, SIC, filings, accounts; free APIFully free + API
IrelandCRO , CORECRO no., directors, status, filingsFree search, paid docs

Southern Europe

CountryOfficial registerWhat you getAccess
FranceAnnuaire des Entreprises (INSEE/RNE) , InfogreffeSIREN/SIRET, NAF code, officers; SIRENE open dataFree + open data
SpainRegistro MercantilName, status, directors, accountsFree search, paid extracts
ItalyRegistro ImpreseREA/VAT, legal form, officers (Camere di Commercio)Free search, paid docs
PortugalPortal ePortugal / RNPCNIPC, name, status (CAE code)Free search, paid certs
GreeceGEMIGEMI no., legal form, statusFree search

Central and Eastern Europe, Baltics

CountryOfficial registerWhat you getAccess
PolandKRS , CEIDGKRS no., officers, PKD code, financialsFree
CzechiaObchodní rejstřík (justice.cz)IČO, legal form, officers, filingsFree
Estoniae-Business Register (RIK)Reg. code, board, EMTAK, accounts; open dataFree + open data
LatviaRegister of Enterprises , LursoftReg. no., officers, statusFree search, paid extracts
LithuaniaRegistrų centrasCompany code, status, managersFree search, paid docs
RomaniaONRCCUI, legal form, officers (CAEN code)Free search, paid docs
Hungarye-cégjegyzékReg. no., status, officersFree search

North America, Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world

The US has no single national register. Companies register state by state, and public companies also file with SEC EDGAR.

CountryOfficial registerWhat you getAccess
United StatesState Secretary of State filings , SEC EDGARPer-state incorporation data; EDGAR for public-co filingsFree (varies by state)
CanadaCorporations Canada + provincialCorp. no., directors, statusFree search
AustraliaASIC ConnectACN/ABN, status, officersFree search, paid extracts
New ZealandNZ Companies OfficeCompany no., directors, statusFully free
SingaporeACRA BizFileUEN, officers, statusFree search, paid profiles
IndiaMCA21CIN, directors, status, filingsFree search, paid docs
JapanNational Tax Agency , Corporate NumberCorporate number, name, address; open dataFree + open data
BrazilCNPJ (Receita Federal)CNPJ, name, CNAE, status; open dataFree + open data

What a register does not give you

A register tells you that a company exists, what it does and whether it is still trading. It does not usually give you the person who decides, a direct phone number or a reason to get in touch now. Checking many registers by hand, each in its own language and format, does not scale. That is the gap Atlas fills: it starts from the register and looks for the contact details on the company's own website and in public sources, showing the source of each.

Remember to read the status field. Many registers keep closed companies too, and in some of them most records are closed. See how many companies in each register have closed.

Some Gulf and emerging markets register companies with free-zone authorities instead of one national register. Found an error or a missing country? Write to atlasforgex@proton.me.

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