Company Records for Germany, on demand

Germany has no single national company registrar. The Handelsregister (Commercial Register) is kept by the local courts (Amtsgerichte), and a company is registered at the court responsible for its seat. The register has two sections: Abteilung A (HRA) for sole traders and partnerships, and Abteilung B (HRB) for capital companies such as the GmbH and the AG, so a number such as HRB 12345 identifies a company only together with its register court. All registers can be searched through the common register portal of the German federal states at handelsregister.de, and retrieval of register entries and filed documents has been free of charge since 1 August 2022.

Two features of German filings are distinctive. For a GmbH, section 40 of the GmbH Act requires an updated Gesellschafterliste (list of shareholders) to be submitted to the register without delay after any change in the shareholders or the size of their holdings, stating each shareholder's name, shares and percentage of the capital. Annual accounts sit outside the Handelsregister: since 1 August 2022 accounting documents are published in the Unternehmensregister rather than the Bundesanzeiger, and can be retrieved there free of charge.

Beneficial ownership is recorded separately in the Transparenzregister. Access is tiered: authorities and courts receive full access, obliged entities inspect case by case, and anyone else must demonstrate a legitimate interest. Company Records resolves beneficial ownership by following registered shareholders up the ownership chain, entity by entity, from official filings such as the Gesellschafterliste, which works even where Transparenzregister access is tiered.