Open Government Registers Worldwide: Where to Check a Company, a Sole Trader and Real Estate

27.09.2026

Andriy Ditkovsky

Why this list

A counterparty check, a KYC procedure, deal preparation, tracing a debtor’s assets or tax planning with a foreign structure all start with the same question: where can you get official data rather than data resold by an aggregator? Below is a list of government online resources we use in our practice, organised in tables by jurisdiction. The links were checked as of September 2026. “Free” refers to basic search: extracts with legal effect are mostly paid.

Part I. Registers of Legal Entities, Sole Traders and Organisations

Ukraine

Authority	Register	Link	Access	What you get
Ministry of Justice	Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Formations (USR)	usr.minjust.gov.ua/content/free-search	Free	Legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, separate subdivisions, public associations, religious organisations
Ministry of Justice	USR as open data	data.gov.ua	Restricted	Weekly XML export; under martial law without addresses, types of activity, addresses of founders and UBOs, contact details
State Tax Service	Public registers in the Electronic cabinet	cabinet.tax.gov.ua/registers	Restricted	VAT and single-tax payers, non-profit organisations, tax registration data, Unified register of individual tax consultations
National Bank of Ukraine	Bank search	bank.gov.ua	Free	Banks and their status
National Bank of Ukraine	State Register of Financial Institutions (NBU information system)	kis.bank.gov.ua	Free	Finance companies, insurers, insurance intermediaries, pawnshops
NSSMC	Registers of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission	nssmc.gov.ua/register	Free	Professional capital market participants, Unified State Register of UCITS, securities issues, non-state pension funds
SMIDA	SMIDA	smida.gov.ua	Free	Regulated information of securities issuers
APOB	Register of auditors and auditing entities	register.apob.org.ua/uk/search	Free	Auditors and audit firms
Ministry of Justice	Unified Register of Debtors	erb.minjust.gov.ua	Free	Persons with open enforcement proceedings
NSDC	State Register of Sanctions	drs.nsdc.gov.ua	Free	Whether a person is on sanctions lists; API available
State Judicial Administration	Unified State Register of Court Decisions	reyestr.court.gov.ua	Restricted	Litigation history of a counterparty; limited operating mode
NACP	Unified State Register of Declarations	public.nazk.gov.ua	Free	Checking links to politically exposed persons

European Union: a single entry point

Jurisdiction	Register	Link	Access	What you get
EU	BRIS - Business Registers Interconnection System (e-Justice Portal)	e-justice.europa.eu webgate.ec.europa.eu	Free search, paid extracts	One search across the registers of the Member States; documents at the national register’s fees

European countries

Jurisdiction	Register	Link	Access	What you get
United Kingdom	Companies House	find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk	Free	Filings, PSC register, Register of Overseas Entities; identity verification of directors and PSCs mandatory since 18.11.2025
Germany	Handelsregister (Commercial Register)	handelsregister.de	Free	Search and documents
Germany	Unternehmensregister (Company Register)	unternehmensregister.de	Free	Financial statements and company announcements
France	Annuaire des Entreprises	annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr	Free	Consolidated government data on a company
France	Registre national des entreprises (INPI)	data.inpi.fr	Free	Constitutional documents, financial statements
France	Infogreffe	infogreffe.fr	Paid	Kbis extract
Netherlands	KVK Business Register (Netherlands Chamber of Commerce)	kvk.nl/zoeken	Free search, paid extracts	Extract (uittreksel) is paid
Belgium	Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (KBO / BCE) - Public Search	kbopub.economie.fgov.be	Free	Basic enterprise data
Luxembourg	Trade and Companies Register (RCS), Luxembourg Business Registers	lbr.lu	Free	Search and RCS extracts
Austria	Firmenbuch (Business Register), JustizOnline	justizonline.gv.at	Free search, paid extracts	Basic search; official extract is paid
Switzerland	Zefix - Central Business Name Index	zefix.ch	Free	Certified extracts from cantonal registers
Italy	Registro Imprese (Business Register)	registroimprese.it	Free search, paid extracts	Visura is paid
Spain	Registro Mercantil Central (Central Mercantile Register)	rmc.es	Paid	Name searches and certificates
Portugal	Certidão Permanente (Permanent Certificate)	registo.justica.gov.pt	Free search, paid extracts	Viewing with an access code
Ireland	CRO CORE (Companies Registration Office)	core.cro.ie	Free search, paid extracts	Basic data; document copies are paid
Poland	KRS (National Court Register)	wyszukiwarka-krs.ms.gov.pl	Free	Including current and full extract (odpis)
Poland	CEIDG - Central Register and Information on Economic Activity	aplikacja.ceidg.gov.pl	Free	Sole traders
Poland	REGON (Statistics Poland)	wyszukiwarkaregon.stat.gov.pl	Free	Search by REGON, NIP, KRS
Czech Republic	Veřejný rejstřík (Public Register)	or.justice.cz/ias/ui/rejstrik	Free	Commercial register and collection of documents
Czech Republic	ARES	ares.gov.cz	Free	Consolidated data from Czech registers
Slovakia	Business Register of the Slovak Republic	orsr.sk sluzby.orsr.sk	Free	Companies
Slovakia	Register of legal persons, entrepreneurs and public authorities (RPO)	rpo.statistics.sk	Free	Legal entities and sole traders
Slovakia	Trade Register (ŽRSR)	zrsr.sk	Free	Sole traders (trade licences)
Slovakia	Register of Public Sector Partners (RPVS)	rpvs.gov.sk	Free	Beneficial owners of the state’s counterparties
Cyprus	Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property	efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy	Free search, paid extracts	Company documents are paid
Malta	Malta Business Registry	registry.mbr.mt	Free	Basic data after account registration
Estonia	e-Business Register (e-Äriregister)	ariregister.rik.ee	Free	Company search
Latvia	Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia	info.ur.gov.lv	Free search, paid extracts	Company data
Lithuania	Register of Legal Entities, State Enterprise Centre of Registers	registrucentras.lt/jar/p/index.php	Free search, paid extracts	Daily limit on free searches
Denmark	CVR (Central Business Register)	datacvr.virk.dk	Free	Companies and sole traders
Sweden	Bolagsverket (Swedish Companies Registration Office)	foretagsinfo.bolagsverket.se	Free search, paid extracts	Certificates are paid
Finland	YTJ (Business Information System)	tietopalvelu.ytj.fi	Free	Trade register extract via Virre (virre.prh.fi)
Norway	Brønnøysund Register Centre	virksomhet.brreg.no	Free	Companies and sole traders
Hungary	Company Information Service (e-cegjegyzek)	e-cegjegyzek.hu	Free	Information without the force of an official document
Romania	National Trade Register Office (ONRC)	onrc.ro	Free search, paid extracts	Trade register
Bulgaria	Commercial register and register of non-profit legal entities (Registry Agency)	portal.registryagency.bg/home-cr	Free search, paid extracts	Companies and non-profits
Croatia	Court register (Sudski registar)	sudreg.pravosudje.hr	Free	Companies registered by commercial courts
Slovenia	Slovenian Business Register (AJPES ePRS)	ajpes.si/prs	Free	Business entities
Greece	General Commercial Registry (GEMI)	publicity.businessportal.gr	Free	Companies
Georgia	National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR)	enreg.reestri.gov.ge	Free search, paid extracts	Extract is paid

A note on beneficial ownership registers. Following the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU of 22.11.2022 in Cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, free public access to beneficial ownership registers has been closed in most EU Member States: data is provided upon proof of legitimate interest (Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, France, Luxembourg and, since December 2025, the Czech Republic). Directive (EU) 2024/1640 (AMLD6) harmonises this regime. The UK PSC register at Companies House and the Slovak RPVS remain open.

USA

There is no federal company register in the USA: companies are registered at state level, usually with the Secretary of State.

Jurisdiction	Register	Link	Access	What you get
USA	NASS - directory of all state registers	nass.org	Free	Link directory, not a search
Delaware	Division of Corporations, Entity Search	icis.corp.delaware.gov	Free search, paid extracts	Name, file number, formation date, registered agent; no officers or owners
Wyoming	Business Entity Search	wyobiz.wyo.gov	Free	State company register
Nevada	ORION Business Portal	orion.nv.gov/portal/public	Free	Replacing SilverFlume
Florida	Sunbiz	search.sunbiz.org	Free	Annual reports, officers
California	bizfile Online	bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business	Free search, paid extracts	Document copies are paid
New York	Corporation and Business Entity Database	apps.dos.ny.gov/publicInquiry	Free	State company register
Texas	SOSDirect	direct.sos.state.tx.us	Paid	Prepaid account
Texas	Franchise Tax Account Status (Comptroller)	comptroller.texas.gov	Free	Free alternative to SOSDirect
USA	SEC EDGAR	sec.gov/search-filings sec.gov/edgar/search	Free	Filings of public companies; full-text search since 2001
USA	IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search	apps.irs.gov/app/eos	Free	Non-profit organisations, Form 990

Beneficial ownership information (BOI) filed with FinCEN has never been public, and since March 2025 US companies have been exempt from the obligation to report it.

Canada and Mexico

Jurisdiction	Register	Link	Access	What you get
Canada	Corporations Canada - Search for a Federal Corporation	ised-isde.canada.ca	Free	Since 22.01.2024 - data on individuals with significant control
Canada	Canada’s Business Registries	ised-isde.canada.ca/cbr-rec/en/search	Free	Multi-jurisdiction search
Ontario	Ontario Business Registry	appmybizaccount.gov.on.ca	Free search, paid extracts	Reports are paid
British Columbia	BC Registries	bcregistry.gov.bc.ca	Free search, paid extracts	Documents at statutory fees
Quebec	Registraire des entreprises (REQ)	registreentreprises.gouv.qc.ca	Free	Directors, shareholders, ultimate beneficiaries
Alberta	Corporate Registry	alberta.ca	Paid	Only through registry agents
Mexico	SIGER 2.0 - Registro Público de Comercio	rpc.economia.gob.mx	Free search, paid extracts	Certificates are paid

UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong

Jurisdiction	Register	Link	Access	What you get
UAE	National Economic Register	growth.gov.ae/G2C	Free	Licences, trade names and activities across all emirates
Dubai	Licence search (Invest in Dubai, DET)	app.invest.dubai.ae/search-license	Free	By licence number or name
Abu Dhabi	Economic licence verification (TAMM, ADDED)	tamm.abudhabi	Free	By licence number
DIFC	Public Register	difc.com	Free	Entities of the financial centre
DIFC	DFSA - regulated firms	dfsa.ae/public-register/firms	Free	Licensed financial institutions
ADGM	Public Registers	adgm.com/public-registers	Free	Companies and regulated firms
DMCC	Public Register	dmcc.ae/public-register	Free	Free zone entities
Singapore	ACRA - Bizfile	bizfile.gov.sg	Free search, paid extracts	Business Profile and People Profile are paid
Singapore	ACRA on data.gov.sg	data.gov.sg/collections/2/view	Free	Open data, without officers
Singapore	Charity Portal	charities.gov.sg	Free	Charities
Singapore	MAS - Financial Institutions Directory	eservices.mas.gov.sg/fid	Free	Licensed financial institutions
Hong Kong	Companies Registry - e-Services Portal	e-services.cr.gov.hk	Paid	Company particulars report from HK$22; significant controllers register is not publicly available
Hong Kong	Business Registration Office (IRD)	gov.hk/br	Paid	Business registration extracts
Hong Kong	SFC Public Register	apps.sfc.hk	Free	Licensed securities market participants
Hong Kong	HKMA - Register of AIs and LROs	vpr.hkma.gov.hk	Free	Banks and authorised institutions

Global tools

Jurisdiction	Register	Link	Access	What you get
Global	GLEIF - LEI Search	search.gleif.org	Free	Not a government register but a regulated system; useful for ownership structures
Global	OpenCorporates	opencorporates.com	Free search, paid extracts	Private aggregator; not an official source

Part II. Real Estate Registers

Ukraine

Authority	Register	Link	Access	What you get
Ministry of Justice / Diia	Information from the State Register of Rights to Real Estate	diia.gov.ua	Paid	State Register of Rights, Register of Ownership Rights, State Register of Mortgages, Unified Register of Prohibitions on Alienation; search by person or by property
Ministry of Justice	Guidance on obtaining information from the register	minjust.gov.ua	Free	Online - current information only; historical information on paper via a state registrar, administrative service centre or notary
StateGeoCadastre	State Land Cadastre - e-services	e.land.gov.ua	Free search, paid extracts	Cadastre extracts, normative monetary valuation
StateGeoCadastre	Public Cadastral Map	map.land.gov.ua	Restricted	Restricted under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 564 of 07.05.2022; kadastr.live and similar services are not governmental
Mininfra	Unified State Electronic System in the construction sector	e-construction.gov.ua/reestri	Free	Permits, commissioning of buildings, construction participants

By law, information from the State Register of Rights to Real Estate is open, publicly available and paid (Art. 32 of the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Corporeal Rights to Real Estate and Their Encumbrances”). At the same time, Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1737 of 24.12.2025 reduced the scope of information on real estate of legal entities in electronic extracts for the period of martial law.

Europe

Jurisdiction	Register	Link	Access	What you get
England and Wales	HM Land Registry	search-property-information.service.gov.uk	Paid	Title register and plan; account required
Scotland	ScotLIS (Registers of Scotland)	scotlis.ros.gov.uk	Free search, paid extracts	Last price and date free, title sheet paid
Ireland	landdirect.ie (Tailte Éireann)	landdirect.ie	Free search, paid extracts	Map search free, folio copy paid
Germany	Grundbuch (Land Register)	-	Restricted	No public online access: only via the local court upon a legitimate interest (§ 12 GBO)
France	Cadastre	cadastre.gouv.fr	Free	Cadastral map without owner data
France	DVF - Demandes de valeurs foncières	app.dvf.etalab.gouv.fr	Free	Actual property transaction prices
Netherlands	Kadaster	kadaster.nl	Paid	Owner information available to anyone
Belgium	Cadastre (FPS Finance)	eservices.minfin.fgov.be/ecad-web	Free search, paid extracts	Cadastral map; extracts on third-party property are paid
Spain	Sede Electrónica del Catastro (Cadastral Electronic Site)	sedecatastro.gob.es	Free	Non-protected cadastral data
Spain	Registradores (nota simple)	sede.registradores.org/site/propiedad	Paid	Available to anyone
Italy	Agenzia delle Entrate (cadastre)	agenziaentrate.gov.it	Free search, paid extracts	Own property free, third-party property paid
Portugal	Predial Online (Land Registry Online)	predialonline.pt	Free search, paid extracts	Land registry
Poland	Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste (Electronic Land and Mortgage Registers)	ekw.ms.gov.pl	Free search, paid extracts	Viewing by land register (KW) number, extract paid
Poland	Geoportal	mapy.geoportal.gov.pl/imap	Free	Cadastral map
Czech Republic	Consultation of the Cadastre of Real Estate (ČÚZK)	nahlizenidokn.cuzk.gov.cz	Free	Owner names after electronic identification
Slovakia	ESKN Portal and ZBGIS	kataster.skgeodesy.sk/eskn-portal zbgis.skgeodesy.sk/mapka/sk/kataster	Free	Real estate cadastre
Cyprus	DLS Portal (Department of Lands and Surveys)	portal.dls.moi.gov.cy/en	Free search, paid extracts	Plots and valuations free, certificates paid
Estonia	e-Land Register (e-Kinnistusraamat)	kinnistusraamat.rik.ee	Paid	For third-party property; queries are logged
Latvia	State Unified Computerised Land Register (Zemesgrāmata)	zemesgramata.lv	Free search, paid extracts	Viewing a folio is paid
Lithuania	Real Property Register, State Enterprise Centre of Registers	registrucentras.lt	Free search, paid extracts	Real property register
Denmark	Land Register (Tingbogen)	tinglysning.dk	Free	Full data with MitID
Norway	Property Register (Kartverket)	eiendomsregisteret.kartverket.no	Free	Unofficial land register printout
Sweden	Lantmäteriet	lantmateriet.se	Restricted	Ownership data via customer service or subscription
Finland	National Land Survey of Finland	asiointi.maanmittauslaitos.fi	Paid	Register extracts
Austria	Grundbuch (Land Register), JustizOnline	justizonline.gv.at	Paid	Public register
Switzerland	Cantonal land registers	cadastre.ch/de/grundbuch-schweiz	Free search, paid extracts	Owner and easements public without proof of interest (Art. 970 Swiss Civil Code)
Georgia	NAPR - real estate register	napr.gov.ge	Free search, paid extracts	Public register

USA and Canada

In the USA, real estate records are kept at county level: the county recorder (deeds, mortgages) and the county assessor or appraiser (valuation, owner). Key jurisdictions are listed below.

Jurisdiction	Register	Link	Access	What you get
New York City	ACRIS	a836-acris.nyc.gov/CP	Free	Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens
Los Angeles	Assessor Portal	portal.assessor.lacounty.gov	Free	Parcels and valuation
Miami-Dade	Property Appraiser	miamidadepa.gov	Free	Owner, valuation
Cook County (Chicago)	Clerk’s Recordings	crs.cookcountyclerkil.gov/Search	Free	Recorded documents
Harris County (Houston)	Harris Central Appraisal District	hcad.org/property-search	Free	Owner, valuation
Ontario	OnLand	onland.ca/ui	Free search, paid extracts	Parcel register paid, some indexes free
British Columbia	LTSA (myLTSA)	myltsa.ltsa.ca/myltsalogin	Paid	LTSA also runs the Land Owner Transparency Registry
Quebec	Registre foncier du Québec en ligne	registrefoncier.gouv.qc.ca	Paid	Register documents
Alberta	ARLO and SPIN2	landregistry.alberta.ca spin.gov.ab.ca	Paid	Current and historical records

UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong

Jurisdiction	Register	Link	Access	What you get
Dubai	Dubai Land Department - Title Deed Verification	dubailand.gov.ae	Free	By deed number, year and owner’s name
Dubai	Dubai Land Department - Open Data	dubailand.gov.ae	Free	Transactions, rents, projects
Abu Dhabi	DARI (ADREC)	dari.ae	Restricted	Services via UAE Pass
Singapore	SLA - INLIS	app.sla.gov.sg/inlis	Paid	Title search
Singapore	URA - private residential transactions	eservice.ura.gov.sg	Free	Transaction prices
Singapore	HDB - resale flat prices	services2.hdb.gov.sg/webapp/BB33RTIS	Free	Public housing transaction prices
Singapore	OneMap (SLA)	onemap.gov.sg	Free	Map
Hong Kong	Land Registry - IRIS	iris.gov.hk	Paid	Available to anyone without a subscription
Hong Kong	RVD - Property Information Online	rvdpi.gov.hk	Paid	Saleable area, building age, rateable value

Conclusion

Most jurisdictions let you establish free of charge that a company exists, its status and registration details, whereas information on beneficial owners and property owners is increasingly available only upon a legitimate interest, after identification or for a fee. A government register is therefore a mandatory starting point, but not the whole of due diligence: for a transaction or a dispute, an official extract, document review and cross-checking against several sources remain essential.

This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Access terms and addresses of registers change, so they should be checked for currency before use.