Trade register extract; application

According to § 14 of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act (GewO), tradespeople must report certain processes to the municipality. These include the registration, re-registration and de-registration

• of a trade,
• a branch office or
• a dependent branch office.

The trade register lists all commercial businesses in the respective municipality with the data they have reported. Public and non-public bodies as well as private individuals can obtain information from the trade register on request if they are interested. The trader's basic data (name, business address, reported activity) is generally accessible; a legal interest is required for further data information. The consent of the person concerned is not required for the forwarding of data.

The trade register is not a public register such as the commercial register, register of cooperatives or register of associations. You therefore have no legal claim to the disclosure of data. It is at the discretion of the competent authority whether it provides you with the information.

The information corresponds to what was reported to the trade registration office at the time the information was provided. The authority accepts no liability for the accuracy and completeness of the information. No information is provided on businesses that have been deregistered.

The trade register with the basic data of tradespeople is also made available on the Internet by some municipalities. Some of this basic data is also published in a business directory or business directory, a list of companies organized by sector.

• in the case of information going beyond the basic data: Proof of legal interest such as debt instruments, copies of contracts or invoices

You will receive information on the trader's basic data without any special justification. This includes

• Name,
• business address and
• reported activity.

If you would like to receive further data, you must demonstrate a legal interest.

You have a legal interest, for example, if you

• want to assert legal claims or
• refer to services provided by the trader or
• grant loans to the traders.

You can apply for information from the trade register in person, in writing or electronically. In addition to your personal details, you should provide the data you know about the business you are looking for, e.g:

• Name of the business
• Name of the trader
• the last known address

The responsible office will check your application for completeness and whether you have a legal interest in obtaining information from the trade register.

If your application is approved, you will be sent the extract from the trade register and a notification of fees.

The trade register should not be confused with the central trade register kept by the Federal Office of Justice, which records trade law violations for the whole of Germany.