Central Commercial Register

The term 'Central Commercial Register' does not refer to an independent register in the German context but serves as a collective term for the interconnected electronic commercial registers of the 16 federal states. Through the nationwide accessible Company Register and the Joint Register Portal of the states, users can centrally search for register entries of corporations and partnerships. Important: When an authority or bank requests a so-called central commercial register excerpt, it usually refers to an excerpt from the respective state commercial register – a true federal commercial register does not exist. The term is also often mistakenly equated with the Central Trade Register of the Federal Office of Justice, which records administrative offenses and trade prohibitions. For comprehensive company research, it is therefore recommended to retrieve information from the electronic commercial register, company register, and transparency register combined. These digital databases enhance legal certainty, facilitate credit checks, prevent money laundering, and ensure transparency in economic transactions. In summary: The 'Central Commercial Register' practically consists of a nationwide network of decentralized commercial registers that have been merged into a quasi-central information system through online portals – today.