Germany Companies Registry – Handelsregistereintragung
The registry courts of the federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany publish announcements required under Section 10 of the German Commercial Code and announcements required under Section 66 of the German Civil Code.
With the Commercial Register, we have access to registered German companies details and submitted company documents.
Services we provide in Germany
Germany Company Formations – We can file applications for German companies, allowing for companies to be registered with Handelsregistereintragung in 1 – 2 weeks
Germany Certificate of Good Standing – We supply Notarised HRB Certificate which is an extract in German that contains the latest company details filed at the Commercial Register
Germany Company Search Report – Find out the Current Status of any German company with our registry searches
German Federal Gazette – Bundesanzeiger
The Federal Gazette publishes notifications regarding German companies in the company register and in association with publications in the Federal Gazette. Entries into the Trade Register are published in the electronic Federal Gazette/ Bundesanzeiger.
German Company Registration at the Handelsregister
A notary will draft the Articles of Association and also verify the application for registration with the Trade Register. Every company is obliged to register with the local trade office (Gewerbeamt) of the municipality in which the business is located.
The application form together with the documents of the Private Limited Company Law (GmbH) are forwarded by the notary to the Court of Registration. Registration of the GmbH and the managing directors in the trade register. The GmbH acquires the rights of a legal entity from the point of having been registered in the Trade Register. Registration in the Trade Register must be followed by registration at the Office for Public Order.
Trade Register – Handelsregister
Companies of all legal forms must be entered in the Trade Register. The trade register is kept by the local courts (Amtsgericht) and ensures legal certainty in trade since all actual and legal relationships are recorded there.
The Trade Register provides information on the company name, the name of the owner, the share capital of the GmbH, the granting of general powers of attorney.
As a result of the entry in the Trade Register, the company name is protected from identical or similar company names because every company name must be clearly different from all companies already entered in the Trade Register of the same municipality.
The entry in the Trade Register also documents to third parties that the company complies with standard business rules and practices and subjects itself, more particularly, to the Commercial Code (HGB).
Trade Register for German Companies
Entry into the Trade Register must include the company name, its registered office, object of the company, amount of proprietors’ capital, date on which the shareholders’ agreement was concluded, personal details of directors and their powers of representation. The entry in the Trade Register includes the following:
- The shareholders’ agreement in a certified notarial form
- List of shareholders countersigned by the directors
German Registry Filing Requirements
Financial statements must be prepared annually for all registered German companies and submitted to the authorities, the German Commercial Code contains strict rules on the disclosure of accounts. An audit is mandatory only for medium and large companies.