Company search by country: 30 registers and what each one shows

Most people search a foreign company to find out who is behind it. Whether a register can tell you depends on one field at a time. Pick the fact you need and the grid shows which registers put it on the public record.

Three patterns stand out. Directors are the easiest fact to find: 20 of the 30 registers show them in full. Beneficial owners are the hardest: only Gibraltar opens its owner register to anyone, while Bermuda, Bulgaria, the BVI, Cayman, Estonia and Malta now answer only people who show a legitimate interest. And the US states split by entity type, since an LLC's members are never filed in Delaware, New Mexico or Wyoming.

TakeawayDecide which fact you need before you pick the search. Status is nearly always free; owners nearly never are.

A certificate of good standing is the registry's own statement that a company exists and is up to date with its fees and filings on the day it is issued. Every bank asks for one, and so should you when the register shows nothing else. The question that matters is who may order it.

Names differ. Hong Kong issues a Certificate of Continuing Registration, Nevada a certificate of existence, Bermuda a certificate of compliance, and Switzerland, Estonia, Georgia, Bahrain and Curaçao rely on a current registry extract, which does the same job. Where a certificate is going abroad for a bank or a court, it usually needs an apostille on top; our guide to apostille countries covers which places accept one.

TakeawayA certificate is a snapshot of one day. Ask for one issued recently, not the copy from the year it was formed.

An hour of work, most of it free, before you sign or send money. The steps work for any of the 30 registers above.

1. Get the three identifiers in writing

   Exact legal name with its suffix, registration number and the place of registration. A real company can give you all three in a minute. Watch for near twins: Jersey and New Jersey, or Georgia the country and Georgia the state, keep different registers.

2. Search by number on the official register

   Names repeat and get reused after a company is struck off; numbers don't. Use the official link in the table, not a copy of the data on a third party site, because copies can be months old.

   What to read on the entryName and former namesNumber and date formedStatus: active, struck off, dissolved, in liquidationRegistered office and agentLast annual filing date

3. Read the status and the filing dates

   A company can be "active" and still be behind on its annual fee. A late last filing, or a recent change of name or agent, is a reason to ask questions. New Mexico LLCs file no annual report at all, so their records can be years old.

4. Match the people

   If the register names directors, the person signing with you should be one of them or hold a written authority from the board. If it doesn't, ask for a certificate of incumbency or a copy of the register of directors certified by the registered agent.

5. Get a recent good standing certificate

   Order it yourself where anyone can, or ask the company where only it can (chapter 3). Check that the name and number match the contract word for word.

6. Screen the company and its people against sanctions lists

   Pick where you live and we'll show the list your own law expects you to screen against first.

7. Read what's filed

   Where accounts are public (Estonia, Bulgaria and Malta, among others), skim the last two years. Where they're not, the company's bank reference or audited accounts, if it has them, are the next best thing.

TakeawayThe register tells you the company exists. Steps four to six tell you the person in front of you is entitled to speak for it.

Sort the 30 by what an outsider can learn about the people, and they fall into three groups. These counts come straight from the table above.

TakeawayIf your own company's privacy matters to you, the left column is where to start; if you're vetting someone else's, the right column is where you'll learn most.