How to Read a Company Registry Entry

The official company registry is the single most reliable free source of information about any business. Before paying a new supplier, checking their company registration takes less than five minutes and can reveal critical information: whether the company actually exists, who owns and controls it, whether it is in financial difficulty, and whether the details they have given you match the official record. This guide explains exactly what to look for in the most important registries worldwide.

What a Company Registry Entry Contains

While registries vary by country, most provide the following core information:

• Legal name and registration number — the official name exactly as registered, and a unique identifier
• Registered address — the official address for legal correspondence (may differ from trading address)
• Date of incorporation — how long the company has been registered
• Company status — active, dissolved, dormant, in administration, or struck off
• Directors and officers — named individuals responsible for the company
• Shareholders and beneficial owners — who owns the company (availability varies by country)
• Filed accounts — annual financial statements (where filing is mandatory)
• Charges and mortgages — secured debts registered against the company's assets

UK: Companies House

Companies House (find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk) is one of the most transparent company registries in the world. All UK limited companies must file annual accounts and confirmation statements, and this information is freely available to the public.

What to check:

• Company status: Must be "Active." If it shows "Dissolved," "Liquidation," or "Administration," do not proceed.
• Incorporation date: A company incorporated in the last 6–12 months with no trading history is higher risk.
• Registered address: Many fraudulent companies use virtual office addresses (e.g., 20 Fenchurch Street, London). Search the address — if dozens of companies are registered there, it is a virtual office, not a real trading location.
• Directors: Check the directors' names match what the supplier told you. Look for disqualified directors using the Disqualified Directors Register.
• Persons with Significant Control (PSC): The UK requires disclosure of beneficial owners with more than 25% ownership. A "PSC not identified" entry is a red flag.
• Filed accounts: Check the most recent accounts. "Micro-entity" accounts show very little, but "dormant" accounts on an allegedly active trading company is suspicious.

United States: State Registries and SEC EDGAR

The US has no single national company registry. Companies are registered at the state level. Each state has its own Secretary of State (SoS) database. For a supplier claiming to be a US company, search their state's SoS database — links for all 50 states are available at usa.gov.

For publicly traded companies, the SEC's EDGAR database (sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar) contains detailed filings including annual reports (10-K), quarterly reports (10-Q), and ownership disclosures.

US LLCs and corporations are not required to disclose beneficial ownership publicly at the state level in most states. The Corporate Transparency Act originally required most US companies to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN, but since a March 2025 rule change, US-formed companies are exempt — the requirement now applies only to foreign companies registered to do business in the US, and the database is not publicly accessible. In practice, this means beneficial ownership of US entities remains hard to verify independently — treat undisclosed ownership of a US counterparty accordingly.

European Union: BRIS and National Registries

The EU Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS) allows cross-border searches across EU member state registries. For individual countries, use the national registry directly:

China: GSXT and China Checkup

China's National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn) is the official registry for all Chinese companies. It is in Chinese only. Key information to verify includes the company's unified social credit code (统一社会信用代码), legal representative, registered capital, and business scope.

For English-language verification, services such as China Checkup (chinacheckup.com) provide translated company reports. Note that registered capital in China does not need to be paid up — a company with ¥100 million registered capital may have no actual assets.

India: MCA21

Indian companies are registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The MCA21 portal (mca.gov.in) allows free searches by company name or CIN (Corporate Identity Number). Check the company's status, directors, and whether annual returns have been filed. Indian companies are required to disclose significant beneficial owners (SBOs) holding more than 10% of shares.

Key Red Flags in Any Registry Entry

• 🚫 Company status is anything other than "Active" or equivalent
• 🚫 Company incorporated very recently (under 6 months) with no trading history
• 🚫 Registered address is a virtual office or mail forwarding service
• 🚫 Director names do not match what the supplier told you
• 🚫 Beneficial ownership is hidden, anonymous, or "not identified"
• 🚫 No filed accounts despite being incorporated for more than 12 months
• 🚫 Multiple county court judgements (CCJs) or charges registered against the company
• 🚫 The company name on the registry does not exactly match the name on the invoice

Beyond the Registry: Additional Free Checks

A registry check is the foundation, but it should be combined with other free verification steps:

• Google the company name + "scam" or "fraud" — check the first three pages of results
• Check Trustpilot, Google Reviews, and industry-specific review sites
• Verify their LinkedIn company page — check employee count, tenure, and whether employees are real people with verifiable histories
• Check the domain registration date of their website using WHOIS — a website registered last month for a company claiming 10 years of experience is a red flag
• Search the OFAC SDN list at sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov
• Check the EU Sanctions Map at sanctionsmap.eu

Ready to assess your specific supplier? Use our free Supplier Due Diligence Risk Checker — it provides direct links to the official registry for the country you select. Also see our guide to payment method risks and country risk guide.