Registers & identifiers
Learn how official entity records and identifiers support company verification. Understand why registration numbers, VAT numbers and company names answer different questions.
18 of 55 topics shown
- Official registers & extractsCompany RegisterA company register is an official system that records information about legal entities and their filings in a jurisdiction. Depending on the register, a record may provide a legal name, registration number, registered address, legal form, status and filed documents. The fields, access methods and legal significance differ between jurisdictions.
- Official registers & extractsCommercial RegisterA commercial register records specified commercial entities or acts within a jurisdiction.
- Official registers & extractsBusiness RegisterA business register records businesses within a defined legal, administrative or statistical scope.
- Official registers & extractsCertificate of IncorporationA certificate of incorporation is a document recording incorporation under the issuing jurisdiction’s system.
- Official registers & extractsRegistry ExtractA registry extract presents selected information from a register for an entity at a stated point or scope.
- Business identifiersCompany Registration NumberA company registration number is an identifier assigned to a legal entity by its registration authority. It helps distinguish the entity from businesses with similar names. Its meaning depends on the issuing jurisdiction and register: the same character sequence can occur in unrelated systems, and a tax identifier is not necessarily the registry identifier.
- Business identifiersTax Identification Number (TIN)A tax identification number identifies a taxpayer within a particular tax administration system.
- Business identifiersVAT NumberA VAT number identifies a person or business registered for value-added tax in a particular tax system. It is used in tax-related processes and may help reconcile a counterparty’s records. It should be stored with its country or issuing context because formats and validation methods vary.
- Business identifiersLegal Entity Identifier (LEI)A Legal Entity Identifier is an identifier used to identify legal entities in the global LEI system.
- Business identifiersD-U-N-S NumberA D-U-N-S Number is an identifier assigned within Dun & Bradstreet’s identification system.
- Company statusCertificate of Good StandingA certificate of good standing reports a specified standing condition under the issuing authority’s rules.
- Company statusActive Company StatusActive company status is a source-specific designation about an entity’s registration or administrative state.
- Company statusDormant CompanyA dormant company has limited or no relevant activity under a particular legal or accounting definition.
- Company statusDissolved CompanyA dissolved company is an entity whose legal existence or registration has ended through a specified process.
- Company statusStruck-Off CompanyA struck-off company has been removed from a register through the relevant administrative or legal procedure.
- Company documents & recordsArticles of AssociationArticles of association set out specified governance rules for a company under its applicable legal framework.
- Company documents & recordsAnnual ReturnAn annual return is a periodic filing of specified company information in systems that require it.
- Company documents & recordsDirector RegisterA director register records individuals or entities holding director positions under a specified system.