Corridor 4
Business & Companies
How businesses are formed, classified, and referenced — and how company information differs across jurisdictions.
Business information is contextual
Company information is not one universal dataset. It is shaped by local legal forms, registration practices, languages, and disclosure rules. The same type of organisation can look very different across countries.
This corridor helps you understand what business registries can tell you — and what they usually cannot.
What business registries are good for
- Confirming an entity exists in a recognised legal form
- Finding basic attributes (name, address, registration dates, sometimes officers)
- Connecting an entity to official filings (where available)
What they often do not do
- Provide a single, cross‑border “truth” (because disclosures differ)
- Explain tax status (that belongs to tax systems)
- Confirm trade permissions (that belongs to regulatory or customs systems)
Two helpful questions
- What is the legal form? This determines what the entity can do and what it must disclose.
- Where is the official filing trail? The registry entry is often the index, not the full story.
Further reading
This page links to independent informational resources that explore this corridor in more detail. These resources are provided for context and further reading and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a substitute for official European or national authorities.
If you are trying to understand how identifiers relate to registries, start with How Europe’s information systems work.