[1][2] There are many types of official business registers, usually maintained for various purposes by a state authority, such as a government agency, or a court of law.
In some cases, it may also be devolved to self-governing bodies, either commercial (a chamber of commerce) or professional (a regulatory college); or to a dedicated, highly regulated company (i.e., operator of a stock exchange, a multilateral trading facility, a central securities depository or an alternative trading system).
The following is an incomplete list of official business registers by country.
A business register may include data on entities, as well as on their status for various purposes.
Examples of such registers include: Another group of business registers is focused on various assets or liabilities of an entity, rather than on entities themselves, these include: Some types of business registers combine the features of both groups, these include: There are two registers of entities which are obligated or allowed to register as entrepreneurs: Registers of some of the types of businesses excluded from registration as entrepreneurs which are available online include the following (the list does not include registries of entities established through a centralized European Union-level procedure, namely the European Research Infrastructure Consortia, the European political parties and the European political foundations): Notably absent are: Albania Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Chad Georgia Moldova Montenegro Russian Federation San Marino Serbia Switzerland — Swiss company registers are organized at cantonal level.