Private company due diligence in the European Union
The EU has 27 company registers, not one, so we start with the countries where the record is deepest and say plainly where it is thin.
We read national business registers, deposited annual accounts, insolvency registers linked through e-Justice, and VAT status checks.
Where Kubr stands in the European Union
Stage: Scoping. We are scoping a launch in a few countries where registers are deepest. Nothing is live, and other member states are by request only.
Clients here: professional investors.
Not directed at retail investors in the EEA. No investment services are offered.
The EU is a launch cluster of a few countries with deep registers, and each country has its own rules.
Registers and records we read in the European Union
| Source | What it holds | How we get it |
|---|---|---|
| BRIS and the European e-Justice portal | Search across the linked national business registers for basic company data and cross-border branch links | Read by Kubr |
| Germany: Handelsregister, Unternehmensregister and Bundesanzeiger | Commercial register entries, representatives, capital, published annual accounts and notices | Read by Kubr |
| Germany: Transparenzregister | Beneficial ownership, restricted to obliged entities and those with a legitimate interest | Supplied by the company |
| France: Registre national des entreprises (INPI) and Infogreffe | Company status, officers, filed acts and accounts. Small companies may keep accounts confidential | Read by Kubr |
| Netherlands: KVK Handelsregister | Company status, legal form, directors and deposited annual accounts. Fuller detail via paid extracts | Read by Kubr |
| Netherlands: UBO (ultimate beneficial owner) register (KVK) | Beneficial ownership, restricted to defined groups bound by anti-money-laundering rules, and authorities | Supplied by the company |
| Ireland: Companies Registration Office | Company details, annual returns, directors and filed accounts. Small companies may file abridged accounts | Read by Kubr |
| Luxembourg: Registre de Commerce et des Sociétés (LBR) | Filed constitutional documents and annual accounts, plus the REGINSOL insolvency search | Read by Kubr |
| Denmark: CVR and Virk | Company data and filed annual reports, searchable without charge | Read by Kubr |
| Sweden: Bolagsverket | Company data, board, and annual reports of limited companies. Bulk files and open APIs published | Read by Kubr |
| Interconnected insolvency registers (e-Justice) | Search of national insolvency registers under the EU Insolvency Regulation 2015/848; coverage and detail differ by country | Read by Kubr |
| VIES (European Commission) | Whether a VAT number is valid for cross-border trade | Read by Kubr |
| Spain: Registro Mercantil and Italy: Registro Imprese (second wave) | Company data and deposited accounts, obtained document by document for a fee in Spain. Italian beneficial ownership access is to be confirmed with local counsel | Read by Kubr |
| EU consolidated financial sanctions list and national court and gazette records | Sanctioned persons and entities; national courts and official gazettes, coverage per country to be confirmed with local counsel | Read by Kubr |
Rules that shape the work
- Company law and registry
- Company law and registers are national. The registers are linked for search through BRIS (the business registers interconnection system) on the European e-Justice portal, but depth, cost and format differ by country. Shortlist for launch: Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg, Denmark and Sweden. Spain, Italy and Finland follow after register access is confirmed.
- Data protection
- GDPR applies in every member state. Director and owner data is personal data, so we record a lawful basis, keep to purpose and minimisation, and take consent for anything beyond public records. National supervisory authorities differ in how they read it.
- Financial data
- Bank data comes through an account information service provider authorised under PSD2 (the EU payment services directive), with the company's consent, re-confirmed at least every 180 days. PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation reached provisional political agreement in November 2025. Formal adoption and start dates are to be confirmed, and they do not yet apply to our route. The Financial Data Access framework is a parallel proposal and is not yet in force.
- Securities regulator
- ESMA, the EU securities regulator, sets EU rules and national authorities supervise. Investment advice is a MiFID II (EU investment services rules) regulated activity needing local authorisation. AIFMD II (EU rules for alternative investment fund managers) transposition fell due on 16 April 2026 and introduces loan-origination fund rules. Kubr gives no investment advice. Whether records-based diligence needs any national licence is to be confirmed with local counsel per country.
- Speed
- Where registers are free and machine-readable, the snapshot is fast. Where documents are ordered one by one for a fee, or need a local-language read, it takes longer. We state the country and expected time at intake.
- Reliability
- Small companies can file abridged accounts or, in some countries, keep them confidential. Beneficial ownership registers closed to the general public after the November 2022 ruling of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU). Every report has a box that says what we could not see.
How we check sales and cash here
There is no EU-wide sales-tax return feed we can read. VAT returns stay with national tax authorities and are not shared with third parties. We rely on consented data and public records, and layer them.
Where your data is held
As a pre-launch design commitment, data is sourced from providers licensed in the EU and handled within the EU or EEA. Nothing is transferred to a third country without a valid GDPR transfer mechanism, and our design aims to need none.
Sourced from: Account information service providers authorised by an EU national competent authority, accounting-software providers offering consented ledger connections under EU contracts, and national registers and gazettes.
Storage and processing in EU or EEA data centres. Personal data is limited to what the diligence needs and is deleted on a set schedule. Nothing crosses borders by design; any exception would be disclosed and covered by GDPR Chapter V.
Reports available in the European Union
- Verified SnapshotFull
Register status, officers, filed accounts and notices, insolvency search and VIES check, for the shortlist countries. Limits: Depth differs by country. Ownership is thin where beneficial ownership registers are closed to the public. Spain and Italy are second wave. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - Financial diligencePartial
Bank data through PSD2 providers and ledger connections with consent, tied to deposited accounts. Limits: Needs company consent. Small companies with abridged or confidential accounts give less to compare. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - Legal diligence supportPartial
Constitutional documents, officers, capital, charges where a register exists, and insolvency and court searches. Limits: Security registers, land and court coverage vary by country. Contracts and data-room review need the company and a local lawyer. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - Promoter profilesPartial
Directorships across registers and insolvency records for named people, with consent for anything personal. Limits: Beneficial ownership is restricted, and GDPR limits what we hold on people. Cross-border director search is patchy. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - IC notePartial
A memo of findings in the shortlist countries, with sources and gaps stated. Limits: Only as complete as the records and consented data behind it. It is not an investment opinion. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set. - Model checkPartial
Model inputs traced to deposited accounts and consented bank or ledger data. Limits: There is no tax-return feed to trace revenue to. Needs the model file. Typical turnaround: 2 to 5 working days from a complete data set.
Not yet available here: Portfolio monitor (planned); Valuation context (planned); Rating history (not offered); Borrower monitor (planned); Proceeds tracer (planned). See all eleven reports or read the sample report.
Work that needs a licensed professional
- Statutory audit and assurance: A statutory auditor approved in the relevant member state.
- Legal opinions and local law advice: A lawyer admitted in that country.
- Investment advice: A firm authorised under MiFID II in that country.
- Tax advice: A tax adviser or lawyer qualified locally.
- Bank data aggregation: An account information service provider authorised under PSD2.
Kubr is not an authorised investment firm, auditor, credit institution or law firm in any EU member state. It gives no investment advice under MiFID II, no audit assurance and no credit ratings. Whether a national licence is needed for records-based reports is to be confirmed with local counsel in each launch country. National competent authorities, coordinated by ESMA, supervise regulated activity.
GDPR applies. We process director and owner data on a documented lawful basis, limit it to what is needed and honour data subject rights. Data is handled in the EU or EEA and any transfer needs a GDPR mechanism. The lead supervisory authority is to be confirmed with local counsel.
Read next
- Private Company Due Diligence: A Records-Based Guide
- Lender’s Checklist: Verifying a Borrower Company
- Kubr casebook: 483 sourced corporate-failure cases, with its methodology and summary counts
Request a quote for a European Union company, or browse the services.
Other markets
Kubr is a technology platform, not an adviser, law firm, auditor, rating agency or credit bureau. Reports are for the named client only and are not investment advice, an audit or a legal opinion. Full disclosures. Source data for this page: the Kubr market pack for European Union, reviewed 3 November 2026.