Handelsregister · commercial register
The commercial register makes the legally relevant facts about an entity public: business name, registered office, governing bodies, signatories. The extract from the register is requested in almost every transaction. In English, keep commercial register: Companies House is a British institution.
Request a demoThe term in four languages
- German
- Handelsregister
- French
- registre du commerce
- Italian
- registro di commercio
- English
- commercial register
Definition
The commercial register records and publishes legally relevant information about legal entities, in order to provide legal certainty and protect third parties. It is kept by cantonal offices under the oversight of the Confederation. Entry in the register confers legal personality on companies limited by shares, partnerships limited by shares and limited liability companies. Entries take effect on publication, and from then on third parties cannot claim to be unaware of them.
Swiss federal acts are published in German, French and Italian, and all three versions are equally authoritative. The English term shown here comes from the Federal Administration's English translation, published on Fedlex for information only. Where there is no translation, it follows common usage.
Full glossaryThe term in an official text
powered by Neur.onDas Handelsregister ist ein Verbund staatlich geführter Datenbanken. Es bezweckt namentlich die Erfassung und die Offenlegung rechtlich relevanter Tatsachen über Rechtseinheiten und dient der Rechtssicherheit sowie dem Schutz Dritter.
The commercial register is a network of state-run databases. Its primary purpose is the recording and publication of legally relevant information about legal entities, which serves to provide legal certainty and protect third parties.
Source: Fedlex, Code of Obligations. In Corrext, this segment and the ones around it appear in Fast lookup CHnell, each with its reference.
Related terms
A company that is liable for its obligations only to the extent of its own assets.
Verwaltungsrat · board of directorsThe body that manages a company limited by shares and determines its organisation.
Konkurs · bankruptcyGeneral enforcement against all of the debtor's distrainable assets.