The business register in Denmark is Det Centrale Virksomhedsregister — CVR (the Central Business Register), kept by Erhvervsstyrelsen (the Danish Business Authority) and published at datacvr.virk.dk. It is among the most open registers in Europe: company data, ownership, management and annual reports are freely available, including as bulk open data. Sole traders and companies are in the same register, and registration is carried out digitally through the business portal virk.dk.

The company registry in Denmark

The register is governed by the CVR-loven (Act on the Central Business Register). It provides that the Danish Business Authority keeps the register, that its purpose is to hold core data on all legal units that carry on business or act as employers, to assign each a unique number and to make the data available to authorities and to private parties. Every legal unit receives an eight-digit CVR-nummer (CVR number), and each place of business receives a P-nummer (production unit number).

The definition of a legal unit is what makes the register comprehensive: it covers a natural person in their capacity as employer or self-employed — so an enkeltmandsvirksomhed (sole proprietorship) sits in the same register — as well as legal persons and branches of foreign legal persons, trusts and similar arrangements, and state, regional and municipal units. There is no separate sole-trader roll.

Filing is digital. Registration is made through virk.dk and, under the registration order, electronic filing is mandatory; registration in the register itself is free of charge. Annual reports are filed through the same portal and published in the register, and the whole data set is available as open data through search, bulk extracts and system-to-system services. Danish registrations are also exposed through the EU Business Registers Interconnection System.

Legal forms that can be registered in Denmark

Company forms are set by the selskabsloven (Companies Act), other business forms by the lov om visse erhvervsdrivende virksomheder (Act on Certain Commercial Undertakings), and commercial foundations by the erhvervsfondsloven (Commercial Foundations Act).

  • Enkeltmandsvirksomhed (Sole proprietorship) — a single owner with personal, unlimited liability and no capital requirement; entered in the register as a natural person acting as employer or self-employed.
  • Interessentskab — I/S (General partnership) — all participants are liable personally, without limitation and jointly. Registration is mandatory where all participants are limited-liability entities, and otherwise arises when VAT or employer duties do.
  • Kommanditselskab — K/S (Limited partnership) — the komplementar (general partner) is unlimitedly liable while the kommanditister (limited partners) are liable only to their contribution.
  • Partnerselskab — P/S (Partnership limited by shares) — a limited partnership whose limited capital is divided into shares; it is treated as a public limited company, and its name must contain the designation P/S.
  • Anpartsselskab — ApS (Private limited company) — owners are liable only for their contribution; the minimum capital is DKK 20,000, reduced from DKK 40,000 with effect from 27 February 2025. The workhorse of Danish business.
  • Aktieselskab — A/S (Public limited company) — minimum capital DKK 400,000; shares may be offered to the public.
  • Andelsselskab / a.m.b.a. (Cooperative with limited liability) — members act as suppliers or purchasers and any surplus is distributed according to turnover.
  • Forening med begrænset ansvar — f.m.b.a. (Association with limited liability) — no participant is personally, unlimitedly and jointly liable; membership is variable and rights are not capital-based. Registration is mandatory.
  • Erhvervsdrivende fond (Commercial foundation) — a self-owning institution with no members, governed by the Commercial Foundations Act.
  • Filial af udenlandsk selskab (Branch of a foreign company) — has no capital of its own and the foreign parent is liable; it must have a branch manager, receives its own CVR number and may not trade before registration.
  • SE-selskab (European Company), SCE (European Cooperative Society) and europæisk økonomisk firmagruppe — EØFG (European Economic Interest Grouping) — the EU-law forms, registered by the Danish Business Authority; in the grouping the members bear unlimited joint liability.

Forms that no longer exist

Two forms have been closed off. The iværksætterselskab — IVS (entrepreneur company) was abolished in April 2019: no new IVS could be formed, and existing ones had to convert into an ApS by a general meeting decision taken by 15 October 2021 and filed by 29 October 2021. Companies that did not convert were sent a dissolution notice and, after four weeks, referred for compulsory dissolution by the probate court; the form no longer exists in the register. Separately, the selskab med begrænset ansvar — s.m.b.a. cannot be formed since 1 January 2014, and existing ones are treated as associations with limited liability.

Information available from the Danish business register

The Act provides that anyone may obtain access to the core data recorded in the register. Those core data include the CVR number, the form, start and end dates, name, address, industry codes, employee numbers and production unit numbers, together with the name, address, country of residence, citizenship and identification number of fully liable participants, founders, owners and management. Documents received by the Danish Business Authority are public, and annual reports and legal ownership data are free.

The register is also a genuine open data source: extracts, bulk downloads and web services are available, and access to information and documents in the register may be arranged by agreement with the authority.

What is restricted

Three limits apply. Personal identification numbers must never be disclosed to private parties, and neither the identification number nor citizenship is published. Names of participants, founders, owners and management are published permanently, for active and ceased entities alike, while addresses are published for five years after the person ceases to be active. Where a person has name and address protection in the civil registration system, the address is not published in the register while that protection lasts; persons without a Danish personal number may apply to the authority for address protection. Entities may also flag themselves against the use of their data for direct marketing.

The most significant restriction concerns reelle ejere (beneficial owners). Following the Court of Justice judgment of 22 November 2022 in joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, general public access was invalidated, and the Danish position is now codified in the Act on the Central Business Register with effect from 1 September 2025, implementing the EU anti-money-laundering package. Access is granted on request only to competent authorities and the financial intelligence unit, to obliged entities performing customer due diligence, and to natural or legal persons who can demonstrate a legitimate interest in preventing money laundering, predicate offences and terrorist financing; the authority may not give beneficial owner information to anyone else. Access runs through the national electronic identity or by an interface agreement. Journalists, civil society organisations and researchers therefore retain a route in, but only on request and after screening. A number of older guidance pages still describe beneficial ownership data as publicly available and should not be relied on.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Årsrapport (Annual report) — the filed financial statements with the management and auditor statements, free of charge from the register. The filing deadline is six months after the end of the financial year, and four months for listed and state-owned companies. Used for financial due diligence and credit assessment.
  • Stiftelsesdokument (Instrument of formation) — the founders, the subscription price, the subscription and payment deadlines, the effective date, the first accounting period and the formation costs.
  • Vedtægter (Articles of association) — the name, objects, capital, share classes, management structure and general meeting rules. Both documents must be in Danish, Norwegian or Swedish, while other filed documents may be in English, and both are public.
  • Udskrifter fra Det Centrale Virksomhedsregister (Transcripts from the Central Business Register) — extracts of the registered particulars, which may be ordered from the authority; digitally generated extracts are recognised as official documents.
  • Registreringsbevis (Confirmation of registration) — on completion of a filing the authority sends a confirmation of the registration together with an extract of the registered particulars. The company’s tegningsregler (rules of representation) are themselves registered particulars and appear in its record, so this is the practical way of evidencing who may sign for a Danish company.
  • Serviceattest (Service certificate) — an official certificate ordered through virk.dk for use in public procurement tenders.
  • Apostille — Denmark is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, but the apostille is issued by the legalisation office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not by the Business Authority.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the business register in Denmark called?

Det Centrale Virksomhedsregister, the Central Business Register, kept by the Danish Business Authority and published at datacvr.virk.dk.

Are sole proprietorships in the same register as companies?

Yes. The Act treats a natural person acting as employer or self-employed as a legal unit, so sole proprietorships, partnerships, companies, foundations and branches all sit in the same register.

What is the minimum capital of a Danish ApS?

DKK 20,000 since 27 February 2025. A public limited company requires DKK 400,000.

Does the entrepreneur company (IVS) still exist?

No. It was abolished in 2019, with a conversion deadline in October 2021; companies that failed to convert were referred for compulsory dissolution.

Are Danish annual reports free?

Yes. Annual reports are filed through virk.dk, published in the register and freely accessible, as are legal ownership and management data.

Can I look up beneficial owners of Danish companies?

Not as a member of the general public. Since 1 September 2025 access is limited to competent authorities and the financial intelligence unit, to obliged entities, and to persons who demonstrate a legitimate interest.

Sources

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