The business register in France was restructured in 2023. The Registre National des Entreprises — RNE (National Business Register), operated by INPI, has since 1 January 2023 been the single register in which every business active in France is entered, and its public data are freely available as open data. The Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés — RCS (Trade and Companies Register) continues to be kept by the clerks of the commercial courts, who validate filings and issue the extrait Kbis. All formalities now pass through a single electronic window operated by INPI.

The company registry in France

The National Business Register was created by the 2019 PACTE law and is governed by the Code de commerce (Commercial Code). It replaced a series of separate registers: the national trade and companies register, the répertoire des métiers (trades directory), the registre des actifs agricoles (register of active farmers) and the special register of commercial agents, and it also covers the liberal professions, which previously had no register at all. Every enterprise carrying on a commercial, artisanal, agricultural or independent activity in France must be registered in it.

The guichet unique électronique des formalités d’entreprises (single electronic window for business formalities), operated by INPI since 1 January 2023, is the sole channel for creation, modification, filing and cessation; it replaced the six networks of business formality centres and dozens of paper forms, which are no longer valid.

Two further identifiers and channels complete the picture. The SIREN and SIRET numbers come from the répertoire Sirene kept by the national statistics institute and are reference public data. The BODACC — Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales (Official Bulletin of Civil and Commercial Announcements) publishes commercial announcements as open data.

Sole traders and the end of the EIRL

An entrepreneur individuel (sole trader), including a micro-entrepreneur, registers in the National Business Register through the single window, and additionally in the trade and companies register where the activity is commercial. The 2022 law on independent professional activity introduced a single status for the sole trader, under which the professional estate is separated from the personal estate by operation of law. The same law abolished the EIRL: no new entreprise individuelle à responsabilité limitée can be created, although those already in existence continue.

Legal forms that can be registered in France

  • Entreprise individuelle (Sole trader), including the micro-entrepreneur — unlimited liability in principle, but with the professional and personal estates separated since May 2022.
  • Entreprise unipersonnelle à responsabilité limitée — EURL (Single-member limited liability company) — a limited liability company with one member, whose liability is limited to the contribution.
  • Société à responsabilité limitée — SARL (Limited liability company) — the traditional French form for small and medium businesses; liability limited to contributions.
  • Société par actions simplifiée — SAS (Simplified joint-stock company) and its single-shareholder version SASU — organisation is largely determined by the statutes, which has made it the most popular form for new companies; liability is limited to contributions.
  • Société anonyme — SA (Public limited company) — the classic corporate form with a board or a management and supervisory board structure.
  • Société en nom collectif — SNC (General partnership) — partners are indefinitely and jointly liable for the company’s debts.
  • Société en commandite simple (Limited partnership) and société en commandite par actions — SCA (Partnership limited by shares) — the commandités are unlimitedly liable while the commanditaires answer only to the extent of their contribution or shares.
  • Société civile (Civil company), including the SCI for real estate, the SCP for professional practice and the SCM for shared means — governed by the Civil Code; liability is indefinite but not joint, and the purpose must be non-commercial.
  • Société d’exercice libéral (Professional practice company) — in its SELARL, SELAS, SELAFA and SELCA variants, for regulated professions.
  • Société coopérative de production — SCOP (Worker cooperative) — a cooperative taking the legal form of an SARL, SA or SAS.
  • Groupement d’intérêt économique — GIE (Economic interest grouping) — members are jointly and severally liable for the grouping’s debts.
  • Société européenne — SE (European Company) — the EU-law corporate form.
  • Succursale de société étrangère (Branch of a foreign company) — registered in the national register and the trade and companies register; it has no separate legal personality.

Associations under the 1901 law follow a separate regime: they are declared to the prefecture, receive a national association number and acquire legal personality on publication in the official journal for associations. They are not in the National Business Register.

Information available from the French business register

Anyone may consult the public data of the National Business Register free of charge, and the data are published as open data with bulk and programmatic access through INPI’s data platform. BODACC announcements are likewise public and open data, and the statistical directory of businesses is reference public data with its own open interfaces.

Annual accounts filed with the clerk of the commercial court are public in principle, but French law provides a significant carve-out. Under the Commercial Code, micro-enterprises may declare their entire annual accounts confidential, and small enterprises may keep their income statement confidential, while medium-sized enterprises may publish a simplified balance sheet and notes. The option is excluded for certain entities, notably holding and portfolio management companies and companies belonging to a group. Judicial and administrative authorities, the central bank and certain financing bodies keep full access.

What is restricted

The registre des bénéficiaires effectifs (register of beneficial owners), hosted within the National Business Register, was closed to the public on 31 July 2024, following the Court of Justice judgment of 22 November 2022 in joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20. Access is now limited to the supervisory authorities listed in the monetary and financial code, to entities subject to anti-money-laundering obligations, and to persons or organisations demonstrating a intérêt légitime (legitimate interest). A legitimate-interest applicant obtains only the surname, usage name, pseudonym and first names, the month and year of birth, the country of residence and nationality, and the nature and extent of the interest held. A decree of April 2026 broadened the list of authorities with access, set response deadlines and refusal grounds and introduced multi-year access certificates, with the legitimate-interest timing provisions applying from November 2026.

Personal addresses are also being handled more restrictively: INPI’s releases record confidentiality measures for the date and place of birth and the personal address of natural persons, and an anonymisation programme for acts and personal data, although the underlying declaration and inscription obligations remain.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Extrait Kbis (Kbis extract) — issued by the clerk of the commercial court for companies registered in the trade and companies register. It is the identity document of the entry: name, SIREN number, activity code, legal form, capital, registered office, establishments, date of creation, activity, officers and any insolvency decisions. It is the authentic proof of legal existence.
  • Extrait K (K extract) — the same document for sole traders and micro-entrepreneurs carrying on a commercial activity; secondary establishments have their own variants.
  • Extrait ou attestation d’immatriculation au RNE (Extract or certificate of registration in the National Business Register) — issued free by INPI and downloadable from its data platform and the national business directory. It covers all businesses including artisans and the liberal professions, adds the registered activities, and is now accepted in place of the Kbis for many procedures, including public procurement.
  • Statuts et copies d’actes (Articles of association and copies of deeds) — the founding documents and shareholder and management decisions filed with the clerk.
  • Comptes annuels (Annual accounts) — the balance sheet, income statement and notes with the profit allocation minutes and, where applicable, the auditor’s report, subject to the confidentiality options described above.
  • État d’endettement, état des privilèges et nantissements (Statement of registered securities and charges) — the pledges and charges registered against the business, used for credit and due diligence checks.
  • Certificat de non-inscription ou de non-opposition (Certificate of non-registration or non-opposition) — attests the absence of an entry or of any opposition to an operation.
  • Extrait des bénéficiaires effectifs (Beneficial ownership extract) — available only within the restricted access regime described above.

Company directors can obtain their own Kbis or K extract free of charge through the digital identity service operated by the court clerks.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the business register in France called?

Since 1 January 2023 it is the Registre National des Entreprises (National Business Register), operated by INPI. The Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés continues to be kept by the commercial court clerks, who issue the Kbis extract.

How are company formalities filed in France?

Exclusively through the single electronic window operated by INPI, which since 2023 has replaced the business formality centres and the old paper forms.

Does the EIRL still exist?

No new EIRL can be created. The 2022 law introduced a single status for sole traders, separating the professional and personal estates by operation of law, and put the EIRL into extinction; existing ones continue.

Are French annual accounts public?

In principle yes, but micro-enterprises may declare their whole accounts confidential and small enterprises may keep their income statement confidential, subject to exclusions for holding companies and group members.

Can I look up the beneficial owner of a French company?

Not as a member of the public. Public access ended on 31 July 2024; access is now limited to supervisory authorities, anti-money-laundering obliged entities and persons demonstrating a legitimate interest, who receive a restricted data set.

What is the difference between a Kbis and an RNE extract?

The Kbis is issued by the commercial court clerk for entities in the trade and companies register, while the RNE extract is issued free by INPI and covers all businesses, including artisans and liberal professions, and is now accepted in place of the Kbis for many procedures.

Sources

Keywords

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