Every business in the Netherlands is entered in the Handelsregister (Business Register) kept by the Kamer van Koophandel, KVK (Chamber of Commerce). The register is genuinely public and its extracts are the backbone of Dutch commercial practice, but two areas have narrowed sharply in recent years: private addresses of company officials are now shielded by default, and the UBO register was partly closed after a Court of Justice ruling and is only being reopened, sector by sector, from April 2026.

The official company register in the Netherlands

The register is the Handelsregister, maintained by the Kamer van Koophandel (KVK, Chamber of Commerce) at kvk.nl. Registration is compulsory: the law requires businesses and legal entities carrying on commercial activity to be entered, and the register exists so that addresses and other general factual data about enterprises are visible to everyone, which is what gives Dutch commerce its legal certainty about who one is dealing with.

Every registered business receives a KVK-nummer (KVK number) identifying the enterprise, and each establishment additionally receives a vestigingsnummer (establishment number); legal entities also carry an RSIN, the legal-entities and partnerships identification number used in dealings with the tax administration.

The Netherlands keeps one register for legal entities and for individual entrepreneurs alike. An eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship) is entered in the same Handelsregister as a public company, and appears in the same public search. The KVK also registers structures that most registers leave out — including, on its own dedicated form, historic private-law bodies such as a boermarke, hofje, gilde, buurschap, kerspel or fundatie.

Alongside the Handelsregister the KVK keeps the UBO-register, the Dutch register of ultimate beneficial owners, and operates the KVK Dataservice and API channels through which professional users obtain register data in bulk.

Legal forms that can be registered in the Netherlands

Forms without legal personality — the entrepreneurs behind them are personally liable:

  • Eenmanszaak (Sole proprietorship) — one owner, personally liable for all obligations of the business with his private assets; by far the most numerous entry in the register.
  • Vennootschap onder firma, vof (General partnership) — two or more partners trading under a common name, each jointly and severally liable without limit for the debts of the partnership.
  • Commanditaire vennootschap, cv (Limited partnership) — combines managing partners with unlimited liability and stille vennoten (silent partners) whose exposure is confined to their contribution and who may not act for the partnership.
  • Maatschap (Professional partnership) — a partnership in which the partners bring in labour or assets and practise a profession together, each liable for an equal share; the traditional form for medical, legal and accounting practices and for farming.

Forms with legal personality:

  • Besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid, bv (Private limited company) — the dominant Dutch company. Capital is divided into registered shares that are not freely transferable, shareholders are liable only for what they have subscribed, and it may be incorporated by a single shareholder with a nominal capital.
  • Naamloze vennootschap, nv (Public limited company) — shares may be issued in bearer form and offered to the public and the company may be listed; subject to a statutory minimum capital and to fuller governance requirements.
  • Stichting (Foundation) — a legal person without members, pursuing a purpose stated in its articles with assets set aside for it; used for charities, pension and holding structures and for the Dutch stichting administratiekantoor that holds shares and issues depositary receipts.
  • Vereniging (Association) — a membership body, existing either with full legal capacity where its articles are in a notarial deed or with limited legal capacity where they are not, the latter leaving the board personally exposed.
  • Coöperatie (Cooperative) — an association formed to serve the material interests of its members through the business it carries on with them; members’ liability may be excluded, limited or unlimited depending on the form chosen.
  • Onderlinge waarborgmaatschappij (Mutual insurance association) — the cooperative form used for mutual insurance of its members.
  • Vereniging van eigenaars, VvE (Owners’ association) — the association of apartment owners in a divided building, which arises by law and is registered in the Handelsregister.
  • Kerkgenootschap (Church community) — religious bodies and their independent parts, which have legal personality by operation of law and are registered on their own basis.

European and foreign forms:

  • Europese naamloze vennootschap (SE), Europese coöperatieve vennootschap (SCE) and Europees economisch samenwerkingsverband (EESV) — the EU company, cooperative and economic interest grouping forms, registrable in the Netherlands.
  • Buitenlandse rechtspersoon met een vestiging in Nederland (Branch of a foreign legal entity) — a foreign company with an establishment in the Netherlands registers that establishment in the Handelsregister; the branch has no separate legal personality.

Information available from the register

The register is designed to be looked up. For each business the public record shows the KVK number and, for each establishment, the establishment number, the statutory and trade names, the legal form, the date of establishment, the business address and the establishment addresses, the activity under the SBI classification, the number of employees, the authorised representatives — for a bv the directors and their powers, for a partnership the partners, for a sole proprietorship the owner — and any authorised signatory. Legal entities additionally show the RSIN, the issued capital where applicable, the sole-shareholder status, and whether the entity is in liquidation, has been dissolved or is subject to insolvency proceedings.

Annual accounts are filed and public. Dutch companies — the bv, the nv, and the cooperative and other entities subject to the obligation — deposit their jaarrekening with the KVK, where the deposited accounts form part of the public file. The depth of what must be deposited depends on the size class of the company, so a micro or small bv deposits considerably less than a large one, but the fact and the date of deposit are themselves public and are a standard compliance check.

KVK products range from the free basic look-up to the uittreksel (extract) in digital or certified form, historical extracts, copies of deposited documents, and structured access through the KVK Dataservice and its APIs for professional users.

What the register does not disclose

Private addresses are shielded by default. The residential addresses of officials of legal entities are automatically hidden from the public view of the register, the one exception being the address of a document custodian who is a natural person. Beyond that, a sole proprietorship may have its business address shielded on request without giving any reason, provided it registers an alternative postal address; for partnerships and legal entities shielding is possible only where there is a concrete threat evidenced by a police report or protective measures, or a probable threat based on the profession or circumstances — the latter not being available for limited companies as a matter of EU law and only where a covenant is in place. Once an address is shielded, it remains visible to employees of government bodies, lawyers, notaries, bailiffs and staff of institutions subject to the anti-money-laundering act, all of whom need a specific authorisation from the register.

The UBO register is only partly open. A ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union closed part of the Dutch UBO register, and the KVK is reopening it gradually rather than restoring general access. Access is organised in tiers: a limited data set for accountants, lawyers, trust offices, insurers and pension funds and for organisations checking their own registration; a fuller set for banks, investment firms, life insurers and civil-law notaries; and complete access for government bodies including the tax administration, the national police, the financial intelligence unit and the intelligence services. From 1 April 2026 recognised institutions subject to the anti-money-laundering act and the sanctions rules can obtain digitally certified UBO extracts through an API or the KVK website, with civil-law notaries, banks and trust offices invited first and other sectors following in stages through their trade associations; online ordering with eHerkenning is expected in the second quarter of 2026. A legislative proposal to widen access further is pending, and the European BORIS platform is to interconnect the member states’ UBO registers. A member of the public still cannot look up the beneficial owner of a Dutch entity.

Two smaller limits are worth noting. Shielding an address in the register does not remove it from other places online, as the KVK itself points out. And the register records who may legally bind an entity rather than who economically controls it: for a bv the sole-shareholder fact is registered, but a shareholder register with multiple holders is kept by the company itself and is not public.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Uittreksel Handelsregister (Business Register extract) — the official statement of the current entry: KVK number, names, legal form, addresses, activity, authorised representatives and their powers, and status. Available as a digital extract with a verifiable signature or in certified form for use abroad; the everyday document for banks, notaries and counterparties.
  • Historisch uittreksel (Historical extract) — the extract showing former names, addresses, legal forms and officers, used to establish who could bind the business at a given past date.
  • Uittreksel met vestigingen (Extract including establishments) — the entry with all branches and their establishment numbers, which matters where a contract was concluded by a particular establishment.
  • Statuten en akten (Articles of association and notarial deeds) — the deed of incorporation and the current articles as deposited with the register, from which objects, share rights and representation rules are read.
  • Jaarrekening (Annual accounts) — the accounts deposited with the KVK by the entities subject to the obligation, to the extent required by their size class; the basis of credit and counterparty analysis.
  • Deposited filings on changes — the forms and deeds recording changes of name, address, activity, directors, authorised signatories, capital and legal form, and the entry of a sole shareholder.
  • Insolvency and dissolution entries — the registrations of bankruptcy, suspension of payments, debt restructuring and dissolution, and the appointment of a liquidator or administrator.
  • Branch documents — the registration of a foreign legal entity’s Dutch establishment and the particulars of the persons authorised to represent it.
  • Digitally certified UBO extract — issued from 1 April 2026 to recognised institutions under the anti-money-laundering and sanctions rules, through an API or the KVK website, and not to the general public.
  • KVK Dataservice and API access — structured and bulk register data for professional users who need continuous access rather than individual extracts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official business register in the Netherlands?

The Handelsregister, kept by the Kamer van Koophandel (KVK, Chamber of Commerce). Registration is compulsory for businesses and legal entities, and the register exists so that the addresses and general factual data of enterprises are publicly visible.

What is a KVK number?

The unique number assigned to an enterprise on registration in the Handelsregister. Each establishment of the enterprise additionally has an establishment number, and legal entities carry an RSIN used in dealings with the tax administration.

Are the accounts of Dutch companies public?

Yes for the entities subject to the obligation, such as the bv and the nv. They deposit their annual accounts with the KVK and the deposit is public, although how much must be deposited depends on the company’s size class.

Why can I not see a director’s home address?

Because the residential addresses of officials of legal entities are automatically shielded from public view, and business addresses can be shielded on request — always for a sole proprietorship, and for other forms where a concrete or probable threat is established. Shielded addresses remain visible only to authorised government officials, lawyers, notaries, bailiffs and anti-money-laundering staff.

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

Not as a member of the public. A Court of Justice ruling closed part of the UBO register. Access is tiered between anti-money-laundering institutions and government bodies, and from 1 April 2026 recognised institutions can obtain digitally certified UBO extracts, with sectors invited in stages beginning with civil-law notaries, banks and trust offices.

Which legal form is most common?

By number of registrations the eenmanszaak, the sole proprietorship, in which the owner is personally liable. Among entities with legal personality the besloten vennootschap (bv) dominates, because it combines limited liability with a nominal minimum capital and a single-shareholder option.

Sources

Keywords

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