Information from the central trade register - natural person

Course description

The following legal offences are recorded in the central trade register:

• Administrative decisions (trade bans, withdrawal of licences)
• Decisions on fines for administrative offences in connection with the exercise of the trade
• criminal convictions

You can apply for information from the Central Trade Register online at the Federal Office of Justice or in writing (by post) and in person at the registration office of your main or secondary residence. If you apply in writing or in person, we will forward the application to the Federal Office of Justice for examination and processing. The information will be issued here and sent either to you or to the named authority. If you are not resident in Germany, you must submit the application directly to the Federal Office of Justice in Bonn.

You must submit the application in person and cannot be represented by an authorised representative, such as a lawyer or your spouse. This ensures that no other person can apply for information from the Central Trade Register without your knowledge and without authorisation.

However, it is possible to have a written application for information from the Central Business Register with an officially or publicly notarised signature delivered by a messenger.

Recipient of the information: In principle, the information can only be sent to the applicant (not to an authorised person). Only in the following three cases can the information be sent directly to an authority:

• for the preparation of a decision on an application for authorisation for a trade or other economic enterprise
• for the preparation of a decision on the issue of a certificate of competence in accordance with Section 20 of the Explosives Act and
• for the preparation of the decision on the verification of reliability according to §38 GewO.

Prerequisites

• You are registered with your main or secondary residence in Munich.
• You must submit the application in person. Alternatively, your legal representative can submit the application on your behalf.

Required documents

• Personal application:
  • Identity card or passport
• Online application:
  • ID card, eID card or electronic residence permit, each with activated online ID function
  • if applicable, address of the authority for which the information is intended and the purpose or reference number
• Written application:
  • Application with officially (by an authority with a seal) or publicly (by a notary) notarised signature
  • Proof of payment for the transfer of the fee of 13 euros. (Written applications without proof of payment cannot be processed)

Legal basis

§§ 149 ff. Trade Regulation Act (GewO)