Ripple

Real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems are specialist funds transfer systems where the transfer of money or securities takes place from one bank to any other bank on a "real-time" and on a "gross" basis. Settlement in "real time" means a payment transaction is not subjected to any waiting period, with transactions being settled as soon as they are processed. "Gross settlement" means the transaction is settled on a one-to-one basis, without bundling or netting with any other transaction. "Settlement" means that once processed, payments are final and irrevocable.

History

As of 1985, three central banks implemented RTGS systems, while by the end of 2005, RTGS systems had been implemented by 90 central banks. 

The first system that had the attributes of an RTGS system was the US Fedwire system which was launched in 1970. This was based on a previous method of transferring funds electronically between US federal reserve banks via telegraph. The United Kingdom and France both independently developed RTGS type systems in 1984. The UK system was developed by the Bankers' Clearing House in February 1984 and was called CHAPS. The French system was called SAGITTAIRE. A number of other developed countries launched systems over the next few years. These systems were diverse in operation and technology, being country-specific as they were usually based upon previous processes and procedures used in each country.

In the 1990s international finance organizations emphasized the importance of large-value funds transfer systems which banks use to settle interbank transfers for their own account as well as for their customers as a key part of a country's financial infrastructure. By 1997 a number of countries, inside as well as outside the Group of Ten, had introduced real-time gross settlement systems for large-value funds transfers. Nearly all G-10 countries had plans to have RTGS systems in operation in the course of 1997 and many other countries were also considering introducing such systems. 

Operation

RTGS systems are usually operated by a country's central bank as it is seen as critical infrastructure for a country's economy. Economists believe that an efficient national payment system reduces the cost of exchanging goods and services, and is indispensable to the functioning of the interbank, money, and capital markets. A weak payment system may severely drag on the stability and developmental capacity of a national economy; its failures can result in inefficient use of financial resources, inequitable risk-sharing among agents, actual losses for participants, and loss of confidence in the financial system and in the very use of money. 

RTGS system does not require any physical exchange of money; the central bank makes adjustments in the electronic accounts of Bank A and Bank B, reducing the balance in Bank A’s account by the amount in question and increasing the balance of Bank B’s account by the same amount. The RTGS system is suited for low-volume, high-value transactions. It lowers settlement risk, besides giving an accurate picture of an institution’s account at any point in time. The objective of RTGS systems by central banks throughout the world is to minimize risk in high-value electronic payment settlement systems. In an RTGS system, transactions are settled across accounts held at a central bank on a continuous gross basis. The settlement is immediate, final, and irrevocable. Credit risks due to settlement lags are eliminated. The best RTGS national payment systems cover up to 95% of high-value transactions within the national monetary market.

RTGS systems are an alternative to systems of settling transactions at the end of the day, also known as the net settlement system, such as the BACS system in the United Kingdom. In a net settlement system, all the inter-institution transactions during the day are accumulated, and at the end of the day, the central bank adjusts the accounts of the institutions by the net amounts of these transactions. 

The World Bank has been paying increasing attention to payment system development as a key component of the financial infrastructure of a country and has provided various forms of assistance to over 100 countries. Most of the RTGS systems in place are secure and have been designed around international standards and best practices. 

There are several reasons for central banks to adopt RTGS. First, a decision to adopt is influenced by competitive pressure from the global financial markets. Second, it is more beneficial to adopt an RTGS system for the central bank when this allows access to a broad system of other countries' RTGS systems. Third, it is very likely that the knowledge acquired through experiences with RTGS systems spills over to other central banks and helps them make their adoption decision. Fourth, central banks do not necessarily have to install and develop RTGS themselves. The possibility of sharing development with providers that have built RTGS systems in more than one country (CGI of UK holding the IP, CMA Small System of Sweden, JV Perago of South Africa, SIA S.p.A. of Italy and Montran of USA) has presumably lowered the cost and hence made it feasible for many countries to adopt. 

Existing systems

Below is a listing of countries and their RTGS systems:

Country System

 Angola SPTR (Portuguese: Sistema de pagamentos em tempo real; Real-time Payment System)

 Argentina MEP (Spanish: Medio electrónico de pagos; Electronic Means of Payment) 

 Azerbaijan AZIPS (Azerbaijan Interbank Payment System) 

 Australia RITS (Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System)

 Bahrain RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement System)

 Bangladesh RTGS (Bangladesh Bank Payment Service Division)

 Barbados Central Bank Real Time Gross Settlement System (CBRTGS) 

 Bosnia and Herzegovina RTGS

 Belarus BISS (Belarus Interbank Settlement System) 

 Bulgaria RINGS (Real-time Interbank Gross Settlement)

 Brazil STR (Portuguese: Sistema de Transferência de Reservas; Reserves Transfer System)

 Canada Lynx 

 China China National Advanced Payment System (CNAPS) (also called Super Online Banking System) 

 Chile LBTR/CAS (Spanish: Liquidación Bruta en Tiempo Real; Real-time Gross Settlement)

 Costa Rica TEF (Spanish: Transferencia Electrónica de Fondos; Electronic Funds Transfer) 

 Croatia HSVP (Croatian: Hrvatski sustav velikih plaćanja; Croatian Large Payment System) 

 Czech Republic CERTIS (Czech Express Real Time Interbank Gross Settlement System)

 Denmark KRONOS2

 Dominican Republic LBTR (Spanish: Liquidación Bruta en Tiempo Real; Gross Settlement in Real Time) 

 Egypt RTGS 

European Union Eurozone TARGET2 

 Fiji FIJICLEAR 

 Hong Kong Clearing House Automated Transfer System (CHATS)

 Hungary VIBER (Hungarian: Valós Idejű Bruttó Elszámolási Rendszer; Real-time Gross Settlement System)

 Georgia GPSS (Georgian Payment and Securities System) 

 India RTGS 

 Indonesia Sistem Bank Indonesia Real Time Gross Settlement (BI-RTGS)

 Iran SATNA (سامانه تسویه ناخالص آنی, Real-Time Gross Settlement System)

 Iraq RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement System) 

 Israel Zahav (Hebrew: זה"ב זיכויים והעברות בזמן אמת; Zahav Real-time Credits and Transfers) 

 Japan BOJ-NET (Bank of Japan Financial Network System) 

 Jordan RTGS-J 

 Kenya Kenya Electronic Payment and Settlement System (KEPSS) 

 Korea BOK-WIRE+ (The Bank of Korea Financial Wire Network, 한은금융망)

 Kuwait KASSIP (Kuwait's Automated Settlement System for Inter-Participant Payments)

 Lebanon BDL-RTGS (Banque Du Liban – Real Time Gross Settlement) 

 Macedonia MIPS (Macedonian Interbank Payment System) 

 Macao RTGS 

 Malawi MITASS (Malawi Interbank Settlement System)

 Malaysia RENTAS (Real Time Electronic Transfer of Funds and Securities)

 Mauritius Mauritius Automated Clearing and Settlement System (MACSS) 

 Mexico SPEI (Spanish: Sistema de Pagos Electrónicos Interbancarios; Interbank Electronic Payment System) 

 Morocco SRBM (Système de règlement brut du Maroc; Moroccan Gross Settlement System) 

 Namibia NISS (Namibia Interbank Settlement System) 

 New Zealand ESAS (Exchange Settlement Account System)

 Nigeria CIFTS (CBN Inter-Bank Funds Transfer System)

 Pakistan RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement System) 

 Paraguay LBTR (Spanish: Liquidación Bruta en Tiempo Real; Gross Settlement in Real Time)

 Peru LBTR (Spanish: Liquidación Bruta en Tiempo Real; Gross Settlement in Real Time)

 Philippines PhilPaSS 

 Poland SORBNET and SORBNET2 

 Qatar Qatar Payment System (QPS) 

 Russia BESP System (Banking Electronic Speed Payment System) 

 Romania ReGIS 

 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian Riyal Interbank Express (SARIE) 

 Singapore MEPS+ (MAS Electronic Payment System Plus) 

 South Africa SAMOS (The South African Multiple Option Settlement) 

 Sri Lanka LankaSettle (RTGS/SSSS) 

 Sweden RIX (Swedish: Riksbankens system för överföring av kontoförda pengar) 

 Switzerland SIC (Swiss Interbank Clearing) 

 Taiwan CIFS (CBC Interbank Funds Transfer System) 

 Tanzania Tanzania Interbank Settlement (TIS) 

 Thailand BAHTNET (Bank of Thailand Automated High Value Transfer Network) 

 Turkey EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) 

 Ukraine SEP (System of Electronic Payments of the National Bank of Ukraine) 

 United Kingdom CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System) 

 United States Fedwire

 Uganda Uganda National Interbank Settlement (UNIS) 

 Vietnam National Payment Service 24/7 Interbank Funds Transfer (NAPAS247) 

 Zambia Zambian Interbank Payment and Settlement System (ZIPSS) 

 Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Electronic Transfer and Settlement System (ZETSS) 

 UAE UAE Funds Transfer System (UAEFTS) 

In 2010, the World Bank published a report on payment systems worldwide, which investigated these countries' usage of real-time gross settlement systems for large-value payments. 

A payment system is any system used to settle financial transactions through the transfer of monetary value. This includes the institutions, payment instruments such as payment cards, people, rules, procedures, standards, and technologies that make its exchange possible. A common type of payment system, called an operational network, links bank accounts and provides for monetary exchange using bank deposits. Some payment systems also include credit mechanisms, which are essentially a different aspect of payment.

Payment systems are used in lieu of tendering cash in domestic and international transactions. This consists of a major service provided by banks and other financial institutions. Traditional payment systems include negotiable instruments such as drafts (e.g., cheques) and documentary credits such as letters of credit. With the advent of computers and electronic communications, many alternative electronic payment systems have emerged. The term electronic payment refers to a payment made from one bank account to another using electronic methods and forgoing the direct intervention of bank employees. Narrowly defined electronic payment refers to e-commerce—a payment for buying and selling goods or services offered through the Internet, or broadly to any type of electronic funds transfer.

Modern payment systems use cash-substitutes as compared to traditional payment systems. This includes debit cards, credit cards, electronic funds transfers, direct credits, direct debits, internet banking and e-commerce payment systems.

Payment systems may be physical or electronic and each has its own procedures and protocols. Standardization has allowed some of these systems and networks to grow to a global scale, but there are still many country-specific and product-specific systems. Examples of payment systems that have become globally available are credit card and automated teller machine (ATM) networks. Additionally, forms exist to transfer funds between financial institutions. Domestically this is accomplished by using Automated clearing house (ACH) and real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems. Internationally this is accomplished using the SWIFT network.

Domestic

An efficient national payment system reduces the cost of exchanging goods, services, and assets. It is indispensable to the functioning of the interbank, money, and capital markets. A weak payment system may severely drag on the stability and developmental capacity of a national economy. Such failures can result in inefficient use of financial resources, inequitable risk-sharing among agents, actual losses for participants, and loss of confidence in the financial system and in the very use of money. The technical efficiency of the payment system is important for the development of the economy.

An automated clearing house (ACH) system processes transactions in batches, storing, and transmitting them in groups. An ACH is considered a net settlement system, which means settlement may be delayed. This poses what is known as settlement risk.

Real-time gross settlement systems (RTGS) are funds transfer systems where the transfer of money or securities takes place from one bank to another on a "real-time" and on "gross" basis. Settlement in "real time" means that payment transaction does not require any waiting period. The transactions are settled as soon as they are processed. "Gross settlement" means the transaction is settled on one to one basis without bunching or netting with any other transaction. Once processed, payments are final and irrevocable.

Comparatively, ACHs are typically used for low-value, non-urgent transactions while RTGS systems are typically used for high-value, urgent transactions. 

Countries and regions have also implemented real-time or instant (or faster) payment systems which typically operate 24x7x365 and perform the transaction from debit of ordering customer's account to credit of beneficiary customer's account within a timeframe of 10–15 seconds. 

International

Globalization is driving corporations to transact more frequently across borders. Consumers are also transacting more on a global basis—buying from foreign eCommerce sites as well as traveling, living, and working abroad. For the payments industry, the result is higher volumes of payments—in terms of both currency value and number of transactions. This is also leading to a consequent shift downwards in the average value of these payments

The ways these payments are made can be cumbersome, error prone, and expensive. Payments systems set up decades ago continue to be used sometimes retrofitted, sometimes force-fitted—to meet the needs of modern corporations. And, frequently, the systems creak and groan as they bear the strain. Examples of such systems include STEP2 (an upgrade from 2003), which processes only Euros, and TARGET2 (an upgrade from 2007), which is closed on Saturdays and Sundays and some public holidays.

As of 2014, STEP2 is the only Pan-European automated clearing house (or PE-ACH system) in operation. This type of system is thought to become less relevant as banks will settle their transactions via multiple clearing houses rather than using one central clearing house.

TARGET2 (Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross Settlement Express Transfer System) is a RTGS system that covers the European Union member states which use the euro. It is part of the Eurosystem, which comprises the European Central Bank and the national central banks of those countries that have adopted the euro. TARGET2 is used for the settlement of central bank operations, large-value Euro interbank transfers as well as other euro payments. TARGET 2 provides real-time financial transfers, debt settlement at central banks which is immediate and irreversible.

For users of these systems, on both the paying and receiving sides, it can be difficult and time-consuming to learn how to use cross-border payments tools, and how to set up processes to make optimal use of them. Solution providers (both banks and non-banks) also face challenges cobbling together old systems to meet new demands. For these providers, cross-border payments are both lucrative (especially given foreign exchange conversion revenue) and rewarding, in terms of the overall financial relationship created with the end customer.

The challenges for global payments are not simply those resulting from volume increases. A number of economic, political, and technical factors are changing the types of cross-border transactions conducted. Such factors include:

Corporations are making more cross-border purchases of services (as opposed to goods), as well as more purchases of complex fabricated parts rather than simple, raw materials.

Enterprises are purchasing from more countries, in more regions.

Increased outsourcing is leading to new in-country and new cross-border intracompany transactions.

More enterprises are participating in complex, automated supply chains, which in some cases drive automatic ordering and fulfillment. Online purchasing continues to grow, both by large enterprises as part of an automated procurement systems and by smaller enterprises purchasing directly.

There is continued growth in the use of Commuter worker.

Individuals are increasingly taking their investments abroad.

The following is a list of notable online payment service providers and payment gateway providing companies, their platform base and the countries they offer services in:

(POS -- Point of Sale)

Company Platform Location

2C2P Online, POS, mobile Singapore

Adyen Online, POS, mobile Global, headquarters in the Netherlands

Alipay Online, POS, mobile China

Amazon Pay Online Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Apple Pay Mobile, online United States (except Puerto Rico & other unincorporated territories), United Kingdom (excluding British Overseas Territories but including Crown Dependencies), Canada, Australia, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Singapore, Switzerland, France, Monaco, Russia, New Zealand, Japan, Spain, Republic of Ireland, Taiwan, Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Denmark (including Greenland and Faroe Islands), Finland, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Ukraine, Poland, Norway, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Iceland, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus (except Northern Cyprus), Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Georgia, Belarus, Montenegro, Serbia, Mexico

Atos Online Global (headquarters in France and Germany)

Authorize.Net Online Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Europe

BHIM Online, POS, Mobile, QR India

BitPay Online (bitcoin) United States

bKash Mobile, online Bangladesh

BPAY Online Australia

Braintree Mobile, online, POS Australia, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, United States 

CM The Netherlands

Creditcall Online, POS, mobile United Kingdom, United States

CyberSource

DataCash

DigiCash

Digital River Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States

Dwolla United States

Easypaisa Online, mobile Pakistan

Edy

Elavon

Euronet Worldwide Online, POS

eWAY Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau

First Data POS United States

Fortumo Online, mobile Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Bahrain, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Kuwait, Morocco, Mozambique, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Austria, Cyprus, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay, Canada

Google Pay Online, POS, mobile, QR Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania,

Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania< Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Heartland Payment Systems Online, POS, mobile United States

Ingenico POS France

IP Payments Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom

JazzCash Online, mobile Pakistan

Klarna Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Leaf Holdings POS Boston

M-Pesa Mobile Kenya, Tanzania, India, Lesotho, DRC, Ghana, Mozambique, Egypt

Mir Russian Federation, South Ossetia, Turkey, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan

MobiKwik Online, POS, Mobile, QR India

MPay Thailand

Nagad Mobile, online Bangladesh

Neteller

Novalnet Online, POS, mobile Worldwide. Headquartered in Germany

Oceanpayment Hong Kong

OFX Online Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States

Opayo Online, POS United Kingdom/Ireland

PagSeguro Brazil

Paya Online, POS North America

Paymentwall United States

Payoneer United States

PayPal Online United States, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Spain, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Italy, India

PayPay Japan

PayPoint United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Romania

Paysafe Group Online, POS, mobile, MO/TO United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Spain

Paysbuy Thailand

Paytm Online, POS, Mobile, QR India

PayU Online Netherlands, India, South Africa, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey

PayZapp Online, POS, Mobile, QR India

PhonePe Online, POS, Mobile, QR India

PlaySpan United States

Qiwi Russia and neighboring countries

QRIS QR Indonesia and Thailand

Realex Payments Republic of Ireland United Kingdom

Red Dot Payment Singapore

SafeCharge International Online, mobile, POS United Kingdom

Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) United Kingdom

Square Online, mobile, POS United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom

Stripe Online, mobile Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States (invite-only in Brazil, Estonia, Greece, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) 

Tencent Online, POS, mobile China

TransferMate Ireland

TransferWise United Kingdom

TrueMoney Thailand, Southeast Asia

Trustly Online, mobile Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom 

Ukash United Kingdom

Verifone POS United States

WebMoney Russia

WeChat Pay Mobile, POS, online China

WePay United States

Wirecard Online, POS, mobile, MO/TO Germany

Worldpay United Kingdom

WorldRemit United Kingdom

Xsolla Russia, United States

Yandex.Money Russia

Ripple Labs, Inc. is an American technology company which develops the Ripple payment protocol and exchange network. Originally named Opencoin and renamed in 2015, the company was founded in 2012 and is based in San Francisco, California. 

In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. 

The price of a commodity good is typically determined as a function of its market as a whole: well-established physical commodities have actively traded spot and derivative markets. The wide availability of commodities typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors (such as brand name) other than price.

Most commodities are raw materials, basic resources, agricultural, or mining products, such as iron ore, sugar, or grains like rice and wheat. Commodities can also be mass-produced unspecialized products such as chemicals and computer memory. Popular commodities include crude oil, corn, and gold.

Other definitions of commodity include something useful or valued and an alternative term for an economic good or service available for purchase in the market. In such standard works as Alfred Marshall's Principles of Economics (1920) and Léon Walras's Elements of Pure Economics ([1926] 1954) 'commodity' serves as general term for an economic good or service.

Etymology

The word commodity came into use in English in the 15th century, from the French commodité, "amenity, convenience". Going further back, the French word derives from the Latin commoditas, meaning "suitability, convenience, advantage". The Latin word commodus (from which English gets other words including commodious and accommodate) meant variously "appropriate", "proper measure, time, or condition", and "advantage, benefit".

Description

Characteristics

In economics, the term commodity is used specifically for economic goods that have full or partial but substantial fungibility; that is, the market treats their instances as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. Karl Marx described this property as follows: "From the taste of wheat, it is not possible to tell who produced it, a Russian serf, a French peasant or an English capitalist." Petroleum and copper are examples of commodity goods: their supply and demand are a part of one universal market.

Non-commodity items such as stereo systems have many aspects of product differentiation, such as the brand, the user interface and the perceived quality. The demand for one type of stereo may be much larger than demand for another.

The price of a commodity good is typically determined as a function of its market as a whole. Well-established physical commodities have actively traded spot and derivative markets.

Hard and soft commodities

Soft commodities are goods that are grown, such as wheat, or rice.

Hard commodities are mined. Examples include gold, silver, helium, and oil.

Energy commodities include electricity, gas, coal and oil. Electricity has the particular characteristic that it is usually uneconomical to store, and must therefore be consumed as soon as it is produced.

Commoditization

Commoditization occurs as a goods or services market loses differentiation across its supply base, often by the diffusion of the intellectual capital necessary to acquire or produce it efficiently. As such, goods that formerly carried premium margins for market participants have become commodities, such as generic pharmaceuticals and DRAM chips. An article in The New York Times cites multivitamin supplements as an example of commoditization; a 50 mg tablet of calcium is of equal value to a consumer no matter what company produces and markets it, and as such, multivitamins are now sold in bulk and are available at any supermarket with little brand differentiation. Following this trend, nanomaterials are emerging from carrying premium profit margins for market participants to a status of commodification. 

There is a spectrum of commoditization, rather than a binary distinction of "commodity versus differentiable product". Few products have complete undifferentiability and hence fungibility; even electricity can be differentiated in the market based on its method of generation (e.g., fossil fuel, wind, solar), in markets where energy choice lets a buyer opt (and pay more) for renewable methods if desired. Many products' degree of commoditization depends on the buyer's mentality and means. For example, milk, eggs, and notebook paper are not differentiated by many customers; for them, the product is fungible and lowest price is the main decisive factor in the purchasing choice. Other customers take into consideration other factors besides price, such as environmental sustainability and animal welfare. To these customers, distinctions such as "organic versus not" or "cage free versus not" count toward differentiating brands of milk or eggs, and percentage of recycled content or Forest Stewardship Council certification count toward differentiating brands of notebook paper.

Global commodities trading company

This is a list of companies trading globally in commodities, descending by size as of October 28, 2011. 

Vitol

Glencore International AG

Trafigura

Cargill

Salam Investment

Archer Daniels Midland

Gunvor (company)

Mercuria Energy Group

Noble Group

Louis Dreyfus Group

Bunge Limited

Wilmar International

Olam International

Rochel International

Commodity trade

Main articles: Futures exchange and Commodity market

In the original and simplified sense, commodities were things of value, of uniform quality, that were produced in large quantities by many different producers; the items from each different producer were considered equivalent. On a commodity exchange, it is the underlying standard stated in the contract that defines the commodity, not any quality inherent in a specific producer's product.

Commodities exchanges include:

Bourse Africa (formerly GBOT)

Bursa Malaysia Derivatives (MDEX)

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)

Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE)

Euronext.liffe (LIFFE)

Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT)

London Metal Exchange (LME)

Marché à Terme International de France (MATIF)

Mercantile Exchange Nepal Limited (MEX)

Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX)

National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX)

National Commodity Exchange Limited (NCEL)

New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)

Markets for trading commodities can be very efficient, particularly if the division into pools matches demand segments. These markets will quickly respond to changes in supply and demand to find an equilibrium price and quantity. In addition, investors can gain passive exposure to the commodity markets through a commodity price index.

In order to diversify their investments and mitigate the risks associated with inflationary debasement of currencies, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds allocate capital to non-listed assets such as a commodities and commodity-related infrastructure. 

Inventory data

The inventory of commodities, with low inventories typically leading to more volatile future prices and increasing the risk of a "stockout" (inventory exhaustion). According to economist theorists, companies receive a convenience yield by holding inventories of certain commodities. Data on inventories of commodities are not available from one common source, although data is available from various sources. Inventory data on 31 commodities was used in a 2006 study on the relationship between inventories and commodity futures risk premiums. 

Commodification of labour

In classical political economy and especially in Karl Marx's critique of political economy, a commodity is an object or a good or service ("product" or "activity" ) produced by human labour. Objects are external to man. However, some objects attain "use value" to persons in this world, when they are found to be "necessary, useful or pleasant in life". "Use value" makes an object "an object of human wants", or "a means of subsistence in the widest sense". 

As society developed, people found that they could trade goods and services for other goods and services. At this stage, these goods and services became "commodities". According to Marx, commodities are defined as objects which are offered for sale or are "exchanged in a market". In the marketplace, where commodities are sold, "use value" is not helpful in facilitating the sale of commodities. Accordingly, in addition to having use value, commodities must have an "exchange value"—a value that could be expressed in the market. 

Prior to Marx, many economists debated as to what elements made up exchange value. Adam Smith maintained that exchange value was made up of rent, profit, labour and the costs of wear and tear on the instruments of husbandry. David Ricardo, a follower of Adam Smith, modified Smith's approach on this point by alleging that labour alone is the content of the exchange value of any good or service. While maintaining that all exchange value in commodities was derived directly from the hands of the people that made the commodity, Ricardo noted that only part of the exchange value of the commodity was paid to the worker who made the commodity. The other part of the value of this particular commodity was labour that was not paid to the worker—unpaid labour. This unpaid labour was retained by the owner of the means of production. In capitalist society, the capitalist owns the means of production and therefore the unpaid labour is retained by the capitalist as rent or as profit. The means of production means the site where the commodity is made, the raw products that are used in the production and the instruments or machines that are used for the production of the commodity.

However, not all commodities are reproducible nor were all commodities originally intended to be sold in the market. These priced goods are also treated as commodities, e.g. human labour-power, works of art and natural resources ("earth itself is an instrument of labour"), even though they may not be produced specifically for the market, or be non-reproducible goods.

Marx's analysis of the commodity is intended to help solve the problem of what establishes the economic value of goods, using the labour theory of value. This problem was extensively debated by Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Karl Rodbertus-Jagetzow among others.

All three of the above-mentioned economists rejected the theory that labour composed 100% of the exchange value of any commodity. In varying degrees, these economists turned to supply and demand to establish the price of commodities. Marx held that the "price" and the "value" of a commodity were not synonymous. Price of any commodity would vary according to the imbalance of supply to demand at any one period of time. The "value" of the same commodity would be consistent and would reflect the amount of labour value used to produce that commodity.

Prior to Marx, economists noted that the problem with using the "quantity of labour" to establish the value of commodities was that the time spent by an unskilled worker would be longer than the time spent on the same commodity by a skilled worker. Thus, under this analysis, the commodity produced by an unskilled worker would be more valuable than the same commodity produced by the skilled worker. Marx pointed out, however, that in society at large, an average amount of time that was necessary to produce the commodity would arise. This average time necessary to produce the commodity Marx called the "socially necessary labour time". Socially necessary labour time was the proper basis on which to base the "exchange value" of a given commodity.

Commodity Super Cycle

Commodity Super Cycles are periods of times, around a decade where commodities as a whole trade at a price that is greater than their long term Moving average. A Super Cycle will usually occur when there is large industrial and commercial change in a country or world that requires more resources to support the change. As prices rise goods and services that rely on commodities rise with them.

History of Super Cycles

There have been four super cycles over the last 120 years worldwide. The first commodity super cycle started in late 1890 and was accelerated on the back of widespread U.S. industrialization and World War 1. In 1917 commodity prices peaked and then entered a downtrend to the 1930s. As war erupted in Europe in the late 1930s and eventually including the U.S. the world saw a new cycle begin. Countries were not just preparing for war but also the Aftermath of World War II as lots of Europe and Asia faced heavy rebuilding. This cycle eventually peaked in 1951 and faded away in the early 70s. In the 1970s as world economies grew they needed more materials and energy to support expansion leading to increases in prices across the board. This boom came to an end as foreign investments fled as extractive industries became nationalized. The most recent of commodity super cycles began in 2000 as China joined the World Trade Organization. China was also in the beginning of their boom as industry and expansion took off. Workers moved into cities as emerging industries took off and offered a lots of new jobs and opportunities. In 2008 when the Great Recession hit it put a halt onto the supercycle as GDP's across the world tanked leaving many economies in recessions.

The next or the fifth supercycle could arrive as the world enters the final phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and starts to build massive clean energy infrastructure in view of the commodity price increase. 

The following is a list of futures contracts on physically traded commodities.

Agricultural

Grains, food and fiber

Symbol from 

Commodity Main exchange MIC Contract size Symbol

Corn CBOT XCBT 5000 bu C/ZC (Electronic)

Corn EURONEXT 50 tons EMA

Corn DCE XDCE 10 metric tons c

Oats CBOT XCBT 5000 bu O/ZO (Electronic)

Rough Rice CBOT XCBT 2000 cwt ZR

Soybeans CBOT XCBT 5000 bu S/ZS (Electronic)

No 2. Soybean DCE XDCE 10 metric tons b

Rapeseed EURONEXT 50 tons ECO

Soybean Meal CBOT XCBT 100 short tons SM/ZM (Electronic)

Soy Meal DCE XDCE 10 metric tons m

Soybean Oil CBOT XCBT 60,000 lb BO/ZL (Electronic)

Soybean Oil DCE XDCE 10 metric tons y

Wheat CBOT XCBT 5000 bu W/ZW (Electronic)

Wheat EURONEXT 50 tons EBL

Milk CME XCME 200,000 lbs DC

Cocoa ICE IEPA 10 tons CC

Coffee C ICE IEPA 37,500 lb KC

Cotton No.2 ICE IEPA 50,000 lb CT

Sugar No.11 ICE IEPA 112,000 lb SB

Sugar No.14 ICE IEPA 112,000 lb SE

Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice ICE IEPA 15,000 lbs FCOJ-A

Adzuki bean OSE XOSE 2400 kg

Robusta coffee ICE IEPA 10,000kg

Livestock and meat

Commodity Contract size Currency Main exchange Symbol

Lean Hogs 40,000 lb (20 tons) USD ($) Chicago Mercantile Exchange HE

Live Cattle 40,000 lb (20 tons) USD ($) Chicago Mercantile Exchange LE

Feeder Cattle 50,000 lb (25 tons) USD ($) Chicago Mercantile Exchange GF

Energy

Commodity Main exchange Contract size Symbol

WTI Crude Oil NYMEX, ICE 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) CL (NYMEX), WTI (ICE)

Brent Crude ICE 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) B

Ethanol CBOT 29,000 U.S. gal AC (Open Auction) ZE (Electronic)

Natural gas NYMEX 10,000 million BTU NG

Natural gas ICE 1,000 therms NBP

Heating Oil NYMEX 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) HO

Gulf Coast Gasoline NYMEX 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) LR

RBOB Gasoline (reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygen blending) NYMEX 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) RB

Propane NYMEX 1000 bbl (42,000 U.S. gal) PN

Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) ZCE 5 tons TA

Forest products

Commodity Main exchange Contract size Symbol

Random Length Lumber Chicago Mercantile Exchange 110,000 nominal board feet LBS

Hardwood Pulp Chicago Mercantile Exchange 20 metric tonnes HWP

Softwood Pulp Chicago Mercantile Exchange 20 metric tonnes WP

Metals

Industrial Metals

Commodity Contract size Currency Main exchange Symbol

LME Copper Metric Ton USD ($) London Metal Exchange, New York HG

Lead Metric Ton USD ($) London Metal Exchange

Zinc Metric Ton USD ($) London Metal Exchange

Tin Metric Ton USD ($) London Metal Exchange

Aluminium Metric Ton USD ($) London Metal Exchange, New York

Aluminium alloy Metric Ton USD ($) London Metal Exchange

LME Nickel Metric Ton USD ($) London Metal Exchange

Cobalt Metric Ton USD ($) London Metal Exchange

Molybdenum Metric Ton USD ($) London Metal Exchange

Precious Metals

Commodity Contract size Currency Main exchange Symbol

Gold 100 troy ounces USD ($) COMEX GC

Platinum 50 troy ounces USD ($) NYMEX PL

Palladium 100 troy ounces USD ($) NYMEX PA

Silver 5,000 troy ounces USD ($) COMEX SI

Other

Commodity Contract size Currency Main exchange

Palm Oil 1000 kg Malaysian Ringgit (RM) Bursa Malaysia

Rubber 5000 kg US cents (¢) Osaka Exchange

Wool 2500 kg AUD ($) ASX

Amber 1 kg Rub (₽) Saint Petersburg "Bourse"

List of largest global commodities trading companies

Vitol

Glencore International AG

Trafigura

Cargill

Salam Investment

Archer Daniels Midland

Gunvor (company)

Beddu-Trading

Mercuria Energy Group

Noble Group

Louis Dreyfus Group

Bunge Limited

Wilmar International

Olam International

Cannon Trading Company

Prime Trading, LLC

Knarr Bank

Commodity exchanges and regulators

Chicago Board of Trade

Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Dubai Mercantile Exchange

Euronext

ICE Futures Abu Dhabi

London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange

NASDAQ OMX Commodities

National Futures Association

New York Mercantile Exchange

Kansas City Board of Trade

New York Board of Trade

LedgerX

Dalian Commodity Exchange

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market manipulation. : 2 

In addition to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which created it, the SEC enforces the Securities Act of 1933, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002, and other statutes. The SEC was created by Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (now codified as 15 U.S.C. § 78d and commonly referred to as the Exchange Act or the 1934 Act). 

The SEC has a three-part mission: to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation. 

To achieve its mandate, the SEC enforces the statutory requirement that public companies and other regulated companies submit quarterly and annual reports, as well as other periodic reports. In addition to annual financial reports, company executives must provide a narrative account, called the "management discussion and analysis" (MD&A), that outlines the previous year of operations and explains how the company fared in that time period. MD&A will usually also touch on the upcoming year, outlining future goals and approaches to new projects. In an attempt to level the playing field for all investors, the SEC maintains an online database called EDGAR (the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system) online from which investors can access this and other information filed with the agency.

Quarterly and semiannual reports from public companies are crucial for investors to make sound decisions when investing in the capital markets. Unlike banking, investment in the capital markets is not guaranteed by the federal government. The potential for big gains needs to be weighed against that of sizable losses. Mandatory disclosure of financial and other information about the issuer and the security itself gives private individuals as well as large institutions the same basic facts about the public companies they invest in, thereby increasing public scrutiny while reducing insider trading and fraud.

The SEC makes reports available to the public through the EDGAR system. The SEC also offers publications on investment-related topics for public education. The same online system also takes tips and complaints from investors to help the SEC track down violators of the securities laws. The SEC adheres to a strict policy of never commenting on the existence or status of an ongoing investigation.

History

Background

Prior to the enactment of the federal securities laws and the creation of the SEC, securities trading was governed by so-called blue sky laws. These laws were enacted and enforced at the state level and regulated the offering and sale of securities to protect the public from fraud. Though the specific provisions of these laws varied among states, they all required the registration of all securities offerings and sales, as well as of every U.S. stockbroker and brokerage firm. However, blue sky laws were generally considered ineffective. For example, as early as 1915, the Investment Bankers Association told its members that they could circumvent blue sky laws by making securities offerings across state lines through the mail. 

Founding

The SEC's authority was established by the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934; both laws are considered parts of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program.

After the Pecora Commission hearings on abuses and frauds in securities markets, Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. § 77a), which federally regulates original issues of securities across state lines, primarily by requiring that issuing companies register distributions prior to sale so that investors may access basic financial information and make informed decisions. For the first year of the law's enactment, the enforcement of the statute rested with the Federal Trade Commission.

The subsequent Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. § 78d) regulates secondary markets for securities. The 1934 Act regulates secondary trading between individuals and companies which are often unrelated to the original issuers of securities. Entities under the SEC's authority include securities exchanges with physical trading floors such as the New York Stock Exchange, self-regulatory organizations, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, NASDAQ, alternative trading systems, and any other persons engaged in transactions for the accounts of others. Section 4 of the 1934 Act transferred the FTC's enforcement authority under the 1933 Act to the newly created Securities and Exchange Commission and tasked the new Commission with enforcing both Acts. 

In 1934, Roosevelt named his friend Joseph P. Kennedy, a self-made multimillionaire, financier, and leader among the Irish-American community, as chairman of the SEC. Roosevelt chose Kennedy partly based on his experience on Wall Street. Two of the other five commissioners were James M. Landis and Ferdinand Pecora. Kennedy added a number of intelligent young lawyers to the SEC staff, including William O. Douglas and Abe Fortas, both of whom later became Supreme Court Justices. 

Kennedy's team defined four missions for the new Commission: (1) to restore investor confidence in the securities market, which had practically collapsed; (2) to restore integrity to securities markets by prosecuting and eliminating fraudulent and unsound practices targeting investors; (3) to end million-dollar insider trading by top officials of major corporations; and (4) to establish a complex and universal system of registration for securities sold in America, with a clear-cut set of deadlines, rules and guidelines. The SEC succeeded; Kennedy reassured the American business community that they would no longer be deceived and tricked and taken advantage of by Wall Street. He became a cheerleader for ordinary investors to return to the market and enable the economy to grow again. 

Later SEC commissioners and chairmen include William O. Douglas, Jerome Frank, and William J. Casey.

Since 1994, most registration statements (and associated materials) filed with the SEC can be accessed via the SEC's online system, EDGAR. 

In 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society introduced an online gallery to illustrate changes in the US securities market structure since the 1930s. The online gallery features a narrative history supported by dozens of documents, papers, interviews, photos and videos. 

List of chairs

See also: List of members of the Securities and Exchange Commission

No. Portrait Name State of residency Term of office Appointed by

Term start Term end Time in office

1 Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. Massachusetts June 30, 1934 September 23, 1935 1 year, 85 days Roosevelt

2 James M. Landis James M. Landis Massachusetts September 23, 1935 September 15, 1937 1 year, 357 days Roosevelt

3 William O. Douglas William O. Douglas Connecticut August 17, 1937 April 15, 1939 1 year, 241 days Roosevelt

4 Jerome Frank Jerome Frank Illinois May 18, 1939 April 9, 1941 1 year, 326 days Roosevelt

5 Edward C. Eicher Edward C. Eicher Iowa April 9, 1941 January 20, 1942 286 days Roosevelt

6 Ganson Purcell January 20, 1942 June 30, 1946 4 years, 161 days Roosevelt

7 James J. Caffrey July 23, 1946 December 31, 1947 1 year, 161 days Truman

8 Edmond M. Hanrahan New York May 18, 1948 November 3, 1949 1 year, 169 days Truman

9 Harry A. McDonald November 4, 1949 February 25, 1952 2 years, 113 days Truman

10 Donald C. Cook Michigan February 26, 1952 June 17, 1953 1 year, 111 days Truman

11 Ralph H. Demmler Pennsylvania June 27, 1953 May 25, 1955 1 year, 332 days Eisenhower

12 J. Sinclair Armstrong New York May 25, 1955 June 27, 1957 2 years, 33 days Eisenhower

13 Edward N. Gadsby Massachusetts August 20, 1957 March 26, 1961 3 years, 218 days Eisenhower

14 William L. Cary March 27, 1961 August 20, 1964 3 years, 146 days Kennedy

15 Manuel F. Cohen August 20, 1964 February 22, 1969 4 years, 186 days Johnson

16 Hamer Budge Hamer H. Budge Idaho February 22, 1969 January 2, 1971 1 year, 314 days Nixon

17 William J. Casey William J. Casey New York April 14, 1971 February 2, 1973 1 year, 294 days Nixon

18 G. Bradford Cook Nebraska March 3, 1973 May 16, 1973 74 days Nixon

19 Ray Garrett Jr. Illinois August 6, 1973 October 28, 1975 2 years, 83 days Nixon

20 Roderick M. Hills California October 28, 1975 April 10, 1977 1 year, 164 days Ford

21 Harold M. Williams California April 18, 1977 March 1, 1981 3 years, 317 days Carter

22 John S. R. Shad May 6, 1981 June 18, 1987 6 years, 43 days Reagan

23 David Sturtevant Ruder Illinois August 7, 1987 September 30, 1989 2 years, 54 days Reagan

24 Richard C. Breeden New York October 11, 1989 May 7, 1993 3 years, 208 days Bush Sr.

– Mary Schapiro Mary Schapiro (acting) New York May 7, 1993 July 27, 1993 81 days Clinton

25 Arthur Levitt Arthur Levitt New York July 27, 1993 February 9, 2001 7 years, 227 days Clinton

26 Harvey Pitt Harvey Pitt New York August 3, 2001 February 18, 2003 1 year, 199 days Bush Jr.

27 William H. Donaldson William H. Donaldson New York February 18, 2003 June 30, 2005 2 years, 132 days Bush Jr.

28 Christopher Cox Christopher Cox California August 3, 2005 January 20, 2009 3 years, 170 days Bush Jr.

29 Mary Schapiro Mary Schapiro New York January 27, 2009 December 14, 2012 3 years, 322 days Obama

30 Elisse B. Walter Elisse B. Walter New York December 14, 2012 April 10, 2013 117 days Obama

31 Mary Jo White Mary Jo White New York April 10, 2013 January 20, 2017 3 years, 285 days Obama

– Michael Piwowar Michael Piwowar (acting) Washington D.C. January 20, 2017 May 4, 2017 104 days Trump

32 Jay Clayton (attorney) Jay Clayton Pennsylvania May 4, 2017 December 23, 2020 3 years, 233 days Trump

– Elad Roisman Elad Roisman (acting) Washington D.C. December 24, 2020 January 20, 2021 27 days Trump

– Allison Lee Allison Lee (acting) Washington D.C. January 20, 2021 April 17, 2021 87 days Biden

33 Gary Gensler Gary Gensler Maryland April 17, 2021 Incumbent 2 years, 108 days Biden

Organizational structure

Commission members

The commission has five commissioners who are appointed by the President of the United States. No more than three Commissioners may belong to the same political party. Their terms last five years and are staggered so that one commissioner's term ends on June 5 of each year. Service may continue up to eighteen additional months past term expiration.

The president also designates one of the commissioners as chairman, the SEC's top executive. However, the president does not possess the power to fire the appointed Commissioners, a provision that was made to ensure the independence of the SEC. This issue arose during the 2008 presidential election in connection with the ensuing financial crises.

Current SEC Commissioners 

Name Party Took office Term expires

Gary Gensler (Chair) Democratic April 17, 2021 June 5, 2026

Mark Uyeda Republican June 30, 2022 June 5, 2023

Caroline A. Crenshaw Democratic August 17, 2020 June 5, 2024

Hester Peirce Republican January 11, 2018 June 5, 2025

Jaime Lizárraga Democratic July 18, 2022 June 5, 2027

Divisions

Within the SEC, there are five divisions. Headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The SEC's divisions are: 

Corporation Finance

Trading and Markets

Investment Management

Enforcement

Economic and Risk Analysis

Corporation Finance is the division that oversees the disclosure made by public companies, as well as the registration of transactions, such as mergers, made by companies. The division is also responsible for operating EDGAR.

The Trading and Markets division oversees self-regulatory organizations (SRO's) such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) and all broker-dealer firms and investment houses. This division also interprets proposed changes to regulations and monitors operations of the industry. In practice, the SEC delegates most of its enforcement and rulemaking authority to FINRA. In fact, all trading firms not regulated by other SROs must register as a member of FINRA. Individuals trading securities must pass exams administered by FINRA to become registered representatives. 

The Investment Management Division oversees registered investment companies, which include mutual funds, as well as registered investment advisors. These entities are subject to extensive regulation under various federal securities laws. The Division of Investment Management administers various federal securities laws, in particular, the Investment Company Act of 1940 and Investment Advisers Act of 1940. This division's responsibilities include: 

assisting the Commission in interpreting laws and regulations for the public and SEC inspection and enforcement staff;

responding to no-action requests and requests for exemptive relief;

reviewing investment company and investment adviser filings;

assisting the Commission in enforcement matters involving investment companies and advisers; and

advising the commission on adapting SEC rules to new circumstances.

The Enforcement Division investigates violations of the securities laws and regulations to bring legal actions against alleged violators. It is the largest division in terms of both headcount and budget, and its resources have been increased by more than half since the financial crisis of 2007–2008. The SEC can bring a civil action in a U.S. District Court, or an administrative proceeding which is heard by an independent administrative law judge (ALJ). The SEC does not have criminal authority but may refer matters to state and federal prosecutors.

The Economic and Risk Analysis Division (DERA) was created in September 2009 to integrate financial economics and rigorous data analytics into the core mission of the SEC. The Division is involved across the entire range of SEC activities, including policy-making, rule-making, enforcement, and examination. As the agency's "think tank," DERA relies on a variety of academic disciplines, quantitative and non-quantitative approaches, and knowledge of market institutions and practices to help the Commission approach complex matters in a fresh light. DERA also assists in the commission's efforts to identify, analyze, and respond to risks and trends, including those associated with new financial products and strategies. Through the range and nature of its activities, DERA serves the critical function of promoting collaborative efforts throughout the agency and breaking through silos that might otherwise limit the impact of the agency's institutional expertise. The Division's activities include providing detailed, high-quality economic and statistical analyzes, and specific subject-matter expertise to the Commission and other Divisions/Offices and developing customized, analytic tools and analyzes to proactively detect market risks indicative of possible violations of the Federal securities laws. Using data, DERA staff create analytic programs designed to detect patterns identifying risks, enabling Commission divisions and offices to deploy scarce resources targeting possible misconduct. DERA also houses the commission's Chief Economist.

Regional offices

There are 11 regional offices throughout the US, which are listed below along with the name of the respective regional director. 

Atlanta – Nekia Hackworth Jones

Boston – Silvestre A. Fontes

Chicago – Daniel Gregus

Denver – Jason Burt

Fort Worth – Eric R. Werner

Los Angeles – Katharine Zoladz, J. Cindy Eson

Miami – Eric I. Bustillo

New York City – Antonia M. Apps

Philadelphia – Nicholas P. Grippo

Salt Lake City – Tracy S. Combs

San Francisco – Monique Winkler

Among the SEC's offices are:

The Office of General Counsel, which acts as the agency's "lawyer" before federal appellate courts and provides legal advice to the Commission and other SEC divisions and offices;

The Office of the Chief Accountant, which establishes and enforces accounting and auditing policies set by the SEC. This office has played a role in such areas as working with the Financial Accounting Standards Board to develop Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in developing audit requirements, and the International Accounting Standards Board in advancing the development of International Financial Reporting Standards;

The Office of Compliance, Inspections and Examinations, which inspects broker-dealers, stock exchanges, credit rating agencies, registered investment companies, including both closed-end and open-end (mutual funds) investment companies, money funds. and Registered Investment Advisors;

The Office of International Affairs, which represents the SEC abroad and which negotiates international enforcement information-sharing agreements, develops the SEC's international regulatory policies in areas such as mutual recognition, and helps develop international regulatory standards through organizations such as the International Organization of Securities Commissions and the Financial Stability Forum; and

The Office of Information Technology, which supports the commission and staff in information technology, including application development, infrastructure operations. and engineering, user support, IT program management, capital planning, security, and enterprise architecture.

The Inspector General. The SEC announced in January 2013 that it had named Carl Hoecker the new inspector general. He has a staff of 22. 

The SEC Office of the Whistleblower provides assistance and information from a whistleblower who knows of possible securities law violations: this can be among the most powerful weapons in the law enforcement arsenal of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Created by Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") by, among other things, adding Section 21F, entitled "Securities Whistleblower Incentives and Protection". Section 21F directs the commission to make monetary awards to eligible individuals who voluntarily provide original information that leads to successful Commission enforcement actions resulting in the imposition of monetary sanctions over $1,000,000, and certain successful related actions. 

Communications

Comment letters

Comment letters are issued by the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance in response to a company's public filing. This letter, initially private, contains an itemized list of requests from the SEC. Each comment in the letter asks the filer to provide additional information, modify their submitted filing, or change the way they disclose in future filings. The filer must reply to each item in the comment letter. The SEC may then reply back with follow-up comments. This correspondence is later made public.

In October 2001 the SEC wrote to CA, Inc., covering 15 items, mostly about CA's accounting, including 5 about revenue recognition. The chief executive officer of CA, to whom the letter was addressed, pleaded guilty to fraud at CA in 2004. 

In June 2004, the SEC announced that it would publicly post all comment letters, to give investors access to the information in them. An analysis of regulatory filings in May 2006 over the prior 12 months indicated, that the SEC had not accomplished what it said it would do. The analysis found 212 companies that had reported receiving comment letters from the SEC, but only 21 letters for these companies were posted on the SEC's website. John W. White, the head of the Division of Corporation Finance, told the New York Times in 2006: "We have now resolved the hurdles of posting the information... We expect a significant number of new postings in the coming months." 

No-action letters

No-action letters are letters by the SEC staff indicating that the staff will not recommend to the Commission that the SEC undertake enforcement action against a person or company if that entity engages in a particular action. These letters are sent in response to requests made when the legal status of an activity is not clear. These letters are publicly released and increase the body of knowledge on what exactly is and is not allowed. They represent the staff's interpretations of the securities laws and, while persuasive, are not binding on the courts.

One such use, from 1975 to 2007, was with the nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO), a credit rating agency that issues credit ratings that the SEC permits other financial firms to use for certain regulatory purposes.

Freedom of Information Act processing performance

In the latest Center for Effective Government analysis of 15 federal agencies which receive the most Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests published in 2015 (using 2012 and 2013 data, the most recent years available), the SEC was among the 5 lowest performers, earned a D− by scoring 61 out of a possible 100 points, i.e. did not earn a satisfactory overall grade. It had deteriorated from a D− in 2013. 

Operations

List of major SEC enforcement actions (2009–12)

The SEC's Enforcement Division took a number of major actions in 2009–12.

Regulatory action in the credit crunch

The SEC announced on September 17, 2008, strict new rules to prohibit all forms of "naked short selling" as a measure to reduce volatility in turbulent markets. 

The SEC investigated cases involving individuals attempting to manipulate the market by passing false rumors about certain financial institutions. The commission has also investigated trading irregularities and abusive short-selling practices. Hedge fund managers, broker-dealers, and institutional investors were also asked to disclose under oath certain information pertaining to their positions in credit default swaps. The commission also negotiated the largest settlements in the history of the SEC (approximately $51 billion in all) on behalf of investors who purchased auction rate securities from six different financial institutions.

Regulatory failures

The SEC has been criticized "for being too 'tentative and fearful' in confronting wrongdoing on Wall Street", and for doing "an especially poor job of holding executives accountable". 

Christopher Cox, the former SEC chairman, has recognized the organization's multiple failures in relation to the Bernard Madoff fraud. Starting with an investigation in 1992 into a Madoff feeder fund that only invested with Madoff, and which, according to the SEC, promised "curiously steady" returns, the SEC did not investigate indications that something was amiss in Madoff's investment firm. The SEC has been accused of missing numerous red flags and ignoring tips on Madoff's alleged fraud. 

As a result, Cox said that an investigation would ensue into "all staff contact and relationships with the Madoff family and firm, and their impact, if any, on decisions by staff regarding the firm". SEC Assistant Director of the Office of Compliance Investigations Eric Swanson had met Madoff's niece, Shana Madoff, when Swanson was conducting an SEC examination of whether Bernard Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme because she was the firm's compliance attorney. The investigation was closed, and Swanson subsequently left the SEC, and married Shana Madoff. 

Approximately 45 percent of institutional investors thought that better oversight by the SEC could have prevented the Madoff fraud. Harry Markopolos complained to the SEC's Boston office in 2000, telling the SEC staff they should investigate Madoff because it was impossible to legally make the profits Madoff claimed using the investment strategies that he said he used. 

In June 2010, the SEC settled a wrongful termination lawsuit with former SEC enforcement lawyer Gary J. Aguirre, who was terminated in September 2005 following his attempt to subpoena Wall Street figure John J. Mack in an insider trading case involving hedge fund Pequot Capital Management; Mary Jo White, who later served as chair of the SEC, was at the time representing Morgan Stanley and was involved in this case. While the insider case was dropped at the time, a month prior to the SEC's settlement with Aguirre the SEC filed charges against Pequot. The Senate released a report in August 2007 detailing the issue and calling for reform of the SEC. 

On September 26, 2016, Democratic senator Mark Warner sent a letter to the SEC, asking them to evaluate whether the current disclosure regime was adequate, citing the low number of companies' disclosures to date. 

Inspector General office failures

In 2009, the Project on Government Oversight, a government watchdog group, sent a letter to Congress criticizing the SEC for failing to implement more than half of the recommendations made to it by its Inspector General. According to POGO, in the prior two years, the SEC had taken no action on 27 out of 52 recommended reforms suggested in Inspector General reports, and still had a "pending" status on 197 of the 312 recommendations made in audit reports. Some of the recommendations included imposing disciplinary action on SEC employees who receive improper gifts or other favors from financial companies, and investigating and reporting the causes of the failures to detect the Madoff ponzi scheme. 

In a 2011 article by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone, former SEC employees were interviewed and commented negatively on the SEC's Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Going to the OIG was "well-known to be a career-killer". 

Because of concerns raised by David P. Weber, former SEC Chief Investigator, regarding conduct by SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz, Inspector General David C. Williams of the U.S. Postal Service was brought in to conduct an independent, outside review of Kotz's alleged improper conduct in 2012. Williams concluded in his 66-page Report that Kotz violated ethics rules by overseeing probes that involved people with whom he had conflicts of interest due to "personal relationships". The report questioned Kotz's work on the Madoff investigation, among others, because Kotz was a "very good friend" with Markopolos. It concluded that while it was unclear when Kotz and Markopolos became friends, it would have violated U.S. ethics rules if their relationship began before or during Kotz's Madoff investigation. The report also found that Kotz himself "appeared to have a conflict of interest" and should not have opened his Standford investigation, because he was friends with a female attorney who represented victims of the fraud. 

Destruction of documents

According to former SEC employee and whistleblower Darcy Flynn, also reported by Taibbi, the agency routinely destroyed thousands of documents related to preliminary investigations of alleged crimes committed by Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, SAC Capital, and other financial companies involved in the Great Recession that the SEC was supposed to have been regulating. The documents included those relating to "Matters Under Inquiry", or MUI, the name the SEC gives to the first stages of the investigation process. The tradition of destruction began as early as the 1990s. This SEC activity eventually caused a conflict with the National Archives and Records Administration when it was revealed to them in 2010 by Flynn. Flynn also described a meeting at the SEC in which top staff discussed refusing to admit the destruction had taken place, because it was possibly illegal. 

Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley, among others, took note of Flynn's call for protection as a whistleblower, and the story of the agency's document-handling procedures. The SEC issued a statement defending its procedures. NPR quoted University of Denver Sturm College of Law professor Jay Brown as saying: "My initial take on this is it's a tempest in a teapot," and Jacob Frenkel, a securities lawyer in the Washington, D.C., area, as saying in effect "there's no allegation the SEC tossed sensitive documents from banks it got under subpoena in high-profile cases that investors and lawmakers care about". NPR concluded its report:

The debate boils down to this: What does an investigative record mean to Congress? And the courts? Under the law, those investigative records must be kept for 25 years. But federal officials say no judge has ruled that papers related to early-stage SEC inquiries are investigative records. The SEC's inspector general says he's conducting a thorough investigation into the allegations. [Kotz] tells NPR that he'll issue a report by the end of September. 

SEC And Cryptocurrency

On June 6, 2023 the SEC charged Coinbase for "operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency." On June 5, 2023 the SEC also filed 13 charges against Binance entities and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.

One major contention between the SEC and the crypto industry is based on the definition of what a security actually is. At this time the SEC is relying on a U.S. Supreme Court case from 1946 which dealt with investors in Florida orange groves owned by the W. J. Howey Company. In the case the court ruled that "an investment of money in a common enterprise with profits to come solely from the efforts of others," making it a security called an investment contract. Whereby, the value of digital assets, their associated blockchain systems and investor profits depended on the "efforts of others."

Whistleblower program

The SEC runs a whistleblower rewards program, which rewards individuals who report violations of securities laws to the SEC. The program began in 2011 with the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and allows whistleblowers to be given 10-30% of the penalties collected by the SEC and other agencies as a result of the whistleblower's information. As of 2021, the SEC had recovered $4.8 billion in monetary remedies as a result of information obtained through the whistleblower program and had paid out over $1 billion to whistleblowers. As part of the program, the SEC issues a report to Congress each year and the 2021 report is available here.

Relationship to other agencies

In addition to working with various self-regulatory organizations such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), the SEC also works with federal agencies, state securities regulators, international securities agencies and law enforcement agencies. 

In 1988 Executive Order 12631 established the President's Working Group on Financial Markets. The Working Group is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury and includes the Chairman of the SEC, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The goal of the Working Group is to enhance the integrity, efficiency, orderliness, and competitiveness of the financial markets while maintaining investor confidence. m

The Securities Act of 1933 was originally administered by the Federal Trade Commission. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 transferred this responsibility from the FTC to the SEC. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 also gave the SEC the power to regulate the solicitation of proxies, though some of the rules the SEC has since proposed (like the universal proxy) have been controversial. : 4  : 2  The main mission of the FTC is to promote consumer protection and to eradicate anti-competitive business practices. The FTC regulates general business practices, while the SEC focuses on the securities markets.

The Temporary National Economic Committee was established by joint resolution of Congress 52 Stat. 705 on June 16, 1938. It was in charge of reporting to Congress on abuses of monopoly power. The committee was defunded in 1941, but its records are still under seal by order of the SEC. 

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) was established in 1975 by Congress to develop rules for companies involved in underwriting and trading municipal securities. The MSRB is monitored by the SEC, but the MSRB does not have the authority to enforce its rules.

The Asset Management Advisory Committee (AMAC) was formally established on 1 November 2019, to provide the SEC with "diverse perspectives on asset management and related advice and recommendations". Topics the committee may address include trends and developments affecting investors and market participants, the effects of globalization, and changes in the role of technology and service providers. The committee is composed of outside experts, including individuals representing the views of retail and institutional investors, small and large funds, intermediaries, and other market participants. 

While most violations of securities laws are enforced by the SEC and the various SROs it monitors, state securities regulators can also enforce statewide securities blue sky laws. States may require securities to be registered in the state before they can be sold there. National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996 (NSMIA) addressed this dual system of federal-state regulation by amending Section 18 of the 1933 Act to exempt nationally traded securities from state registration, thereby pre-empting state law in this area. However, NSMIA preserves the states' anti-fraud authority over all securities traded in the state. 

The SEC also works with federal and state law enforcement agencies to carry out actions against actors alleged to be in violation of the securities laws.

The SEC is a member of International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), and uses the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding as well as direct bilateral agreements with other countries' securities commissions to deal with cross-border misconduct in securities markets.

Related legislation

1933: Securities Act of 1933

1934: Securities Exchange Act of 1934

1938: Temporary National Economic Committee (establishment)

1939: Trust Indenture Act of 1939

1940: Investment Advisers Act of 1940

1940: Investment Company Act of 1940

1968: Williams Act (Securities Disclosure Act)

1982: Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act

1999: Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act

2000: Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000

2002: Sarbanes–Oxley Act

2003: Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003

2006: Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006

2010: Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

2012: Volcker Rule (a specific section of the Dodd–Frank Act)

2020: Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

Title 17 of the Code of Federal Regulations

Ripple Labs, Inc. is an American technology company which develops the Ripple payment protocol and exchange network. Originally named Opencoin and renamed in 2015, the company was founded in 2012 and is based in San Francisco, California. 

History

Ryan Fugger conceived Ripple in 2004 after working on a local exchange trading system in Vancouver. The intent was to create a monetary system that was decentralized and could effectively empower individuals and communities to create their own money. Fugger later built the first iteration of this system, RipplePay.com. Concurrently, in May 2011, Jed McCaleb began developing a digital currency system in which transactions were verified by consensus among members of the network, rather than by the mining process used by Bitcoin. In August 2012, Jed McCaleb hired Chris Larsen and they approached Ryan Fugger with their digital currency idea. After discussions with McCaleb and long-standing members of the Ripple community, Fugger handed over the reins. In September 2012, Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb co-founded the corporation OpenCoin. 

OpenCoin began development of the ripple protocol (RTXP) and the Ripple payment and exchange network. On April 11, 2013, OpenCoin announced it had closed an angel round of funding with several venture capital firms. That same month, OpenCoin acquired SimpleHoney to help it popularize virtual currencies and make them easier for average users. 

On September 26, 2013, OpenCoin officially changed its name to Ripple Labs, Inc. 

On May 5, 2015, Ripple received a US$700,000 (equivalent to $864,215 in 2022) civil money penalty from U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for “willful violation of the Bank Secrecy Act by acting as a money services business without registering with FinCEN.” On October 6, 2015, the company was rebranded from Ripple Labs to Ripple. 

On June 13, 2016, Ripple obtained a virtual currency license from the New York State Department of Financial Services, making it the fourth company with a BitLicense. 

In September 2017, R3 sued Ripple for specific performance of an option agreement in which Ripple agreed to sell up to five billion XRPs for a price of $.0085. Ripple countersued, claiming that R3 reneged on a number of contractual promises, and was simply acting in a spirit of opportunism, after the cryptocurrency increased in value more than 30 times. In September 2018, Ripple and R3 reached an undisclosed settlement agreement. 

In March 2018, a Japanese bank consortium led by SBI Ripple Asia, comprising 61 banks launched "MoneyTap", a Ripple-powered mobile app to provide on-demand domestic payments in Japan. In May 2018, Spanish Banking group Santander released One Pay FX — the first mobile application for international payments powered by blockchain technology, that uses Ripple's xCurrent technology. Following the creation of a Mumbai office, Ripple has been adding multiple Indian customers in 2018, including leading banks such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, and IndusInd, that announced that they started using Ripple's products. 

On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Ripple and two of its executives with violating investor protection laws. The SEC alleged that Ripple, co-founder Christian Larsen and CEO Bradley Garlinghouse, raised more than $1.3 billion through an unregistered securities offering. The government agency brought charges against Ripple for the fault of depriving the “potential purchasers [of XRP] of adequate disclosures about XRP and Ripple’s business and other important long-standing protections that are fundamental to our robust public market system,” according to the complaint that the SEC filed in federal district court in Manhattan, New York. In April 2021, Judge Sarah Netburn granted a motion from Garlinghouse and Larsen to dismiss the SEC's subpoenas for access to eight years' of banking records, referring to the request as a "wholly inappropriate overreach." The defendants have already agreed to turn over all data involving XRP transactions. 

In May 2023, Ripple acquired Metaco, a Switzerland-based crypto custody firm for $250 million. 

In June 2023, Ripple received approval for a license from the central bank of Singapore to offer regulated digital payment token products and services. 

In July 2023, the district court issued its ruling on the SEC lawsuit and stated that the XRP token sold by Ripple Labs was not a security: "XRP, as a digital token, is not in and of itself a 'contract, transaction, or scheme' that embodies the Howey requirements of an investment contract." However, if sold in institutional sales, or used as a fundraiser, such actions could be classified as a security in those circumstances. More specifically, the programmatic sale on cryptocurrency exchanges do not meet the third prong of the Howey Test, so subsequent sales by exchanges are not securities. Judge Analisa Torres issued a summary judgement in the case after over two years of litigation between the SEC and Ripple, so the case could subsequently go to a full trial, or be appealed. 

Funding

The primary source of funding Ripple has been sales of the XRP cryptocurrency. According to its own records it sold $1,254.54 million worth of XRP between Q4 2016 and Q2 2020, to a mix of institutional investors and retail investors via sales on cryptocurrency exchanges.  

Ripple is a privately funded company. It has closed five rounds of funding, which included two rounds of angel funding, one round of seed funding, one Series A round, one Series B round and one Series C round. 

Date Funding

type Investor Amount

(million $)

April 2013 Angel Andreessen Horowitz, FF Angel LLC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pantera Capital, Vast Ventures, Bitcoin Opportunity Fund 2.5

May 2013 Angel Google Ventures, IDG Capital Partners 3.0

November 2013 Seed Core Innovation Capital, Venture51, Camp One Ventures, IDG Capital Partners 3.5

May 2015 Series A IDG Capital Partners, Seagate Technology, AME Cloud Ventures, ChinaRock Capital Management, China Growth Capital, Wicklow Capital, Bitcoin Opportunity Corp, Core Innovation Capital, Route 66 Ventures, RRE Ventures, Vast Ventures, Venture 51 28

October 2015 Series A Santander InnoVentures 4

September 2016 Series B Standard Chartered, Accenture, SCB Digital Ventures, SBI Holdings, Santander InnoVentures, CME Group, Seagate Technology 55

December 2019 Series C Tetragon, SBI Holdings, Route 66 Ventures 200

Ripple's revenue sources include professional services provided to financial network operators being integrated with Ripple, software built to integrate legacy financial systems with Ripple and the native currency (XRP). Ripple (a private company registered in Delaware) chooses not to reveal information to the public about sales revenues from software and professional services.

Programs and projects

Charitable contributions

Of the 80 billion XRP that Ripple Labs was gifted, Ripple follows a distribution strategy that encompasses payments to business partners such as gateways, market makers and charitable organizations. 

Ripple Labs began working with the World Community Grid in November 2013. The World Community Grid pools surplus processing power from volunteers’ computers and electronic devices to support humanitarian causes such as fighting AIDS, improving solar energy and defeating cancer. Individuals who join the Ripple Labs team and donate their spare processing power are rewarded with XRP. As of March 18, 2014, Ripple Labs has given away 134,528,800 XRP through the World Community Grid at a rate of 1,250,000 XRP per day. 

In 2018, Ripple has made multiple donations. The company has donated $29 million of XRP to USA public schools, and $4 million to The Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund 

Partnerships and initiatives

In March 2014, CrossCoin Ventures launched an accelerator which funds companies that work to advance the Ripple ecosystem. The firm funds accepted startups with up to US$50,000 (equivalent to $61,808 in 2022) in XRP, Ripple's native currency, in exchange for a 3% to 6% stake in diluted common stock. Mentorship and support is provided by CrossCoin and Ripple Labs, Inc. 

Ripple also developed early partnerships with companies such as ZipZap, with the relationship called a threat to Western Union in the press. 

In cooperation with other industry leaders, Ripple Labs became a co-founding member of the Digital Asset Transfer Authority (DATA) in July 2013. DATA provides best practices and technical standards, including anti-money laundering compliance guidance for companies that work with digital currency and other emerging payments systems. The committee works as a liaison among public officials, businesses and consumers and create common rules to protect consumers. The initiative attempts to create a cohesive voice of Bitcoin community members when interacting with regulators. 

In June 2018, Ripple has committed over $50 million in funding to create the University Blockchain Research Initiative, which aims at support research to:

Collaborate on research and technical development that will stimulate widespread understanding and innovation in blockchain.

Create new curriculum to meet high student demand for learning about blockchain, cryptocurrency and other FinTech topics.

Stimulate ideas and dialog among students, faculty, technologists and business leaders on topics of shared interest. 

In May 2018, Ripple has announced "an initiative by Ripple that will invest in, incubate, acquire and provide grants to companies and projects that [...] will use the digital asset XRP and the XRP Ledger, the open-sourced, decentralized technology behind XRP, to solve their customers’ problems.". 

In March 2019, Ripple announced a $100 Million fund for gaming developers which would be overseen by Forte. 

Awards and recognitions

For its creation and development of the ripple protocol (RTXP) and the Ripple payment/exchange network, the magazine MIT Technology Review recognized Ripple Labs as one of 2014s 50 Smartest Companies in its February 2014 issue. The criteria for the recognition revolved around "whether a company had made strides in the past year that will define its field." 

On February 9, 2014, Ripple Labs was named as a finalist for a 2014 PYMNTS Innovator Award in two separate categories: Best New Technology as well as Most Disruptive Company. The recognition pertains to Ripple Labs work in creating Ripple, an open-source, distributed payment protocol powering a new global value web. 

On January 12, 2016, Ripple was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at No. 8 in the list of 100 Most Influential Blockchain Organisations. 

Other Awards:

February 2015 - Fast Company. The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies Of 2015 In Money. 

February 2015 - American Banker. 20 Fintech Companies to Watch. 

August 2015 - Ripple Labs Awarded as Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum. 

December 2015 - Forbes. Fintech 50. 

December 2015 - H2 Ventures, KPMG. Fintech 100. 

March 2016 - PYMNTS Innovation Project 2016. Best B2B Innovation Award. 

June 2016 - Fortune. 5 Hottest Companies in Fintech. 

Controversies

On May 5, 2015, FinCEN fined Ripple Labs and XRP II US$700,000 for violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, based on the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's anti-money laundering (AML) additions to the act in 2013. According to the FinCEN announcement: "Ripple Labs willfully violated several requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by acting as a money services business (MSB) and selling its virtual currency, known as XRP, without registering with FinCEN, and by failing to implement and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) program designed to protect its products from use by money launderers or terrorist financiers." 

Ripple Labs agreed to remedial steps to ensure future compliance, which included an agreement to only transact XRP and "Ripple Trade" activity through registered money services businesses (MSB), among other agreements such as enhancing the Ripple Protocol. It has been argued that the changes made to the protocol did not change the protocol itself, but instead added AML transaction monitoring to the network and improve transaction analysis. However the FinCen statement clearly indicated that Ripple itself was making changes to the protocol as a result of the enforcement action. "Ripple Labs will also undertake certain enhancements to the Ripple Protocol to appropriately monitor all future transactions." 

Ripple executives, including CTO David Schwartz, have admitted the software that is sold to banks for payments processing, XCurrent, is not a blockchain or any form of distributed ledger. Schwartz described it as “bi-directional messaging” that can eventually plug into distributed ledgers, but xCurrent’s technology itself “is not a distributed ledger.” 

In May 2018, Stewart Hosie MP, at a UK parliamentary inquiry into digital currencies, questioned Ryan Zagone of Ripple about the value and nature of the XRP Cryptocurrency: "...but the point that was made earlier, Mr Zagone, is that if people buy XRP—a financial asset—from Ripple Labs, it does not entitle them to an ownership stake, there is no right to be converted back into conventional currencies and it does not pay any return. It also seemingly has no purpose. Is that simply to avoid XRP looking like a security or an equity, and to avoid the necessary regulation?" 

Ripple claims to be completely separate from and have no control over the XRP cryptocurrency, in spite of the FinCen press release describing XRP as "its virtual currency, known as XRP". However Ripple controls the vast majority of the supply of XRP and, according to its own published records, earns the majority of its income from selling XRP. They do own a lot of XRP but the network is not based on PoS, therefore the amount of XRP do not determine how much control you have over the network. The XRP Ledger has its own consensus algorithm with over 39 entities included in the overlap of all the currently published and used UNLs.

In 2018 CEO claimed on multiple occasions that by end of that year "major banks" would be using Ripple tools that made use of the XRP cryptocurrency and that by end of 2019 "dozens" of banks would be using XRP. Both claims by the end of 2019 were proven to be untrue. At a conference in June 2019, Hikmet Ersek, CEO of Western Union, commented that his company had experimented with Ripple in 2018 but had chosen not to adopt their cryptocurrency based payments software because, “It’s five times more expensive”, than using their existing infrastructure.

In 2018 and 2019 Garlinghouse claimed on multiple occasions that the published error rate for SWIFT messaging was at least 6%, this was shown to be untrue by research published by the London School of Economics Business Review that showed Garlinghouse's claims were based on mis-reading of a paper published by SWIFT that did not refer to error rates in messaging. 

In February 2020 an article in Financial Times Alphaville revealed that Moneygram, the largest public user of Ripple's XRP based liquidity tools, has not only received a $50m investment prior to adopting the tools but that the software was provided free of charge by Ripple and that Moneygram was receiving an on-going subsidy for using XRP, amounting to $8.9m in Q4 2019. The same article revealed that Ripple was dependent on sales of XRP to remain profitable.

In October 2020, Ripple board member Ken Kurson resigned from the company when he was charged with committing a range of cyber-crimes by the United States Attorney for the southern district of New York.

List of major SEC enforcement actions (2009–2012)

The below list of major SEC enforcement actions (2009–12) reflects major actions that the Enforcement Division of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought in 2009–12.

The SEC is a federal agency of the United States. It holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States. 

The Enforcement Division works with the SEC's other three divisions, and other Commission offices, to investigate violations of the securities laws and regulations and to bring actions against alleged violators. The SEC generally conducts investigations in private. The SEC's staff may seek voluntary production of documents and testimony, or may seek a formal order of investigation from the SEC, which allows the staff to compel the production of documents and witness testimony. The SEC can bring a civil action in a U.S. District Court, or an administrative proceeding which is heard by an independent administrative law judge (ALJ). The SEC does not have criminal authority, but may refer matters to state and federal prosecutors. The director of the SEC's Enforcement Division Robert Khuzami left the office in February 2013. 

List

2009

In June 2009, the SEC sued Angelo Mozilo, former CEO of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, and two other former officers, charging that they misled investors about the quality of Countrywide's loans while knowing the company was fueling its growth by letting its underwriting guidelines deteriorate and originating a growing number of risky subprime loans. In October 2010, the SEC settled the lawsuit and Mozilo was required to pay a fraction of the $521.5 million he had earned, just $67.5 million in penalties and disgorgement. 

In August 2009, the SEC filed a suit against Bank of America, alleging that the bank failed to disclose $3.6 billion in bonuses that Merrill Lynch paid its employees. In January 2010, the SEC filed another suit against the bank, alleging it failed to disclose extraordinary fourth-quarter 2008 losses at Merrill Lynch prior to a December 5, 2008 shareholder vote to approve a merger between it and Merrill Lynch. In February 2010, Jed S. Rakoff, a federal judge derided, but approved a settlement to resolve the lawsuits, having rejected a previous settlement for $33 million as too small. He called the new agreement "inadequate and misguided" because the penalties were "very modest". 

In October 2009, relying on informants and wiretaps, Raj Rajaratnam and his hedge fund, Galleon Group, were charged with an insider trading scheme that generated more than $25 million in illicit gains. Six others involved in the scheme were also charged, including senior executives at IBM, Intel and McKinsey & Company. Overall, the SEC in the Galleon series of cases has charged 29 defendants for widespread and repeated insider trading in the securities of more than 15 publicly traded companies, generating illicit profits or losses avoided of more than $90 million. The investigation involves cash payments by Rajaratnam and Galleon in exchange for material nonpublic information, and the investigation has ensnared corporate executives, consultants, rating agency personnel, proprietary traders, hedge fund executives, and public relations personnel. Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years in prison in the parallel criminal case, and the court entered a final judgment in the SEC civil case holding him liable for a civil penalty of $92.8 million, representing the largest penalty ever assessed against an individual in an SEC insider trading case. 

In December 2009, three former executives of New Century Financial Corporation were charged with conspiring to mislead investors by not disclosing dramatic increases in the rate of borrowers who were defaulting almost immediately on their loans. 

2010

In April 2010, the SEC filed a suit against Goldman Sachs and one of its vice presidents, Fabrice Tourre, alleging that the firm misled investors with respect to a subprime mortgage product. The SEC charged that Goldman and Tourre did not inform clients that what they bought was crafted in part by hedge fund manager John Paulson, who was betting the product would fail. In July 2010, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $550 million to settle the case, among the largest penalties ever assessed in the 76-year history of the SEC, although just 1% of Goldman's market value at the time and 2% of its cash balance in March 2010, and considered to be a "slap on the wrist". The penalties prompted a sigh of relief from Goldman and Wall Street. In announcing the settlement, Robert Khuzami, current director of the Enforcement Division, twice referred to it as "more than half a billion dollars", but Michael J. Driscoll, a professor and former senior managing director at Bear Stearns called it "a steal". A former SEC commissioner, Paul Atkins, said he was "embarrassed, as an American," describing the suit as "basically playing for headlines with very little substance". Eliot Spitzer said Goldman's reaction was "OK, we'll pay you $550 million to settle the Abacus case — that's a small price to pay for the $12.9 billion we got for the AIG bailout." Khuzami states that the penalty paid by Goldman Sachs ($535 million) was "30 to 40 times" what the firm hoped to earn from the Abacus deal ($15 million), and such a significant penalty sends a "cold, hard and sharp" message to Wall Street and risk managers that they better think twice before undertaking transactions that violate the law. 

In July 2010, Citigroup, with a market cap of $120 billion, agreed to pay a $75 million penalty to the SEC for its failure to adequately disclose its exposure to subprime mortgage debt. Citigroup advised investors it held $13 billion in subprime investments when in fact it was more than $50 billion. Fines for misconduct were also assessed against the former chief financial officer, Gary Crittenden, and director of investor relations, Arthur Tildesley. 

In September 2010, John Flannery, a former chief investment officer of State Street Bank & Trust Company, and James Hopkins, a former product engineer there, were charged with misleading investors about the bank's exposure to subprime investments. Earlier in the year, the SEC announced a settlement in which State Street agreed to pay $313 million in connection with the charges. 

In October 2010, the SEC charged two hedge fund portfolio managers and their investment advisory businesses, Palisades Asset Management, LLC with overvaluing illiquid fund assets they placed in a "side pocket," misappropriating investor assets, and making material misrepresentations in connection with a securities offering. 

In December 2010, the SEC, the Department of Justice and other federal and state agencies announced the results of "Operation Broken Trust", a coordinated effort by the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to target investment fraud. The operation resulted in prosecutions against 310 criminal defendants involving $8.3 billion in losses and civil actions against 189 defendants involving $2.1 billion in losses for fraud schemes that victimized more than 120,000 people throughout the country. 

2011

In FY 2011, the Enforcement Division filed 735 actions, an 8.6% increase over FY 2010 and more than any other year in SEC history. It also obtained $2.8 billion in penalties and disgorgement. More significantly, the filed actions involve many highly complex markets, products and transactions, as well as charges against a significant number of individuals. One commentator noted that despite budget and other restraints, the SEC has recently "had a string of successes," and has made progress "despite every disadvantage". 

A sampling of FY 2011 and 2012 cases are set forth below.

In January 2011, the SEC charged Merrill Lynch with fraud for misusing customer order information to place proprietary trades for the firm and for charging customer undisclosed trading fees. 

Also in January 2011, the SEC charged two Charles Schwab & Co. entities and two executives for failing to disclose the risks of investing in the YieldPlus fund, including its over-concentration in mortgage assets and that it was not, as Schwab advertised, a cash alternative that had only slightly higher risk than a money market fund. 

In February 2011, the Commission brought charges in the "expert networking" insider trading cases, charging several technology company employees with tipping material nonpublic information concerning sales, earnings, and other performance data of their employers to multiple hedge funds and other investment professionals. 

In February 2011, the SEC charged DHB Industries, a major supplier of body armor to the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies, for engaging in a large accounting fraud, and in addition separately charged three of DHB's former outside directors and audit committee members for their complicity in the scheme. 

In March 2011, the SEC charged three senior executives at Fair Finance Company with orchestrating a $230 million fraudulent scheme involving at least 5,200 investors, many of them elderly, by selling them interest-bearing certificates allegedly used to purchase and service discounted consumer finance contracts, but instead diverting the proceeds to themselves and others for luxury personal goods as well as to struggling and unprofitable entities that they controlled. 

In March 2011, the Commission charged Cheng Yi Liang, a chemist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with insider trading by trading securities using highly confidential information relating to FDA drug approvals that he accessed from an FDA database. 

In April 2011, the Commission charged Matthew Kluger, a former corporate attorney, and Garrett Bauer, a Wall Street trader, for their involvement in a highly organized serial insider trading ring that traded in advance of at least 11 pending merger and acquisition announcements involving clients of the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. 

In April 2011, the SEC charged Wachovia with misconduct related to the sale of two collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), including charging excessive markups in sales to the Zuni Indian Tribe, and falsely representing that it acquired CDO assets at fair market prices when, in fact, 40 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBs) were transferred from an affiliate at above-market prices to avoid losses on its own books. 

In April 2011, the Commission charged Dr. Joseph "Chip" Skowron, a former portfolio manager for six health care-related hedge funds, with insider trading in a bio-pharmaceutical company based on confidential information he received unlawfully about the company's negative clinical drug trial results. 

In May 2011, the Commission charged Donald L. Johnson, a former managing director of The NASDAQ Stock Market, with insider trading on confidential information that he misappropriated while working in a market intelligence unit that communicates with executives at listed companies about impending public announcements that could affect their stocks. 

In May, July and December 2011, the SEC charged J.P. Morgan Securities, Wachovia Bank and UBS Financial Services for participating in a wide-ranging scheme involving the fraudulent manipulation of municipal bond reinvestment transactions. Including previous actions filed against GE Funding Capital Market Services and Banc of America Securities, a total of approximately $743 million has been recovered in these settlements by all law enforcement agencies, including the SEC, involved in the cases. 

In June 2011, the SEC charged J.P. Morgan Securities and one individual with misleading investors in a complex mortgage securities transaction by not informing investors that a prominent hedge fund helped select the assets in the CDO portfolio and had a short position in more than half of those assets. 

In August 2011, the SEC charged Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. and a former senior vice president with defrauding five Wisconsin school districts by selling them synthetic CDOs funded largely with $200 million of borrowed money. 

In September 2011, the SEC charged AXA Rosenberg Group and its founder, Barr Rosenberg, with fraud for concealing a significant error in the computer code of the quantitative investment model used to manage client assets. AXA Rosenberg paid $217 million to compensate harmed investors and a $25 million penalty. Barr Rosenberg paid a $2.5 million penalty and was barred from the industry for life. 

In October 2011, the SEC sanctioned two electronic stock exchanges and a broker-dealer owned by Direct Edge Holdings LLC for violations arising out of weak controls that resulted in millions of dollars in trading losses and a systems outage. 

In October 2011, the SEC charged Pipeline Trading Systems LLC and two of its top executives with failing to disclose to customers of Pipeline's "dark pool" trading platform that the vast majority of orders were filled by a trading operation affiliated with Pipeline. 

In October 2011, the SEC charged Citigroup with misleading investors about a $1 billion CDO by exercising significant influence over the selection of assets included in the CDO portfolio, and then taking a proprietary short position against those mortgage-related assets from which it would profit if the assets declined in value. Citigroup agreed to settle the SEC's charges by paying a total of $285 million. The district court's rejection of the proposed settlement is on appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. 

In October 2011, the SEC charged former bank executives of California-based United Commercial Bank with concealing from investors large losses on several loans made by the bank and that appraisals for some of the loans had been reduced dramatically or that collateral securing the loans was insufficient or worthless. 

In October 2011, the SEC charged former McKinsey & Company Global Head Rajat Gupta with insider trading for illegally tipping Raj Rajaratnam with insider information about the quarterly earnings of both Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble, as well as an impending $5 billion investment in Goldman by Berkshire Hathaway at the height of the financial crisis. 

In October 2011, the SEC obtained an asset freeze against a Boston-area money manager and his investment advisory firm for misleading investors in a supposed quantitative hedge fund and diverting portions of investor money into his personal bank account. The SEC alleged that Andrey C. Hicks and Locust Offshore Management LLC made false representations to create an aura of legitimacy when soliciting individuals to invest in a purported billion dollar hedge fund that Hicks controlled called Locust Offshore Fund Ltd.

In October 2011, the SEC filed an emergency action to halt a Ponzi scheme that promised investors rich returns on water-filtering natural stone pavers, but bilked them of approximately $26 million over a four-year period. 

In November 2011, the SEC charged Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) with violating the securities laws in a fee arrangement that repeatedly charged a fund and its investors for advisory services they were not actually receiving from a third party. The SEC's investigation found that MSIM represented to investors and the fund's board of directors that it contracted a Malaysian-based sub-adviser to provide advice, research, and assistance to MSIM for the benefit of the fund, which invests in equity securities of Malaysian companies. The sub-adviser did not provide these purported advisory services, yet the fund's board annually renewed the contract based on MSIM's representations for more than a decade at a total cost of $1.8 million to investors.

In November and December 2011, the SEC filed several enforcement actions charging three advisory firms and six individuals as part of the Asset Management Unit's Aberrational Performance Inquiry to combat investment adviser fraud by identifying abnormal investment performance. The misconduct involved improper use of fund assets, fraudulent valuations, and misrepresenting fund returns. Under this initiative, proprietary risk analytics were used to evaluate hedge fund returns, identifying funds whose performance was inconsistent with its investment strategy or other benchmarks. 

In December 2011, the SEC filed the final two actions in a series of cases in a wide-ranging complex bid-rigging scheme involving several financial firms related to the reinvestment of proceeds from the sale of municipal securities. In these two actions, the SEC charged Wachovia Bank N.A. with fraudulently rigging the bids of at least 58 municipal bond reinvestment transactions in 25 states and Puerto Rico and General Electric Funding Capital Market Services with fraudulently rigging the bids of at least 328 municipal bond transactions in 44 states and Puerto Rico. The bid-rigging involved the temporary investment of proceeds of tax-exempt municipal securities. Wachovia paid $46 million and GE Funding paid $25 million in penalties, disgorgement, and interest to settle the SEC's charges. These firms also paid more than $167 million to settle actions with other federal and state authorities for this misconduct.

In December 2011, the SEC charged Magyar Telekom PLC, Hungary's largest telecommunications provider, and three of its former top executives with bribing government and political party officials in Macedonia and Montenegro to win business and shut out competition in the telecommunications industry. Magyar Telekom agreed to settle the SEC's charges by paying more than $31.2 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest. Magyar Telekom also agreed to pay more than $59 million in criminal penalties to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In December 2011, the SEC charged six former top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including two former CEOs, with misleading investors about the extent of each company's holdings of subprime and other higher-risk mortgages. 

In December 2011, the SEC charged seven former Siemens executives with anti-bribery violations for their actions in the decade-long bribery scheme to retain a $1 billion government contract to produce national identity cards for Argentine citizens. 

2012

In January 2012, the SEC charged two multibillion-dollar hedge fund advisory firms, Diamondback Capital and Level Global, as well as seven fund managers and analysts, involved in a $78 million insider trading scheme based on nonpublic material information about Dell's quarterly earnings and other similar inside information about Nvidia Corporation. 

In January 2012, the SEC charged a trader in Latvia for conducting a widespread online account intrusion scheme in which he manipulated the prices of more than 100 NYSE and Nasdaq securities and caused more than $2 million in harm to customers of U.S. brokerage firms. According to the SEC's complaint, Igors Nagaicevs broke into online brokerage accounts of customers at large U.S. broker-dealers and drove stock prices up or down by making unauthorized purchases or sales in the hijacked accounts. This occurred on more than 150 occasions over the course of 14 months.

In January 2012, the SEC charged an Illinois-based investment adviser with offering to sell fictitious securities on LinkedIn and issued two alerts in an agency-wide effort to highlight the risks investors and advisory firms face when using social media. Anthony Fields offered more than $500 billion in fictitious securities through various social media websites. For example, he used LinkedIn discussions to promote fictitious "bank guarantees" and "medium-term notes".

Also in January 2012, the SEC charged Texas-based financial services firm Life Partners Holdings and three of its senior executives for their involvement in a fraudulent disclosure and accounting scheme involving life settlements. The SEC alleges that Life Partners chairman and CEO, the president and general counsel, and the chief financial officer misled shareholders by failing to disclose a significant risk to Life Partners' business: the company was systematically and materially underestimating the life expectancy estimates it used to price transactions.

In February 2012, the SEC charged four former investment bankers and traders at Credit Suisse Group for engaging in a complex scheme to fraudulently overstate the prices of $3.0 billion in subprime bonds during the height of the financial crisis. 

In two cases arising out of the SEC's Cross-Border Initiative, the SEC brought actions against China-based companies and their executives for making misleading statements to investors in U.S. stock markets. On February 22, 2012, the SEC charged two senior executives of Puda Coal, Inc. with defrauding investors into believing they were investing in a Chinese coal business when in fact they were investing in an empty shell company. The SEC also charged China-based China Sky One Medical Inc. and its chief executive with fraud for recording fake sales of a weight loss product to inflate revenues in the company's financial statements by millions of dollars. 

In February 2012, the SEC charged Douglas Whitman, a hedge fund manager, and his California-based firm, Whitman Capital, for their involvement in the insider trading ring connected to Raj Rajaratnam and Galleon Management. According to the SEC's complaint, Whitman and his firm traded on material, nonpublic information obtained from Rajaratnam's associate, Roomy Khan, who was Whitman's friend and neighbor.

In February 2012, the SEC charged John Kinnucan and his Portland, Oregon-based expert consulting firm, Broadband Research Corporation, with insider trading. Kinnucan and Broadband claimed to be in the business of providing clients with legitimate research about technology companies, but instead they typically tipped clients with material, nonpublic information that Kinnucan obtained from prohibited sources inside the companies. Kinnucan was sentenced to 51 months in prison after conviction for securities fraud.

In February 2012, the SEC charged London-based medical device company Smith & Nephew PLC with violating the FCPA when its U.S. and German subsidiaries bribed public doctors in Greece for more than a decade to win business. The SEC's complaint against Smith & Nephew PLC alleged that its subsidiaries used a distributor to create a slush fund to make illicit payments to public doctors employed by government hospitals or agencies in Greece. Smith & Nephew PLC and its U.S. subsidiary Smith & Nephew Inc. paid more than $22 million to settle the SEC's and DOJ's actions.

In March 2012, the SEC charged the three senior-most executives at Thornburg Mortgage, formerly one of the nation's largest mortgage companies, with hiding the company's deteriorating financial condition at the onset of the financial crisis. 

In March 2012, the SEC charged two managers with making false statements and pocketing undisclosed fees and commissions in connection with two private investment funds established solely to acquire the shares of Facebook and other Silicon Valley firms. Also charged was SharesPost, an online service that matches buyers and sellers of pre-IPO (initial public offering) stock, for engaging in securities transactions without registering as a broker-dealer. 

In March 2012, the SEC charged Indiana-based medical device company Biomet with violating the FCPA when its subsidiaries and agents bribed public doctors in Argentina, Brazil and China for nearly a decade to win business. 

In March 2012, the SEC announced that a federal judge ordered the former CEO of Brookstreet Securities Corp., Stanley C. Brooks, to pay a maximum $10 million penalty related to the fraud action that the SEC filed against Brooks for systematically selling risky mortgage-backed securities during the financial crisis to customers with conservative investment goals. 

In April 2012, the SEC charged H&R Block subsidiary Option One Mortgage Corporation with misleading investors in several offerings of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities by failing to disclose that its financial condition was significantly deteriorating and that it could not meet its repurchase obligations on its own. Option One paid $28.2 million to settle the SEC's charges.

In April 2012, the SEC charged Chicago-based optionsXpress, an online brokerage and clearing agency specializing in options and futures, as well as its former chief financial officer and a customer involved in an abusive naked short selling scheme. optionsXpress failed to satisfy its close-out obligations under Regulation SHO by repeatedly engaging in a series of sham "reset" transactions designed to give the illusion that the firm had purchased securities of like kind and quantity.

In April 2012, the SEC charged AutoChina International Limited and 11 investors, including a senior executive and director at the China-based firm, with conducting a market manipulation scheme to create the false appearance of a liquid and active market for AutoChina's stock. Starting in October 2010, the defendants and others deposited more than $60 million into U.S.-based brokerage accounts and engaged in hundreds of fraudulent trades over the next three months through these accounts and accounts with a Hong Kong-based broker-dealer. The fraudulent trades included matched orders, where one account sold shares to another account at the same time and for the same price, and wash trades, which resulted in no change of beneficial ownership of the shares.

In April 2012, the SEC charged Garth R. Peterson, a former executive at Morgan Stanley's real estate investment and fund advisory business, with violating the FCPA as well as securities laws for investment advisers by secretly acquiring millions of dollars of real estate investments for himself and an influential Chinese official who in turn steered business to Morgan Stanley's funds. 

Also in April 2012, the SEC filed an emergency action to halt an ongoing Ponzi scheme that targeted members of the Persian-Jewish community in Los Angeles. The SEC alleged that for the past two years, Shervin Neman raised more than $7.5 million from investors by claiming to be a hedge fund manager. Neman raised funds from at least 11 investors in the fraudulent securities offering, and more than 99% of the money Neman raised was used either to pay existing investors or fund his lavish lifestyle.

In April 2012, the SEC charged Egan-Jones Ratings Company (EJR) and Sean Egan, its owner and president, for material misrepresentations and omissions in the company's July 2008 application to register as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) for issuers of asset-backed securities (ABS) and government securities. 

Also in April 2012, the SEC also charged that Goldman, Sachs & Co. lacked adequate policies and procedures to address the risk that during weekly "huddles," the firm's analysts could share material, nonpublic information about upcoming research changes. Huddles were a practice where Goldman's stock research analysts met to provide their best trading ideas to firm traders and later passed them on to a select group of top clients.

In April 2012, the SEC charged Franklin Bank's former CEO and CFO for their involvement in a fraudulent scheme designed to conceal the deterioration of the bank's loan portfolio and inflate its reported earnings during the financial crisis. 

In May 2012, the SEC charged UBS Puerto Rico and two executives with making misrepresentations about the liquidity and pricing of 23 proprietary closed-end funds, and concealing that it advantaged its own proprietary trades over those of its customers as it reduced its exposure to these assets. 

In May 2012, the SEC suspended trading in the securities of 379 dormant companies before they could be hijacked by fraudsters and used to harm investors through reverse mergers or pump-and-dump schemes. The trading suspension marks the most companies ever suspended in a single day by the Commission as it ramps up its crackdown against fraud involving microcap shell companies that are dormant and delinquent in their public disclosures.

In May 2012, the SEC charged a former executive at Yahoo! and a former mutual fund manager at a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial with insider trading on confidential information about a search engine partnership between Yahoo and Microsoft Corporation. The SEC alleged that Robert W. Kwok, who was Yahoo's senior director of business management, breached his duty to the company when he told Reema D. Shah in July 2009 that a deal between Yahoo and Microsoft would be announced soon.

In May 2012, the SEC brought an enforcement action against Shanghai-based Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA Ltd. for its refusal to provide the agency with audit work papers related to a China-based company under investigation for potential accounting fraud against U.S. investors. 

In May 2012, the SEC charged former Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, former City Treasurer Jeffrey W. Beasley, and MayfieldGentry Realty Advisors LLC, the investment adviser to Detroit's public pension funds, for a pay-to-play scheme involving the secret exchange of lavish gifts in exchange for influence over the funds' investment process. The SEC alleged that Kilpatrick and Beasley, who were trustees to the pension funds, solicited and received $125,000 worth of private jet travel and other perks paid for by MayfieldGentry, whose CEO, Chauncey Mayfield, was recommending to the trustees that the pension funds invest approximately $117 million in a real estate investment trust controlled by the firm.

In June 2012, the SEC filed fraud charges against New York-based hedge fund adviser Philip A. Falcone and his advisory firm, Harbinger Capital Partners LLC, for illicit conduct that included misappropriation of client assets, market manipulation, and betraying clients. The SEC alleged that Falcone fraudulently obtained $113.2 million from a hedge fund that he advised and misappropriated the proceeds to pay his personal taxes; secretly favored certain customers at the expense of others by granting favorable redemption and liquidity rights to certain strategically important investors in exchange for those investors' consent to restrict redemption rights of other fund investors; and that Harbinger engaged in illegal trades in connection with the purchase of common stock in three public offerings after having sold the same securities short during a restricted period.

In June 2012, the SEC charged investment management company OppenheimerFunds and its sales and distribution arm with making misleading statements about two of its mutual funds struggling in the midst of the financial crisis, including the fund's practice of assuming substantial leverage in using derivative instruments. Oppenheimer paid more than $35 million to settle the SEC's charges.

In June 2012, the SEC charged 14 sales agents who misled investors and illegally sold securities for a Long Island-based investment firm at the center of a $415 million Ponzi scheme. The SEC alleged that the sales agents, including four sets of siblings, falsely promised investor returns as high as 12 to 14% in several weeks when they sold investments offered by Agape World, Inc. They also misled investors to believe that only 1% of their principal was at risk. The Agape securities they peddled were actually non-existent, and investors were merely lured into a Ponzi scheme where earlier investors were paid with new investor funds.

Also in June 2012, the SEC took emergency action to halt a real estate-based Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 600 investors nationwide of $100 million. The SEC's action charged Wayne L. Palmer and his firm, National Note of Utah, LC, with fraud in a scheme in which he raised money from investors by promising to use the proceeds to buy mortgage notes and other real estate assets. Contrary to Palmer's claims, National Note used most of the money it took in from new investors to pay earlier investors, making it a classic Ponzi scheme.

In July 2012, the SEC charged five physicians with insider trading in the securities of an East Lansing, Michigan-based holding company for a medical professional liability insurer. The SEC alleged that Apparao Mukkamala learned confidential information from board meetings and other communications about the anticipated acquisition of American Physicians Capital Inc. by another insurance company. Mukkamala shared the nonpublic information with three physicians and friends as well as his brother-in-law.

In July 2012, the SEC took emergency action to freeze the assets of traders using accounts in Hong Kong and Singapore to hold more than $13 million in illegal profits by trading in advance of a public announcement that China-based CNOOC Ltd. was acquiring Canada-based Nexen Inc. The SEC's complaint alleged that Hong Kong-based firm Well Advantage Ltd. and other unknown traders stockpiled shares of Nexen stock based on confidential information about the deal in the days leading up to the announcement. The SEC took the emergency action within days of the public announcement of the deal and less than 24 hours after Well Advantage placed an order to liquidate its entire position in Nexen.

In July 2012, the SEC charged the chairman and CEO of a Santa Ana, California-based computer storage device company with insider trading in a secondary offering of his stock shares with knowledge of confidential information that a major customer's demand for one of its most profitable products was turning out to be less than expected. 

Also in July 2012, the SEC charged the U.S. investment banking subsidiary of Japan-based Mizuho Financial Group and three former employees with misleading investors in Delphinus CDO-2007-1 by using "dummy assets" to inflate the deal's credit ratings. Delphinus defaulted in 2008 and eventually was liquidated in 2010. Mizuho paid $127.5 million to settle the SEC's charges, and the others charged also settled the SEC's actions against them.

In August 2012, the SEC charged James V. Mazzo, who was the Chairman and CEO of Advanced Medical Optics, and the source of DeCinces's illegal tips about the impending transaction. DeCinces and Mazzo are close friends and neighbors. The SEC also charged two others who traded on inside information that DeCinces tipped to them—DeCinces' former Baltimore Orioles teammate Eddie Murray and another friend David L. Parker, who is a businessman living in Utah. The SEC alleged that Murray made approximately $235,314 in illegal profits.

In August 2012, the SEC charged Pfizer with violating the FCPA when its subsidiaries bribed doctors and other health care professionals employed by foreign governments in order to win business. The SEC also separately charged another pharmaceutical company that Pfizer acquired a few years ago—Wyeth LLC—with FCPA violations. Pfizer and Wyeth agreed to separate settlements in which they paid more than $45 million combined to settle their respective charges. In a parallel action, Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation paid a $15 million penalty to resolve the DOJ's FCPA investigation.

Also in August 2012, the SEC charged Bruce Cole, former CEO and chairman of Mamtek U.S., for executing a scheme to defraud investors and making material misrepresentations and omissions in connection with the July 2010 offer and sale of $39 million of appropriations credit bonds backed by the City of Moberly, Missouri. 

In August 2012, the SEC filed fraud charges against a former college football coach who teamed with an Ohio man to conduct an $80 million Ponzi scheme that included other college coaches and former players among its victims. The SEC alleged that Jim Donnan, a College Football Hall of Fame inductee who guided teams at Marshall University and the University of Georgia and later became a television commentator, together with his business partner told investors that GLC was in the wholesale liquidation business and earned substantial profits by buying leftover merchandise from major retailers and reselling those discontinued, damaged, or returned products to discount retailers. However, only about $12 million of the $80 million raised from nearly 100 investors was actually used to purchase leftover merchandise; the remaining funds were used to pay fake returns to earlier investors or stolen for other uses by Donnan and Crabtree.

Also in August 2012, the SEC filed fraud charges and an emergency asset freeze to halt a $600 million Ponzi scheme on the verge of collapse. The SEC alleged that online marketer Paul Burks of Lexington, North Carolina and his company Rex Venture Group had raised money from more than one million Internet customers nationwide and overseas through the website ZeekRewards.com, which they began in January 2011. Customers were allegedly offered several ways to earn money through the ZeekRewards program, two of which involved purchasing securities in the form of investment contracts. However, the website fraudulently conveyed the false impression that the company was extremely profitable when, in fact, the payouts to investors bore no relation to the company's net profits. Most of ZeekRewards' total revenues and the "net profits" paid to investors have been funds received from new investors in classic Ponzi scheme fashion.

In August 2012, the SEC charged Wells Fargo for improperly selling asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) structured with high-risk mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) to municipalities, non-profit institutions, and other customers, almost exclusively upon the basis of their credit ratings. According to the SEC's order, registered representatives in Wells Fargo's Institutional Brokerage and Sales Division made recommendations to institutional customers to purchase ABCP but did not review the private placement memoranda (PPMs) for the investments and the extensive risk disclosures in those documents. Instead, they relied almost exclusively on the credit ratings of these products despite various warnings against such over-reliance in the PPM and elsewhere. Wells Fargo also failed to establish any procedures to ensure that its personnel adequately reviewed and understood the nature and risks of these commercial paper programs.

In September 2012, the SEC charged the former CEO, President and Chief Credit Officer of Lincoln, Nebraska-based TierOne Bank for participating in a scheme to understate millions of dollars in losses and mislead investors and federal regulators at the height of the financial crisis. 

In September 2012, the SEC settled charges with investment advisory firm ICP Asset Management and its founder and president Thomas C. Priore regarding allegations of fraud related to misrepresentations that caused the CDOs they managed to overpay for securities. In addition, the SEC alleged that Priore and ICP improperly obtained fees and undisclosed profits at the expense of the CDOs and their investors. ICP and Priore paid more than $23 million to settle the case. Priore also agreed to be barred from working in the securities industry for five years.

In September 2012, the SEC charged Goldman, Sachs & Co. and one of its former investment bankers, Neil Morrison, with violations of various MSRB rules for undisclosed "in-kind" non-cash campaign contributions to then-Massachusetts State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill while he was a candidate for governor. 

In September 2012, the SEC brought first-of-its-kind charges against the New York Stock Exchange for compliance failures that gave certain customers an improper head start on trading information. According to the SEC's order, NYSE violated Regulation NMS, which prohibits the practice of improperly sending market data to proprietary customers before broadly distributing trade and quote data to the public, over an extended period of time beginning in 2008 by sending data through two of its proprietary feeds before sending data to the consolidated feeds. NYSE's inadequate compliance efforts failed to monitor the speed of its proprietary feeds compared to its data transmission to the consolidated feeds. NYSE and its parent company, NYSE Euronext, agreed to a $5 million penalty and significant undertakings to settle the SEC's charges. It marks the first-ever SEC financial penalty against an exchange.

That same month, the SEC charged a New York-based brokerage firm, Hold Brothers On-Line Investment Service, and three of its executives for allowing traders outside the U.S. to access the markets and conduct manipulative trading through accounts the firm controlled. The Soverseas traders were accessing the markets through the firm's customer accounts and repeatedly manipulating publicly traded stocks through an illegal practice known as "layering" or "spoofing". In layering, the trader places orders with no intention of having them executed but rather to trick others into buying or selling a stock at an artificial price driven by the orders that the trader later cancels.

Also in September 2012, the SEC charged three former brokers at JP Turner, an Atlanta-based brokerage firm, for "churning" the accounts of customers with conservative investment objectives, resulting in losses to investors while the brokers collected significant fees. The SEC charged Michael Bresner, the head supervisor at JP Turner, as well as the firm's president, William Mello, and the firm itself for compliance failures.

In October 2012, the SEC charged a New Jersey hedge fund, Yorkville Advisors LLC, developers of the Standby Equity Distribution Agreement and two of its directors with fraud, by scheming to overvalue assets. The case was dismissed in October 2018. 

In November 2012, the SEC charged JP Morgan Securities LLC and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) with misleading investors in RMBS offerings associated with the financial crisis. JP Morgan was charged with misstating information about the delinquency status of the mortgage loans underlying an RMBS offering, for which JP Morgan received more than $2.7 million in fees while investors lost at least $37 million on undisclosed delinquent loans. JP Morgan was also charged with Bear Stearns' failure to disclose its practice of obtaining and keeping cash settlements from loan originators on problem loans. JP Morgan agreed to pay $296.9 million to settle the charges. Credit Suisse was charged with failing to accurately disclose its practice of retaining cash settlements from claims again mortgage loan originators, and with making misstatements in SEC filings about when it would repurchase mortgage loans from trusts if borrowers missed the first payment. Credit Suisse agreed to pay $120 million to settle the charges. The SEC filed these cases in its capacity as a member of the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group of President Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

In November 2012, the SEC charged Stamford, Connecticut-based hedge fund advisory firm CR Intrinsic Investors LLC, its former portfolio manager, and a medical consultant for an expert network firm for their roles in an insider trading scheme involving the clinical trial of a drug to treat Alzheimer's. The scheme allegedly generated $276 million in illicit gains, making it the largest insider trading case ever charged by the SEC. 

In November 2012, the SEC charged Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company for failing to disclose the potential negative impact of a "cap" it had placed on a complex investment product. The cap, which potentially affected $2.5 billion worth of variable annuities, would cause the guaranteed minimum income benefit (GMIB) value to stop earning interest when reached.

Also in November 2012, the SEC brought charges against BP p.l.c for misleading investors about the amount of oil that leaked into the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20, 2010. The SEC alleges that BP repeatedly and significantly understated the amount of oil leaking from the rig by making fraudulent public statements and disclosures estimating that 5,000 barrels of oil a day flowed from the leak despite internal data showing that the flow rate could be as high as 146,000 barrels a day. Even after a government task force determined the flow rate estimate was actually more than 10 times higher than BP's estimate, BP did not correct or update the misrepresentations and omissions it made in SEC filings for investors. BP agreed to settle the SEC's charges by paying a $525 million penalty, the third-largest penalty in agency history.

The following is an incomplete list of financial regulatory authorities by country. 

List

A-B

Afghanistan - Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB)

Albania - Albanian Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA)

Algeria - Commission d'Organisation et de Surveillance des Opérations de Bourse (COSOB)

Andorra - Andorran Financial Authority (AFA)

Anguilla - Anguilla Financial Services Commission

Antigua & Barbuda - Financial Services Regulatory Commission

Argentina - Comisión Nacional de Valores [es] (CNV)

Armenia - Central Bank of Armenia (CBA)

Australia:

Reserve Bank of Australia

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

Australian Takeovers Panel

Foreign Investments Review Board (FIRB)

Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)

Austria:

Financial Market Authority (FMA, Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde in German)

Oesterreichische Nationalbank

Austrian Takeover Commission (Übernahmekommission in German)

Azerbaijan:

Financial Market Supervisory Authority of Azerbaijan ;

Bahamas:

Central Bank of The Bahamas

Securities Commission of the Bahamas

Bahrain - Central Bank of Bahrain

Bangladesh:

Bangladesh Bank

Securities and Exchange Commission (Bangladesh)

Barbados:

Barbados Financial Services Commission

Central Bank of Barbados

Financial Intelligence Unit (Barbados)

Belarus:

National Bank of the Republic of Belarus

Belgium:

Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA - Autorité des services et marchés financiers/Authoriteit voor Financiële Diensten en Markten)

National Bank of Belgium (NBB - Banque Nationale de Belgique/Nationale Bank van België)

Belize - International Financial Services Commission

Bermuda - Bermuda Monetary Authority

Bhutan - Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan (RMA)

Bolivia - Autoridad de Supervisión del Sistema Financiero (ASFI)

Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Republika Srpska Securities Commission for Republika Srpska

Securities Commission of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Komisija za vrijednosne papire Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine")

Botswana:

Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA)

Bank of Botswana (BOB)

Brazil:

Central Bank of Brazil (BACEN, Banco Central do Brasil in Portuguese)

Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM, Comissão de Valores Mobiliários in Portuguese)

Superintendency of Private Insurance (SUSEP, Superintendência de Seguros Privados in Portuguese)

British Virgin Islands - British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission

Brunei - Brunei International Financial Center of the Ministry of Finance

Bulgaria - Financial Supervision Commission (Bulgaria) (FSC)

C-D

Cambodia

National Bank of Cambodia (NBC)

Non-bank Financial Services Authority 

Canada:

Bank of Canada

Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation

Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI)

Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA)

Alberta Securities Commission

Autorité des marchés financiers - Québec

British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC)

Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)

Financial and Consumer Services Commission, New Brunswick (FCNB)

Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC)

Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA)

Financial Services Commission of Ontario

Financial Institutions Commission - Province of British Columbia

Cayman Islands - Cayman Islands Monetary Authority

Chile - Superintendencia de Valores y Seguros

China, People's Republic of:

China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC)

China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC)

People's Bank of China (PBOC)

Colombia:

Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia

National Directorate of Taxes and Customs (DIAN)

Congo, the Democratic Republic of - Central Bank of Congo

Congo, The Republic of - Agence de Régulation des Transferts de Fonds (ARTF)

Costa Rica:

Superintendencia General de Valores

Superintendencia General de Seguros (Costa Rica)

Côte d'Ivoire - Banque Centrale des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest

Croatia:

Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency

Croatian National Bank

Cyprus:

Central Bank of Cyprus

Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CYSEC)

Cyprus Insurance Companies Control Service (ICCS)

Czech Republic - Czech National Bank

Denmark - Financial Supervisory Authority (Denmark), (Finanstilsynet in Danish)

Dominica - Financial Service Unit of the Commonwealth of Dominica

Dominican Republic:

Banco Central de la Republica Dominica

Superintendencia de Bancos de la Republica Dominicana

Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores de la Republica Dominicana

E-I

Ecuador - Superintendencia de Bancos

Egypt - Financial Regulatory Authority

El Salvador

Superintendencia del Sistema Financiero

Instituto De Garantía De Depósitos (IGD)

European Union:

European Central Bank (ECB)

European Banking Authority (EBA)

European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)

European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB)

Estonia:

Financial Supervisory Authority of Estonia (Finantsinspektsioon in Estonian)

Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank in Estonian)

Faroe Islands - Insurance Authority of the Faroe Islands (Tryggingareftirlitið in Faroese) (For Insurance, Pension and mortgages all other finance is regulated by Financial Supervisory Authority (Denmark))

Finland - Financial Supervisory Authority, (FIN-FSA Finanssivalvonta in Finnish)

France:

Financial Protection Regulatory Authority (France) (FPRA)

Autorité des marchés financiers (France) (AMF)

Georgia - National Bank of Georgia

Germany - Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin - Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht)

Ghana:

Securities and Exchange Commission (Ghana) (SEC)

Bank of Ghana (BOG)

Gibraltar - Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC)

Greece - Hellenic Capital Market Commission

Grenada - Grenada International Financial Services Authority (GIFSA)

Guatemala - Superintendencia de Bancos (SB)

Guernsey - Guernsey Financial Services Commission

Honduras - National Banks and Securities Commission (Comisión Nacional de Bancos y Seguros in Spanish)

Hong Kong:

Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)

Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)

Hong Kong Insurance Authority (IA)

Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA)

Hungary - Hungarian National Bank (Hungarian: Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB))

Iceland - Central Bank of Iceland

India:

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - central bank and primary regulator of banks, payment systems, and financial entities

Banks Board Bureau (BBB)

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

International Financial Services Centres Authority - Governing body of the International Financial Services Centre In Gujarat International Financial tec-city(GIFT City), India.

Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC)

Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI)

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

Forward Markets Commission (FMC)

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI)

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)

All India Financial Institutions

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NBARD)

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDB)

National Housing Bank (NHB)

Export-Import Bank of India (Ex-Im Bank)

Indonesia:

Financial Services Authority (Indonesia) (Indonesian: Otoritas Jasa Keuangan) (OJK)

Bank Indonesia

Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation (Indonesian: Lembaga Penjamin Simpanan) (LPS)

Ireland:

Central Bank of Ireland

Irish Takeover Panel

Iran:

Securities and Exchange Organization of Iran

Central Bank of Iran

Iraq - Iraq Securities Commission (ISC)

Isle of Man - Isle of Man Financial Services Authority

Israel - Israel Securities Authority (ISA)

Italy:

Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB)

Institute for the Supervision of Insurance (ISVAP)

J-L

Jamaica:

Financial Services Commission (Jamaica)

Bank of Jamaica

Japan:

Financial Services Agency (FSA)

Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC)

Jersey - Jersey Financial Services Commission

Jordan - Jordan Securities Commission

Kazakhstan:

Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Regulation and Supervision of Financial Market and Financial Organizations (Агентство Республики Казахстан по регулированию и надзору финансового рынка и финансовых организаций in Kazakh )

Committee for the Control and Supervision of the Financial Market and Financial Organizations of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Astana Financial Services Authority

Kenya - Capital Markets Authority (Kenya)

Kuwait:

Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) (بنك الكويت المركزي in Arabic)

Capital Markets Authority Kuwait (CMA) (هيئة أسواق المال - دولة الكويت in Arabic)

Korea, South:

Financial Services Commission (FSC)

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS)

Latvia - Financial and Capital Market Commission

Lebanon - Banking Control Commission of Lebanon (BCCL) and Insurance Control Commission (ICC)

Lesotho - Central Bank of Lesotho

Liechtenstein - Financial Market Authority (Liechtenstein) (FMA)

Lithuania - Bank of Lithuania

Luxembourg:

Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF)

Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA)

M-R

Malaysia:

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)

Securities Commission Malaysia (SC)

Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA)

Malaysian Stock Exchange (Bursa)

Malawi - Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM)

Malta:

Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA)

Central Bank of Malta

Mauritania - Central Bank of Mauritania (BCM)

Mauritius:

Bank of Mauritius (BOM)

Financial Services Commission (FSC)

Mexico:

Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores

Comisión Nacional para la Protección y Defensa de los Usuarios de Servicios Financieros

Moldova - National Commission for Financial Markets

Montenegro - Insurance Supervision Agency

Montserrat - Montserrat Financial Services Commission

Mongolia:

Financial Regulatory Commission of Mongolia

Central Bank of Mongolia

Morocco - Moroccan Capital Market Authority [fr] (AMMC)

Nepal:

Nepal Rastra Bank (Central Bank of Nepal - Regulator and Supervisor of Banks and Financial Institutions)

Beema Samiti (Regulator of Insurance Companies)

Securities Board Nepal (SEBON)

Netherlands:

Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM - Autoriteit Financiële Markten in Dutch)

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB)

Netherlands Antilles - Bank of the Netherlands Antilles 

New Zealand - Financial Markets Authority (New Zealand)

Nigeria:

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

Securities and Exchange Commission (Nigeria)

National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) (Nigeria)

National Pension Commission (PENCOM) (Nigeria)

North Macedonia:

Securities and Exchange Commission of the Republic of North Macedonia (MSEC)

National Bank of North Macedonia

Norway - Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet in Norwegian)

Oman - Capital Market Authority (Oman)

Pakistan

State Bank of Pakistan

Securities and Exchange Commission Pakistan

Panama - Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores

Papua New Guinea - Bank of Papua New Guinea

Peru:

Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS)

Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores (SMV)

Philippines:

Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Insurance Commission (Komisyon ng Seguro)

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines)

Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC)

Department of Finance (DOF)

Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE)

Bureau of Treasury

Poland - Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF)

Portugal:

Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM)

Portuguese Insurance Regulator (ASF)

Qatar - Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA)

Romania - Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority

Russia - Central Bank of Russia (CBR)

S-T

Saint Lucia - Financial Sector Supervision Unit

Saint Kitts and Nevis:

Financial Services Regulatory Commission

Nevis Financial Regulatory Services Commission

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines:

Financial Services Authority

Capital Market Association of the Eastern Caribbean (CMAEC)

Samoa - Central Bank of Samoa

San Marino - Central Bank of San Marino (BCSM)

Saudi Arabia:

Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) (مؤسسة النقد العربي السعودي in Arabic)-

Capital Market Authority (Saudi Arabia) (CMA) (هيئة السوق المالية in Arabic)

Serbia - Securities Commission (Serbia)

Seychelles:

Central Bank of Seychelles

Seychelles Financial Services Authority (SFSA) 

Singapore - Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

Slovakia - National Bank of Slovakia

Slovenia - Securities Market Agency (ATVP Agencija za Trg Vrednostnih Papirjev)

South Africa:

South African Reserve Bank

National Credit Regulator

Prudential Authority

Financial Sector Conduct Authority

Spain:

Investment sector regulator - Spanish Securities Market Commission (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, CNMV) [MiFID]

Insurance sector regulator (life and general) - Dirección General de Seguros y Fondos de Pensiones (DGSFP)[IMD]

Banking sector regulator - Banco de España (BdE)

Sri Lanka:

Central Bank of Sri Lanka

Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka

Swaziland - Capital Markets Development Unit (Central Bank of Swaziland)

Sweden - Financial Supervisory Authority (Sweden)

Switzerland:

Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority

Swiss National Bank

Swiss Takeover Board

Syria:

Syrian Commission on Financial Markets and Securities

Central Bank of Syria

Syrian Insurance Supervisory Commission

Syrian Invenstment Agency

Export and Production Support and Development Authority

General Commission of Development and Real Estate Investment

Taiwan - Financial Supervisory Commission

Tanzania - Capital Markets and Securities Authority

Thailand:

Bank of Thailand (BOT)

Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand (Thai SEC)

Office of Insurance Commission (OIC)

Trinidad and Tobago - Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission

Tunisia - Conseil du marché financier

Turkey:

Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency of Turkey (BRSA - )

Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB)

U-Z

Uganda:

Capital Markets Authority (Uganda) (CMA)

Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda

Ukraine - National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC)

United Arab Emirates:

Mainland (Onshore):

Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE)

Securities and Commodities Authority - (SCA)

Insurance Authority - (IA)

Free Zones:

Abu Dhabi: ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) - Financial Services Regulatory Authority - (FSRA)

Dubai: DIFC (Dubai International Financial Center) - Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)

United Kingdom:

Bank of England (BoE)

Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Panel on Takeovers and Mergers (PANEL)

Financial Policy Committee (FPC)

Financial Reporting Council (FRC)

United States:

Banking Regulators

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) - consumer compliance

Federal Reserve System ("Fed")

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)

Farm Credit Administration (FCA)

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) - main umbrella group for US Federal banking authorities

Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) - main umbrella group representing US State and Territorial banking supervisors

Securities Regulators

Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC)

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB)

National Futures Association (NFA) 

Other Regulators

Financial Stability Oversight Board (FSOC) - systemic risk

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) - government sponsored housing finance

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) - anti-money laundering

National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) - insurance

Each US state and territory generally has its own banking, insurance, and securities authorities 

Uruguay - Banco Central del Uruguay

Uzbekistan - Center for Coordination and Control over Functioning of Securities Market

Vatican City - Financial Information Authority

Venezuela - Superintendencia Nacional de Valores (SNV)

Vietnam - State Securities Commission (SSC)

Zambia - Securities and Exchange Commission (Zambia)

Zimbabwe - Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)

This is a list of official business registers around the world. 

There are many types of official business registers, usually maintained for various purposes by a state authority, such as a government agency, or a court of law. In some cases, it may also be devolved to self-governing bodies, either commercial (a chamber of commerce) or professional (a regulatory college); or to a dedicated, highly regulated company (i.e., operator of a stock exchange, a multilateral trading facility, a central securities depository or an alternative trading system).

The following is an incomplete list of official business registers by country.

Types of registers

A business register may include data on entities, as well as on their status for various purposes. Examples of such registers include:

company register — a register of legal entities in the jurisdiction they operate under, for the purpose of establishing, dissolving, acquisition of legal capacity and (in some cases) juridical personality, determination of legal representation, protection, accountability, and control of legal entities.

list of undertakings cleared for access to classified information — register of companies authorized to work on contracts involving dealing with sensitive information documents of a government or an international organisation, usually maintained by a counter-intelligence service.

statistical business register — plays a central part in a system of official economic statistics at a national statistics office. 

Another group of business registers is focused on various assets or liabilities of an entity, rather than on entities themselves, these include:

public contract register — a repository that aims at keeping track of all procurements, usually awarded through a tender, concluded by the public institutions, making this information available online, thereby providing a basis for monitoring the way in which public money is spent.

public aid register — an official register of businesses in difficulties which received aid from the state.

ultimate beneficial owner register — an official repository of natural person or persons who ultimately own or control a company, maintained to counteract money laundering and terrorist financing.

land and mortgage register — concerns titles, rights, and liabilities (such as real estate liens or pledges) related to real estate, consisting of premises specified in a cadaster, such as land, buildings, or condominium units,

cadaster — determines the geospatial localization, the extent, and (in some cases) the value of premises, including land parcels, buildings, and condominium units, which together form real estate, subject to rights and liabilities registered in a land and mortgage register,

vehicle register (such as those for motor vehicles, rolling stock, boat or ships, or aircraft) — includes entries containing data on vehicle identification number, vehicle registration plate number, vehicle title, type approval, vehicle inspections, liability insurance, as well as vehicle liens, such as maritime liens, and which sometimes may be connected to a register of pledges or tax liens.

register of pledges — includes entries concerning liabilities (pledges and voluntary specific liens) of a pledgor to a creditor, secured by tying them to a pledgor's collateral, such as a movable, a security, or an intellectual property right.

industrial property register — an official database containing registered trade marks, as well as patented inventions, industrial designs, utility models, or integrated circuits, thus protecting and reserving the rights of the company which developed them or bought rights to them.

plant breeders’ rights register — registers rights to a protected plant variety, developed and registered by a plant breeder.

Some types of business registers combine the features of both groups, these include:

tax register — a register used for the purpose of revenue collection, including taxes, duties such as tariffs or excise, as well as mandatory social insurance and health insurance contributions; such a register includes all taxable entities, as well as their tax liabilities, including tax liens.

public company and securities register — the official repository of publicly listed or unlisted companies whose at least one emission of securities was offered for the purpose of free trading to a number of persons exceeding certain threshold (varying according to jurisdiction), thus placing such a company under specific regulatory obligations, mainly concerning mandatory publication of information on the terms and rights attached to the offered security, as well as information on the company itself and its finances.

list of companies and their securities publicly traded on a stock market — maintained by a stock exchange or an alternative trading system for the purpose of trading and quoting companies’ stocks.

insolvency register — contains information on companies who entered insolvency, bankruptcy, liquidation, administration, receivership, debt restructuring, or have been under futile execution, either of an administrative debt (by a government agency) or of a private debt (by a bailiff), for longer than an amount of time specified by law, as well as on their liabilities.

register or a list of a specified type of regulated entities or activities — contains entries on companies officially authorized to perform a specified type of business, where prior obtaining of a permit, a license, a concession, or registration on such a list or register is a prerequisite required by law. Depending on situation, regulation may apply to an entity type, or to a type of entity's activity.

European Union and the European Economic Area

company registers

European Commission - the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS) (uses data from national registers operated by the member states) (searchable); List of European Research Infrastructure Consortia (online web list)

European Committee of the Regions - Register of European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (uses data from national lists operated by the member states) (available unrestricted as a search engine and a GIS/cadaster)

the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations - Register of European political parties and European political foundations (EU only) (online web lists)

tax registers (European Commission)

VAT Information Exchange System (uses data from national registers operated by the member states) - taxpayers who obtained registration allowing to perform intra-community supply transactions; not mandatory for VAT-exempt entities involved in intra-commumity supply transactions of low worth in the given year, unless they do not perform services by delegating their employees to another EU country (online VAT number check)

System of Exchange of Excise Data (SEED) (uses data from national lists operated by the member states) - (in English) (SEED number check)

Registered Exporter System (REX) (central register with input operated by the member states) (in English) (REX number check)

Economic Operator Identification and Registration System (EORI) (central register with input operated by the member states) – (in English) (EORI number check)

Economic Operator Systems Authorized Economic Operator (central register with input operated by the member states) – Authorized Economic Operator Database (in English) (searchable)

vehicle registers

EU Fleet Register (EU only, uses data from national lists operated by the member states) - registry of maritime commercial vessels used in fisheries within the Common Fisheries Policy (in English) (searchable)

EUCARIS (European Car and Driving License Information System)

Austria

Wiener Zeitung — the official gazette. (languages: German only) 

Firmenbuch — the searchable database. (languages: German only) 

Financial Market Authority (FMA) — has searchable database for companies that hold FMA-issued licenses. (languages: German only)

Belgium

KBO Public Search — searchable database for public information on every registered active enterprise and establishment in Belgium. (languages: Dutch, French) 

Central Balance Sheet Office (National Bank of Belgium) — has the accounts of companies, associations, and foundations active in Belgium. (languages: Dutch, French, German, English) 

Crossroads Bank for Enterprises 

Enterprise Search — maintained by the Federal Public Service Justice (languages: French only)

Public companies register (STORI) — maintained by the Financial Services and Markets Authority

Bulgaria

Trade Register — electronic register. Companies must be entered into the commercial register that is kept with the relevant district court, where they can be viewed by the public. (languages: Bulgarian only) 

D&B Report Guide Bulgaria — information on the different types of companies 

Trade Register (Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) 

Croatia

Biznet — provides information and statistics on the Croatian economy, and access to the Register of Business Entities. It is maintained by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce Biznet. (languages: Croatian and English)

D&B Report Guide Croatia — provides information on legal forms and filing requirements.

Croatian Company Directory 

Business Register — maintained by the Ministry of Justice. (languages: Croatian only)

Export Directory — maintained by the Chamber of Economy. (languages: Croatian only)

Cyprus

Department of the Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver — responsible for keeping the Register of Companies, Partnerships, Business Names, Trade Marks, Patents and Industrial Designs, as well as for administering properties of insolvent legal and natural persons. 

Cyprus-Data.com — searchable database for companies in Cyprus

Czech Republic

Public register and the collection of documents — maintained by the Ministry of Justice. (language: Czech)

Register of economic entities — maintained by the Ministry of Finance

Trade Licensing Register — maintained by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. (Czech version has additional detail.)

Denmark

Central Business Register — the official registry of Danish businesses.

Danish Commerce and Companies Agency (da:Erhvervs- og Selskabsstyrelsen) — former administrator of the Central Business Register, since a reorganization in 2012 a part of the Danish Business Authority (da:Erhvervsstyrelsen).

Financial Supervisory Authority — supervisory agency which administers a database of enterprises under increased supervision.

Estonia

Central Commercial Register (Estonian: Äriregistri teabesüsteem) — an online service based on the central database of Estonian registration departments of the courts. 

Database of the Financial Supervision Authority (Finantsinspektsioon) — searchable database of supervised entities. (languages: Estonian, English)

Finland

Finnish Trade Register — official company register for Finnish companies, maintained by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office. (languages: Finnish, English, Swedish)

BIS Search — trade register of 470,000 Finnish companies via the Business Information System of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.

 Åland: Åland Online — companies, organizations and associations

France

Trade and Companies Register (French: Infogreffe) — official register of over 3,200,000 French companies, maintained by the Commercial Court. (languages: French)

Sirene — statistical business register maintained by INSEE. (languages: French only)

Bulletin of Obligatory Legal Announcements — maintained by Journal officiel de la République française. (languages: French only)

Official Bulletin of Civil and Commercial Announcements (Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales, BODACC) — publishes companies registered in the RCS (registre du commerce et des sociétés). (languages: French only)

 Paris: Paris Registry — maintained by the Clerk of the Commercial Court of Paris (Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce de Paris)

Germany

German Commercial Register — judicial register of the federal states. (languages: German only)

Business Register System (German: Unternehmensregister) — centralized statistical business register. (languages: German, English, French, Italian, and Spanish)

Bundesanzeiger — official gazette 

Federal Financial Supervisory Authority — listed companies. (languages: German only)

Greece

General Commercial Registry (Γενικό Εμπορικό Μητρώο) (in Greek) 

Official gazette – Company search (in Greek)

Athens Chamber of Commerce & Industry (EBEA)

Hungary

Court of Company Registration — provides company information and electronic company registration service. It is maintained by the Ministry of Justice. (languages: Hungarian)

Cégtaláló — searchable database. (languages: Hungarian)

Financial Services Register — maintained by the Hungarian National Bank, also provides supervision of listed companies on Budapest Stock Exchange

Iceland

Company Directory (Directorate of Internal Revenue) — (languages: Icelandic)

Ireland

Companies Registration Office

Company Search — company directory

Registry of Friendly Societies 

Italy

Italian Business Register — public register of company details, maintained by the Italian Business Register Office, found in local Chambers of Commerce in Italy. (languages: Italian, English)

Infocamere — company register of the Italian Chambers of Commerce. Information can be obtained from Infocamere and via the European Business Register (EBR). (languages: Italian, mostly) 

Infoimprese — (languages: Italian)

Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa listed companies

Latvia

Registry of Enterprises of Latvia. Registry also publish free publicly accessible database of companies of Latvia. 

Lursoft — database of all enterprises, public organizations, and foreign company agencies registered within the territory of Latvia, including information of their managers, shareholders fixed capital, and annual accounts. The information is based on original documents of the State Register of Enterprises. (languages: Latvian, mostly)

Liechtenstein

Commercial Register — maintained by the Office of Justice. (languages: German only)

Lithuania

Register of Legal Entities 

Luxembourg

Luxembourg Business Registers (in English) 

Registre de Commerce et des Sociétés — the official register of companies and associations in Luxembourg. (languages: German, French)

Business permits (in English) 

Official Gazette "Mémorial C"(Legilux) (in French) 

Supervised entities (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier) 

Malta

Malta Business Registry — registry of companies

The Netherlands

Trade Register — company search, maintained by Kamer van Koophandel. In the Netherlands, registration in the trade register is compulsory for almost every company. (languages: Dutch, English)

Norway

Brønnøysund Register Centre — government body under the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry, and consists of several different national EDP registers. (languages: Norwegian, mostly)

List of companies (Agency for Public Management and eGovernment) 

Registry of supervised entities (Financial Supervisory Authority) 

Poland

Regular company registers

There are two registers of entities which are obligated or allowed to register as entrepreneurs:

Ministry of Development (MR) – Central Registration and Information on Business (CEIDG) – company register for natural persons trading as sole traders or their civil law partnerships (searchable); such companies are prohibited from performing certain activities (e.g. operating a life insurance company), and proper agricultural activity (animal breeding, plant cultivation) of an individual farmer is also excluded from registration in CEIDG; the register does not assign its own registration number, using the NIP (see below) for this purpose instead

Ministry of Justice (MS):

National Court Register (KRS) (in Polish) (searchable)

Further information: List of legal entity types by country § Entities registered in the National Court Register (Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy, KRS)

— register of the majority of juridical persons types, a well as other collective (private) legal entities (there are, however, numerous exceptions, see List of official business registers#Registers of businesses excluded from registration as entrepreneurs); assigns a registration number (numer KRS), mandatory to be exposed on all outbound company documents and letters; some activities (e.g. operating a school) are not available to all entities registered in KRS, but only to those who are juridical persons; members of some professions are not allowed to practise in all of the company types (e.g. an advocate is prohibited from practising the profession in the form of a limited liability company); its constituent parts are:

Register of Entrepreneurs (Rejestr przedsiębiorców) — the company register for entities other than natural persons which hold an obligatory status of entrepreneurs: trade partnerships: either entities with legal capacity but lacking juridical personality (registered partnerships, limited partnerships, limited joint-stock partnerships, professional partnerships), or juridical persons (limited liability companies, joint-stock companies), as well as for other types of entrepreneurs who are juridical persons, as well as any of the juridical persons registered in the Register of Associations, Other Social and Professional Organizations, Foundations and Independent Public Healthcare Institutions (see below) if they intend to perform business activities (when allowed by their bylaws, excluding the stand-alone public healthcare institutions, as they are not allowed to register as an entrepreneur, as well as those of juridical persons or other legal entities who are registered in the KRS exclusively for the purpose of obtaining status of an officially recognized charity - public benefit organization, and would otherwise be excluded from the registration in the KRS - see below)

Register of Associations, Other Social and Professional Organizations, Foundations and Stand-alone Public Healthcare Institutions (Rejestr stowarzyszeń, innych organizacji społecznych i zawodowych, fundacji oraz samodzielnych publicznych zakładów opieki zdrowotnej) — the other part of the KRS, is responsible for the registration of various other types of juridical persons. If any of the registered entities intends to perform business activities (when allowed by its bylaws), it also has to obtain registration in the Register of Entrepreneurs; in addition, juridical persons or any other legal entities (including those otherwise excluded or exempt from the registration in the KRS – see below) also have to register, if they apply for the status of an officially recognized charity (public benefit organization); however, as an exception, registration solely for that purpose neither confers juridical personality to entities lacking one, nor does it create obligation or right to register as an entrepreneur;

Court and Commercial Gazette (Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy) – official gazette (in Polish) (searchable);

Financial document viewer (Przeglądarka dokumentów finansowych) (in Polish) - the official free viewer of financial documents that allows to download financial documents of an entity entered in the Register of Entrepreneurs of the National Court Register, in particular financial statements, reports on activities, resolutions on the allocation of profit or coverage of losses. The KRS number of the entity is needed to search.

Registers of businesses excluded from registration as entrepreneurs

Further information: List of legal entity types by country § Entities excluded from registration as entrepreneurs

Registers of some of the types of businesses excluded from registration as entrepreneurs which are available online include the following (the list does not include registries of entities established through a centralized European Union-level procedure, namely the European Research Infrastructure Consortia, the European political parties and the European political foundations):

Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARMiR) – National Register of the Rural Women's Associations (in Polish) (searchable);Register of Producers, Agricultural Holdings and Applications for Payment Entitlements (in Polish) - (non-searchable; however, the bulk of data may be obtained from the Directory of Common Agricultural Policy Beneficiaries - see above);

Polish Waters National Water Management Holding (PGW WP) – IT system for protection against extraordinary hazards (ISOK) – Informatics System for Water Management (SIGW) – water cadaster, which includes the centralized register of water corporations, levee unions (input operated at the local level by the starostas) and the unions of water companies or levee unions (input operated at the local level by the voivodes) (in Polish) (searchable)

Central Office of Geodesy (Land Survey) and Cartography – 'Land and Buildings Records (EGiB) – land and buildings cadaster, which includes the centralized register of common land management corporations (input operated at the local level by the starostas) (in Polish) (searchable)

Polish Hunting Association (PZŁ) – Registers of Hunting Clubs, available on websites of each of the 49 district boards of the Association, located in: Biała Podlaska (in Polish), Białystok (in Polish), Bielsko-Biała (in Polish), Bydgoszcz (in Polish), Chełm (in Polish), Ciechanów (in Polish), Częstochowa (in Polish), Elbląg (in Polish), Gdańsk (in Polish), Gorzów Wlkp. (in Polish), Jelenia Góra (in Polish), Kalisz (in Polish), Katowice (in Polish), Kielce (in Polish), Konin (in Polish), Koszalin (in Polish), Kraków (in Polish), Krosno (in Polish), Legnica (in Polish), Leszno (in Polish), Lublin (in Polish), Łomża (in Polish), Łódź (in Polish), Nowy Sącz (in Polish), Olsztyn (in Polish), Opole (in Polish), Ostrołęka (in Polish), Piła (in Polish), Piotrków Tryb. (in Polish), Płock (in Polish), Poznań (in Polish), Przemyśl (in Polish), Radom (in Polish), Rzeszów (in Polish), Siedlce (in Polish), Sieradz (in Polish), Skierniewice (in Polish), Słupsk (in Polish), Suwałki (in Polish), Szczecin (in Polish), Tarnobrzeg (in Polish), Tarnów (in Polish), Toruń (in Polish), Wałbrzych (in Polish), Warszawa (in Polish), Włocławek (in Polish), Wrocław (in Polish), Zamość (in Polish), Zielona Góra (in Polish) 

Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) – Register of (PAN) Research Institutes (in Polish) (searchable)

Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW) – Register of Higher Education Institutions – includes both public and private institutions (in Polish) (searchable)

Ministry of National Education (MEN) – Register of Schools and Educational Institutions (in Polish) – includes also the jednostki systemu oświaty (schools or educational institutions other than higher education institutions) (searchable)

Ministry of Interior and Administration – register of inter-municipal unions, inter-county unions, as well as cross-category unions of municipalities and counties (in Polish), (downloadable lists); Database of Territorial Self-Government Units (in Polish), (downloadable lists in various formats); Register of Churches and Other Confessional Communities (in Polish), (only the list of denominations downloadable; non-searchable is the detailed part of the register, covering ecclesiastical juridical persons or other legal entities);

Ministry of Justice - List of judicial enforcement officers (bailiffs) (in Polish), (searchable), the list is also available as a search engine on the website of their regulatory college, the National Council of Judicial Officers (in Polish), 

General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ) – Central Register of Forms of Environmental Protection – includes the register of national parks, available as a search engine (in Polish), or a GIS/cadaster (in Polish) (searchable),

Bureau for Forest Management and Geodesy State Enterprise on behalf of the State Forests National Forest Holding - Forest Data Bank - the official forest inventory and the forestry cadaster, also includes data on all territorial units of the State Forests (in English) (searchable),

District Court in Warsaw (SO w Warszawie) – Register of Political Parties (in Polish) (searchable); Register of Pension Funds (in Polish) (searchable only in person; however, the bulk of the data may be obtained from the combined search engine of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority - see below); Register of Investment Funds (in Polish) (searchable only in person; however, the bulk of the data may be obtained from the combined search engine of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority - see below); Register of Family Foundations

Ministry of Foreign Affairs – List of European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation registered in Poland (in Polish) (downloadable list)

Ministry of Infrastructure – info-car.pl website operated under contract with the Ministry by the Polish Security Printing Works – database of voivodeship road traffic centers (in Polish) (searchable)

Notably absent are:

a central register of public cultural institutions. Each of the actual or potential parent entities (a ministry, a central government agency, or a territorial self-government unit) is obligated to maintain its own register of subordinate public cultural institutions, which results in almost 3000 separate official registers of such institutions, operated in various forms and independently of each other, each containing only a few to a dozen entries (if any), available on website of each of the parent entities;

a register of homeowner communities

a register of common land communities

Other general official business registers

Ministry of Justice (MS):

National Register of the Indebted (Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych) — insolvency register separate from the KRS, designed to include entries on insolvent debtors: either private natural persons (e.g. child support, maintenance or tax debtors, consumer bankrupts), entrepreneurs, or any other legal entities, regardless whether they are registered in the National Court Register or the Central Registration and Information on Business (in Polish); (searchable)

Register of Pledges (Rejestr Zastawów) – allows to submit an inquiry concerning registered (thus legally binding) pledges and voluntary specific liens put on a collateral, either a movable, such as a vehicle (a road vehicle, a rolling stock vehicle, an aircraft, a boat, or a ship, excluding ships registered by one of the 2 maritime chambers in the Register of Ships, because they are covered by a dedicated instrument called ship mortgage), other types of machines, a controlled weapon, a movable object of cultural property, or on a security, as well as on an intellectual property right; the register is connected to the relevant vehicle, security, or intellectual property right register, in cases, where such exists (in Polish); 

Land and Mortgage Register (Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste) – contains official and legally binding entries (done by selected sąd rejonowy courts) on real estate rights (including ownership), obligations (such as any pledges or liens), as well as warnings concerning unsettled or ongoing claims, any detected outdated entries (e.g. a dead person or a dissolved entity listed as owner), or any detected discrepancies with the referenced relevant Land and Buildings Records (the cadaster) entry – search by the register number (in Polish) (searchable);

National Criminal Register (Krajowy Rejestr Karny) – contains entries on all entities convicted and sentenced for a felony or crime, or for a fiscal felony or crime, either natural persons (including entrepreneurs), or (in selected types of felony or crime) juridical persons or other collective legal entities (such as trade partnerships) (in English) (access to data on a person or an entity is available on a paid request by the person or the entity concerned; on a paid request by an employer, in cases concerning a job restricted by law to unconvicted persons; on a paid request by a juridical person or other collective legal entity, in cases concerning membership of its governing body, status of its authorized signaotory, or acquisition of its shares, when restricted by law to unconvicted persons; on a free-of-charge-demand by an authorized public institution or authorities of another EU state (or a non-EU state, under an international agreement, or under the principle of reciprocity) );

Central Office of Geodesy (Land Survey) and Cartography – Geoportal (in Polish) – provides access to the:

Land and Buildings Records (EGiB) – the official cadaster of land, buildings, and owner-occupancies,

Geodetic Records of Utilities Networks (GESUT) – the official cadaster of utilities networks,

Ministry of Finance (MF) – Central Register of Beneficial Owners (CRBR) – a register of ultimate beneficial owners (in Polish) (searchable)

National Fiscal Administration (KAS)

Central Register of Entities – National Register of Taxpayers (in Polish) – tax register which assigns the Tax Identification Number (NIP) to all taxable entities, including companies, with the exception of natural persons not registered in the Central Registration and Information on Business, as they are required to use their Personal Identification Number (PESEL) instead of NIP for tax purposes. It is mandatory to include both seller's and buyer's NIP on all invoices (excluding those concerning consumer sales to private natural persons, where only the seller's NIP is required); its validation is available online (NIP validity check) (in Polish); 

List of VAT Taxpayers (so-called VAT white list) (in Polish) – list of registered, unregistered and deleted entities and restored to the VAT register (VAT status check by NIP);

List of EU VAT Taxpayers – includes those Polish taxpayers who obtained registration allowing to perform intra-community supply transactions and to use their NIP with the PL- prefix as their EU VAT number; not mandatory for VAT-exempt entities involved in intra-commumity supply transactions worth altogether less than 50000PLN in the given year, unless they do not perform services by delegating their employees to another EU country (EU VAT status check available through the EU-operated VAT Information Exchange System (in Polish); 

Tax and Customs Service (SCS) – Electronic Services Portal of the Tax and Customs Service (PUESC) (in Polish) (searchable) – assigns the IDSISC number for customs or excise purposes, and provides access to the:

Central Register of Excise Entities (CRPA) – confirms granting of excise authorization to excise entities, supplies their data to the EU Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS) through the System for the Exchange of Excise Data (SEED), and registers their IDSISC number in the SEED PL database (searchable), IDSISC (SEED PL) number validation is also available on the website operated by the EU (in English) (SEED number check)

(EU customs) Registered Exporter System (REX) – registered Polish entities (searchable), REX number validation oś also available on the website operated by the EU (in English) (REX number check)

(EU customs) Economic Operator Identification and Registration System (EORI) (for registration purposes only) – EORI number validation is available on the website operated by the EU (in English) (EORI number check)

(EU customs) Economic Operator Systems Authorized Economic Operator Database (EOS AEO) (for registration purposes only) – Authorized Economic Operator Database is available on the website operated by the EU (in English) (searchable)

Register of Tax Liens – register of tax liens put on a collateral, either a movable, such as a vehicle (a road vehicle, a rolling stock vehicle, an aircraft, a boat, or a ship, excluding ships registered by one of the 2 maritime chambers in the Register of Ships, because they are covered by a dedicated instrument called ship mortgage), other types of machines, a firearm, a movable object of cultural property, or on a security, as well as on an intellectual property right; (searchable by serial or identification number) (in Polish); 

Polish Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) – Central Register of Contribution Payers (in English) (non-searchable) – tax register of all entities (including companies) paying compulsory social and health insurance contributions for their employees (or health insurance only, in the case of professions covered by special non-insurance pensions systems funded by the state budget: judges, public prosecutors, professional soldiers and members of other national uniformed services), as well as natural persons obligated to pay social and/or health insurance contributions for themselves (including sole traders, partners of a civil law partnership, registered partnership, limited partnership, limited joint-stock partnership, professional partnership, single-shareholder limited liability company, as well as artists), and people paying voluntary social and/or health insurance contributions; the register does not include individual farmers paying their social and health insurance contributions to the separate Agricultural Social Insurance Fund, as well as members of uniformed services delegated to work an undercover job. It does not assign a dedicated identification number, using the existing numbers (NIP, REGON, PESEL) for identification purposes instead;

Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (KRUS) - Register of Agricultural Social Insurance and Health Insurance Contribution Payers (in Polish) (non-searchable) – tax register of individual farmers for the purposes of collecting compulsory agricultural social insurance and health insurance contributions. Farmers paying the agricultural social insurance for at least 3 years may register as entrepreneurs in CEIDG and engage in additional business activities while retaining the right to remain in the agricultural social insurance system, under the conditions that they continue agricultural production and do not exceed certain limits on income from the additional activity. Farmers may also pay to KRUS health insurance and diminished social insurance contributions (limited to sickness, maternity and accident insurance, but excluding the pension and disability insurance) for seasonal workers employed up to 180 days per year for harvesting fruits, vegetables, herbs, tobacco, hop, or flowers. Any other employees of a farmer fall under the general Social Insurance Institution system.

Central Statistical Office (GUS) – National Official Business Register (in Polish) – statistical business register which assigns the Statistical Identification Number (REGON) to all public and private juridical persons, as well as all other entities, with the exception of natural persons other than entrepreneurs. It is mandatory to expose REGON on all company stamps as well as outbound documents and letters (searchable);

Intellectual property registers

Patent Office of the Republic of Poland (UPRP) – Patent Office Registries e-Search (in Polish) industrial property database which includes trade marks, industrial designs, utility models, and integrated circuits (excluding those of the four types, which have been registered by the European Union Intellectual Property Office), as well as inventions (national patents), and (European Patent Office) European patents, including the EU unitary patents (but without their unitary effect due to Polish opt-out caused by EU's failure to award the Polish language the status in the scheme equal to that of German, English or French, and therefore, such patents are treated in Poland as ordinary EPO patents) (searchable)

Research Centre for Cultivar Testing (COBORU) – The List of Varieties Protected by Plant Breeders' Rights and The List of Varieties Which are the Subject of an Application for the Grant of the Plant Breeders' Rights – Protected by Provisional PBR – national register of plant breeders’ rights, does not include the varieties registered by the Community Plant Variety Office (in English) (downloadable list); List of breeders, breeders’ representatives and licensees (in English) (searchable); (some of these lists may also include individual farmers whose farms have not been registered as companies);

Official vehicle registries

Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland – Central Registry of Vehicles and Drivers

Central Registry of Vehicles – contains data on all registered road vehicles. Vehicle History service (in English) (searchable by entering combination of vehicle registration number, date of first registration of the vehicle, and VIN number)

Office of Rail Transport (UTK) – National Rail Vehicle Registry (in Polish) (non-searchable);

Civil Aviation Authority (ULC) – Register of Civil Aircraft (in English) (non-searchable);

Registries of vessels (registration is permitted in only single of the five registries at a time, depending on the vessel's size, designation, equipment, usage, and ownership; some of the vessels may require an additional registration: by a ship classification society, or for the purposes of obtaining the ENI number, the IMO number, or the MMSI number - see sector specific registers and lists below; ships belonging to the Navy, the Border Guard or the Police are excluded from registration):

Ministry of Infrastructure – Registry of Yachts and Other Vessels up to 24 m in Length (in Polish) (searchable by entering combination of: vessel registration number; vessel identification number such as HIN Hull Identification Number, CIN Craft Identification Number, WIN Watercraft Identification Number, vessels lacking any of them are awarded INI Individual Identification Number at first registration; date of first registration of the vessel) – responsible for the registration of following vessels up to 24 meters in length: all yachts (defined as ships used exclusively for sports and recreation, including jetski, houseboats, and wooden replicas of historical vessels); inland or maritime non-commercial yachts; inland or maritime commercial yachts up to 12 passengers (including yachts used for paid cruises, training cruises, chartered cruises, commercial lending for recreational fishing and angling or for other purposes); other inland commercial and non-commercial fishing or angling vessels;

Inland Navigation Offices: in Bydgoszcz, in Szczecin, and in Wrocław – Administrative Registry of Inland Waterways Vessels (in Polish) (non-searchable) – registry of inland waterways vessels not covered by the Registry of Yachts and Other Vessels up to 24 m in Length;

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MRiRW) – Registry of Fishing Vessels(in Polish) (non-searchable at national level) – registry of Polish maritime commercial vessels used in fisheries within the Common Fisheries Policy (in English) (searchable via the EU Fleet Register operated by the European Commission)

Maritime Chambers: by the District Court in Szczecin and by the District Court in Gdańsk (seated Gdynia) – Registry of Ships (Rejestr okrętowy) (searchable in person on site free of charge, or on a written paid request, access unrestricted) – the primary official registry of all maritime ships used in international traffic and owned by Polish entities or other EU entities (if not registered in an other EU country), including merchant ships, excluding ships covered by the Registry of Yachts and Other Vessels up to 24 m in Length, or the Registry of Fishing Vessels. Contains information on all rights to the ship, as well as on all obligations (ship mortgage, ship liens). May also contain entries (on a voluntary basis) on maritime ships owned by entities other than Polish, which obtained temporary Polish registration, maritime ships under construction on the Polish territory, and maritime ships exempt from obligation to register by the Maritime Chamber (see below);

Maritime Offices: in Szczecin and in Gdynia: Administrative Registry of Maritime Ships (non-searchable) – obligatory registry for maritime ships exempt from registration in the ordinary Registry of Ships (maritime vessels not covered by the Registry of Yachts and Other Vessels up to 24 m in Length or by the Registry of Fishing Vessels, which are not used in international traffic: up to 15 m in length when equipped with mechanical propulsion, or any length when not equipped with mechanical propulsion) – unless owners of such vessel decided to waive exemption and choose to register in the regular Register of Ships;

Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) – Public Aid Data Sharing System (in Polish) (searchable)

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MRiRW) – Directory of Common Agricultural Policy Beneficiaries (in Polish) (searchable)

Public Procurement Office – (UZP) e-Zamówienia (e-Procurement) Platform (in Polish) (searchable)

National Institute of Cultural Heritage - Registry of Cultural Property(in Polish) (partially searchable) - operated by the Voivodeship Offices for Cultural Property Protection, include immovable (monuments, buildings), archeological, and movable (artifacts) cultural property, in the latter two cases excluding movable items included in the national library fonds, the national archival fonds or in an inventory of a registered museum

Ministry of Interior and Administration - Arms Registration System (SRB) (non-searchable) - operated by the Policja and (in regard to private firearms of soldiers in active service) by the Military Gendarmerie; includes all firearms held by private persons, companies and public institutions, as well as their history, excluding the service firearms of the state uniformed services or other state armed formations (but not the municipal ones), issues the European Firearms Pass

Internal Security Agency (ABW) – (civilian) list of entities holding industrial security clearance (in Polish) (downloadable list with levels of awarded clearances, and their applicability to NATO, EU or ESA classified information)

Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW) – (military) list of issued industrial security clearances confirming the capability of an entrepreneur to protect classified information (in Polish) (downloadable lists with levels of awarded clearances, separately for national, NATO, EU and ESA classified information)

Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) – list of public stock issues after 1 January 2020 and their issuers (public companies) (in Polish) (searchable); list of public issues of financial instruments (including public stock issues) prior 1 January 2020 and their issuers (public companies, in the case of stocks) (in Polish) (downloadable list);

Research and Academic Computer Network (NASK) State Research Institute - National Domain Register - the Polish country code top-level domain register, member of Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries and Country Code Names Supporting Organization (in English) (searchable)

GS1 Poland Foundation - assigns the GTIN/EAN codes

Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) Group

GPW Main Market (in English) – the regulated market;

NewConnect – an alternative (unregulated) stock exchange (multilateral trading facility), (in English) 

Central Securities Depository of Poland (KDPW) – central securities depository registering dematerialized securities and their owners, and the national numbering agency which assigns the Financial Instrument Short Name, Classification of Financial Instruments code, International Securities Identification Number, as well as Legal Entity Identifier. Its subsidiary KDPW_CCP is the national central counterparty clearing house.

Sector-specific registers and lists of regulated activities

Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) – register of securities listed on an exchange or on an alternative trading system; registers of various types of regulated financial entities (list incomplete): banks, co-operative banks, credit unions, pension funds, insurance companies, life insurance companies, mutual insurance companies, investment funds, stock exchanges, alternative trading systems, and commodities exchanges. A combined search engine. (in English) 

Polish Bar Council (NRA) – National Register of Barristers (and their offices) (in Polish) (searchable);

National Chamber of Attorneys at Law (KIRP) – List of Attorneys at Law (and their offices) (in Polish) (searchable);

National Council of Notaries (KRN) – List of notarial offices (in English) (searchable), available also through the EU e-Justice Portal (in English) (searchable), as well as the Council of the Notariats of the European Union (in English) (searchable)

Polish Agency for Audit Oversight (PANA) – List of Audit Firms (in Polish) (searchable);

National Chamber of Tax Advisors (KIDP) – Register of Juridical Persons Authorized to Perform Tax Advisory Activities (in Polish) (downloadable list); List of Tax Advisors (and either their offices, in the forms of sole tradeship, registered partnerships, limited partnerships, limited joint-stock partnerships, professional partnerships, or of juridical persons employing them) (in Polish) (downloadable list)

Patent Office of the Republic of Poland (UPRP) – List of Patent Attorneys (and either their offices, in the forms of sole tradeship, registered partnerships, limited partnerships, limited joint-stock partnerships, professional partnerships, or of juridical persons employing them) (in Polish) (searchable)

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration (MSWiA) – Register of Undertakings Licensed to Manufacture and Trade Explosives, Arms, Ammunition, and Devices or Technologies Designated for Police or Military Use (in Polish) (searchable); Register of Undertakings Performing Private Investigator Services (in Polish) (searchable); Register of Undertakings Licensed to Perform Personal and Property Protection Services (in Polish) (non-searchable); Register of Entities Performing Professional Lobbying Activities (in Polish) (downloadable list);

Ministry of Finance (MF) – List of licensed casinos (in Polish) (downloadable list); List of licensed bookmakers and licensed internet gambling entities (in Polish) (downloadable list);

Ministry of National Education (MEN) – Register of Schools and Educational Institutions (in Polish) – public and private schools and educational institutions, excluding higher education (searchable)

Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW) – List of Non-Public Higher Education Institutions (in Polish) – list of licensed non-public universities and colleges (searchable)

Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy (MRPiPS) – National Register of Employment Agencies (in Polish) (searchable); Register of Nurseries and Children's Clubs (in Polish) (searchable); Register of Social Assistance Units (in Polish) – register of public and private entities such as retirement homes, assisted living homes (but not nursing homes, as they are considered healthcare entities) (searchable)

Ministry of Health (MZ)

Register of Entities Performing Medical Activities (RPWDL) (in Polish), consists of:

Register of Health Entities - includes public and private, commercial and non-commercial healthcare entities, registered by the relevant voivode, without caps on the numbers of medical professionals employed or (in case of private entities) specific restrictions on legal form or stakeholder composition of the entity; assigns an identification number (kod resortowy) to the whole entity, with an extension number for each of its organisational units; the catalogue of the covered types includes among others: hospitals, larger clinics (including dental), health spa entities, nursing homes, hospices, medical transport entities, diagnostic medical laboratories (obligated to register also on the List of Diagnostic Medical Laboratories of the National Chamber of Laboratory Diagnosticians (KIDL), as well as stores (dispensaries) employing qualified medical technicians or craftsmen, involved in retail, fitting and repairs of various medical prosthetic devices (such as glasses, dental prostheses, hearing aides, orthopaedic devices);

registers of individual and group professional practices of physicians, dentists, nurses, midwives, and physiotherapists (but excluding pharmacists, as pharmacies are registered in a separate register - see below, and laboratory diagnosticians, as a medical laboratory is in any case a health entity or a part of one - see above), operated by the respective regulatory colleges, with legal entity types limited exclusively to sole proprietorship in the case of individual practices, as well as to two types of trade partnerships (registered partnership or professional partnership) in the case of group practices; services are provided primarily by their owners, while employment of other-than-owner members of the same medical profession is generally prohibited, except for only a few specific situations, such as hiring for professional training, or hiring a temporary substitution during the owner's absence (searchable);

Register of Pharmacies - with the State Pharmaceutical Inspection organs fulfilling the role of registration authority; includes community pharmacies, community dispensaries (scope-limited, allowed exclusively in rural areas lacking otherwise a pharmacy), establishment pharmacies (in prisons or military garrisons), hospital pharmacies, hospital dispensaries other than pharmacies (scope-limited, fulfilling basic dispensary tasks, with more advanced functions outsourced to an external hospital pharmacy), the latter two types required to be also included as a unit of the parent entity in the Register of Heath Entities (in Polish) (searchable);

Register of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (in Polish) (searchable)

National Health Fund (NFZ) – Central List of Healthcare Providers (CWŚ) (in Polish) – a public contract list of public and private healthcare providers operating under a contract with the NFZ within the general health insurance system (searchable)

State Sanitary Inspection - Register of Establishments Producing or Marketing Food Subject to the Official Control of the State Sanitary Inspection (non-searchable) - includes farmers cultivating plants, wholesalers, retailers and other undertakings involved in production, processing or marketing of food intended for human consumption, other than production, processing or marketing of animal-derived food already supervised by the Veterinary Inspection), as well as all gastronomy establishments, and producers or recyclers of materials designated for contact with food intended for human consumption; Register of Cosmetic Product Producers (non-searchable); List of designated yellow fever vaccination centers (in Polish) (downloadable list)

State Pharmaceutical Inspection (PIF) – Register of Manufacturers and Importers of Medicinal Products (in Polish) (searchable); National Register of Manufacturers, Importers and Distributors of Active Substances (in Polish) (searchable);

Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products (URPLWMiPB) – Register of Medicinal Products and the Register of Marketing Aurhorization Holders – register of all medicines with market authorization in Poland; including those authorized by the European Medicines Agency (in Polish); Record of manufacturers of active substances used in the manufacture of veterinary medicinal products with anabolic, anti-infectious, anti-parasitic, anti-inflammatory, hormonal or psychotropic properties (in Polish) (non-searchable);

Polish Medicines Verification Organisation Foundation (KOWAL) - national operator of the European Medicines Verification System (non-searchable)

National Chamber of Laboratory Diagnosticians (KIDL) – List of Diagnostic Medical Laboratories – list of healthcare entities operating a clinical laboratory (in Polish) (searchable)

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MRiRW) – Register of entities producing or bottling wine products (in Polish) (downloadable list); Register of entities producing or processing ethyl alcohol (in Polish) (downloadable list); Register of entities producing tobacco products (in Polish) (downloadable list); Register of entities producing or bottling liquor drinks (in Polish) (downloadable list); (some of these lists also include individual farmers whose farms have not been registered as companies);

Veterinary Inspection (IW) – Lists and registers of supervised establishments, including: production, processing and marketing of meat, eggs, fish, milk, and dairy, production and marketing of animal feed, list of veterinary pharmaceutical wholesalers (some of these lists also include individual farmers whose farms have not been registered as companies) (in English) (downloadable lists);

Polish National Veterinary Chamber (KILW) - List of Veterinary Care Establishments (in Polish) (searchable)

State Plant Health and Seed Inspection Service (PIORiN) – various registers of undertakings performing activities related to plant health, plant protection products and equipment used to apply them, seed production, as well as integrated plant production (some of these lists also include individual farmers whose farms have not been registered as companies) (in Polish) (partially available as downloadable lists);

National Support Centre for Agriculture (KOWR) (some of these lists also include individual farmers whose farms have not been registered as companies) – Register of biocomponent producers (in Polish) (downloadable list); Register of entities importing biocomponents (in Polish) (downloadable list); Register of farmers producing biofuels for their own use (in Polish) (downloadable list); Register of agricultural biogas producers (in Polish) (downloadable list); Register of first purchasers of cow milk (in Polish) (downloadable list);

Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARMiR) – Register of Producers, Agricultural Holdings and Applications for Payment Entitlements (in Polish) – system operated for the purposes of state-funded, EU-funded or co-funded payment mechanisms in agriculture and fisheries; its constituent Register of Producers includes agricultural producers, animal holders, beneficiaries of fisheries programmes, organizations of producers, entities operating a rendering plant, and potential beneficiaries, as well as their farmę agricultural holdings (non-searchable); (some of these lists also include individual farmers whose farms have not been registered as companies);

Ministry of Sport and Tourism (MSiT) – Central List of Hotel Establishments – list of officially rated establishments providing legally specified services, including room service, bed-making and cleaning of sanitary facilities, at least on a daily basis, classified as: hotels, motels, boarding houses (all are rated category * to *****), trail shelters (rated "compliant"), inns, youth hostels, school youth hostels (all rated category I to III), as well as camping sites (rated category * to ****) and tent camp sites (rated "compliant"); it does not include certain other unrated and unclassified accommodation facilities (prohibited from using any of the abovementioned protected designations of type or category in their facility or company name), registered on a communal list only, such as hostels, holiday centres/dwellings, holiday youth centres, training-recreational centres, creative arts centres, complexes of tourist cottages, rooms for guests in private houses, private lodgings, rooms in spa healthcare entities, or agritourism facilities operated by farmers(in Polish) (searchable); List of Polish Sports Unions (in Polish) (list)

Insurance Guarantee Fund (UFG) – Central Records of Tour Operators and Entrepreneurs Facilitating Linked Travel Arrangements (in Polish) (searchable); Database of Compulsory Vehicle Liability Insurance (in Polish) (insurance check by registration number)

Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) – Register of Postal Operators (in Polish) (searchable); Register of Telecommunications Undertakings (in Polish) (searchable); Register of Maritime and Inland Ship Radio Station Permits with assigned ship callsigns, MMSI and ATIS numbers (in Polish) (downloadable list); registers of various other permits, including radiocommunication, radio and TV broadcasting permits (concerning exclusively technical aspects, while the issues such as awarding radio and TV broadcasting licenses, assessment of proposed format or evaluation of already broadcast content, are handled by the National Broadcasting Council (see below)

Energy Regulatory Office (URE) – registries of various types of energy undertakings (list incomplete): holders of concessions for trade of liquid fuels, holders of concessions for trade of fuels other than liquid; electric energy distributors, operators of electric energy transmission systems; natural gas distributors, operators of natural gas transmission systems, natural gas storage facilities, natural gas liquefaction facilities, liquid natural gas regasification facilities. (in Polish) (downloadable lists)

Polish Centre for Accreditation - list of accredited organisations (includes: testing, medical and calibration laboratories; management systems, persons and product certification bodies, inspection bodies etc.) (in English) 

Civil Aviation Authority (ULC) – List of Licensed Air Carriers, List of Holders of Air Operator Certificate (in English) (downloadable lists); List of holders of permits to provide ground handling services to third parties (in English) (downloadable list); List of Holders of Airport Handling Agent Certificate (in English) (downloadable list); List of Holders of Permits for Airport Management (in Polish) (downloadable list); Register of Civil Aerodromes, List of Officially Listed Civil Airfields (in Polish) (downloadable lists);

Polish Register of Shipping – ship classification society recognized at national, EU (both maritime and inland shipping), and IMO levels, member of International Association of Classification Societies; it brokers assignment of the IMO number (in English) (earchable)

Inland Navigation Offices (in Bydgoszcz, Szczecin and Warsaw) - Register of Ships Capable of Navigating on Inland European Waters – assigns the ENI number to vessels requiring classification by an EU-recognised inland ship classification society for navigation in EU inland waterways, upon their registration either in the Register of Inland Waterways Vessels or in the Register of Yachts and Other Vessels up to 24 m in Length (non-searchable);

Office of Rail Transport (UTK) – List of licensed rail carriers (in Polish) (downloadable list);

Inspection of Road Transport (ITD) – Polish Registry of Road Transport Undertakings (in English) (searchable)

State Geological Institute-State Research Institute/State Geological Service (PIG-PIB/PSG) – System of management and protection of mineral resources in Poland – MIDAS (in Polish) – register of deposits, mining areas and mining countries as well as related concessions, synonymous with a mining cadaster (searchable)

National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) – List of public broadcasters (in English); List of licensed broadcasters, registered internet TV broadcasters, cable TV network and satellite TV platform operators (in English) 

Portugal

Citizen Portal – Company search (in Portuguese) 

Ministry of Justice – Entity Search 

Romania

Ministry of Public Finance – Business search (in Romanian) 

Ministry of Justice – The National Trade Register Office (ONRC) (registration required) (in Romanian) 

Financial Supervisory Authority (in Romanian) 

Bucharest Stock Exchange – Companies directory 

Slovakia

Companies Register of the Slovak Republic — searchable directory. (languages: Slovak, English)

Slovenia

Slovenian Business Register (ePRS) — maintained by the Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Public Legal Records and Related Services (AJPES). ePRS includes companies (partnerships and corporations), sole proprietors, legal entities governed by private law, societies, natural persons performing registered or regulated activities, subsidiaries and other divisions of business entities and main offices of foreign business entities. (languages: interface in Slovene, English, German, Italian; information in Slovene, English)

Firmica.si — provides company formation services in Slovenia; not an official registry

List of taxable legal entities (Financial Administration) — (languages: Slovene)

Central Securities Clearing Corporation 

List of public companies (Securities Market Agency) 

Spain

Central Mercantile Registry (Spanish: Registro Mercantil Central, RMC) — subscription service providing legal Information of companies, statistics, and company names. (languages: English, French, German, Spanish).

Association of Spanish Property & Commercial Registers — subscription service

National Securities Market Commission (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores), search by entity — (languages: Spanish)

Sweden

Companies Registration Office (Swedish: Bolagsverket) — (languages: Swedish, some English)

Financial Supervisory Authority:

Listed company search (Börsinformation)

Company register 

Afghanistan

Minister of Commerce and Industries – Central Business Registry 

Albania

 Albania

National Business Center (Qendra Kombetare e Biznesit) 

Algeria

The National Center of The Trade Register (Centre National du Registre du Commerce (CNRC)) (in French) (registration required) closed access 

Andorra

Oficina de Marques

Angola

Ministry of Justice and Human Rights – Central Register of Business Names (Ficheiro Central de Denominações Sociais) (not searchable) (in Portuguese) 

Ministry of Finance – Registry of State Suppliers (registration required) closed access (in Portuguese) 

Antigua and Barbuda

Financial Services Regulatory Commission (not searchable) 

Argentina

Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (in Spanish) 

Official Gazette (Click on "Sociedades") (in Spanish) 

Federal Administration of Public Revenue – tax identification number (CUIT) check (in Spanish) 

National Securities Commission – Issuers 

National Procurement Office – Providers (in Spanish) 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship – Directory of Importers/Exporters (in Spanish) 

Armenia

Ministry of Justice – State Register of the Legal Entities 

Tax Service – Taxpayers

Central Bank of Armenia – Listed Companies (in Armenian) 

Australia

Australian Securities & Investments Commission – Search ASIC Registers 

Australian Securities & Investments Commission – Datasets 

Australian Business Register – Australian Business Number Lookup 

Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations – Search Corporations 

Azerbaijan

Ministry of Taxes – State Register of Business Entities (in Azerbaijani) 

Ministry of Taxes – Businesses engaged in production (in Azerbaijani) 

Bahamas

Registrar General's Department 

Bangladesh

Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms 

Bahrain

Ministry of Industry & Commerce 

Bahrain Chamber of Commerce & Industry – Members Search

Central Bank of Bahrain – CBB Register 

Barbados

Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office – Registrants 

Belarus

 Belarus

Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs — Ministry of Justice (In Russian) 

Belize

International Business Companies Registry of Belize 

Benin

Ministry of Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises – Business Registry (GUFE) (in French) 

Bhutan

Office of the Registrar of Companies, Corporate Regulatory Authority, MoENR (not searchable) 

Bolivia

Registry of Commerce (Fundempresa) (in Spanish) 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Brčko District:

Registers of Business Entities 

Registry of Securities – Issuers 

 Republika Srpska:

Registers of Business Entities 

Central Registry of Securities – Issuers 

Botswana

Companies and Intellectual Property Authority 

Brazil

BM&F Bovespa – Listed Companies 

Ministry of Finance – Federal Revenue – Legal entity tax identification number (CNPJ) search (in Portuguese)

State registries

Department of Business Registration and Integration (DREI) – Map of commercial registries (juntas comerciais) (in Portuguese) 

State/District Searchable Registry Ref.

Acre No Commercial Registry of Acre (in Portuguese)  

Alagoas Yes Commercial Registry of Alagoas (registration required) (in Portuguese)  

Amapá Yes Commercial Registry of Amapá (registration required) (in Portuguese)  

Amazonas No Commercial Registry of Amazonas (registration required) (in Portuguese)  

Bahia Yes Commercial Registry of Bahia (in Portuguese)  

Ceará No Commercial Registry of Ceará (in Portuguese)  

Distrito Federal Yes Commercial Registry of Distrito Federal (registration required) (in Portuguese)  

Espírito Santo Yes Commercial Registry of Espírito Santo (in Portuguese)  

Goiás No Commercial Registry of Goiás (in Portuguese)  

Maranhão No Commercial Registry of Maranhão (in Portuguese)  

Mato Grosso Yes Commercial Registry of Mato Grosso (in Portuguese)  

Mato Grosso do Sul No Commercial Registry of Mato Grosso do Sul (in Portuguese)  

Minas Gerais Yes Commercial Registry of Minas Gerais (registration required) (in Portuguese)  

Pará Yes Commercial Registry of Pará (in Portuguese)  

Paraíba No Commercial Registry of Paraíba (in Portuguese)  

Paraná Yes Commercial Registry of Paraná (in Portuguese)  

Pernambuco Yes Commercial Registry of Pernambuco (in Portuguese)  

Piauí No Commercial Registry of Piauí (registration required) (in Portuguese)  

Rio de Janeiro No Commercial Registry of Rio de Janeiro (in Portuguese)  

Rio Grande do Norte No Commercial Registry of Rio Grande do Norte (in Portuguese)  

Rio Grande do Sul Yes Commercial Registry of Rio Grande do Sul (registration required) (in Portuguese)  

Rondônia Yes Commercial Registry of Rondônia (in Portuguese)  

Roraima Yes Commercial Registry of Roraima (in Portuguese)  

Santa Catarina Yes Commercial Registry of Santa Catarina (registration required) (in Portuguese)  

São Paulo Yes Commercial Registry of São Paulo (in Portuguese)  

Sergipe Yes Commercial Registry of Sergipe (in Portuguese)  

Tocantins No Commercial Registry of Tocantins (in Portuguese)  

Brunei

Brunei Attorney General's Chamber 

Burkina Faso

House of Enterprises (Maison de l'Entreprise) – Company search (in French) 

Burundi

Investment Promotion Authority (not searchable)

Cambodia

Ministry of Commerce – Business Registration 

Cameroon

Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Crafts (CCIMA) – Company Directory (in French)

Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Crafts (CCIMA) – Database of Industrial Enterprises (in French) 

Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development – Business Directory (Annuaire des entreprises)

National Institute of Statistics – List of companies (in French) 

Canada

Corporations Canada – Search for a Federal Corporation 

Canada's Business Registries 

Provincial and territorial registries

Province/Territory Freely searchable Register Ref.

Alberta Yes Service Alberta (licensed businesses only)  

British Columbia No British Columbia Corporate Registry (subscription required) closed access  

Manitoba No Manitoba Companies Office (subscription required) closed access  

New Brunswick No Corporate Affairs Registry Database  

Newfoundland and Labrador Yes Companies and Deeds Online  

Northwest Territories Yes Department of Justice – Corporate Registry  

Nova Scotia Yes Registry of Joint Stock Companies  

Nunavut Yes Department of Economic Development and Transportation  

Nunavut No Department of Justice – Corporate Registries  

Nunavut Yes Inuit Firm Registry  

Ontario No Integrated Business Services Application (subscription required) closed access  

Prince Edward Island Yes PEI Business / Corporate Registry  

Quebec Yes Registraire des entreprises Quebec (in French)  

Saskatchewan No Saskatchewan Corporate Registry (subscription required) closed access  

Yukon No Department of Community Services – Corporate Affairs  

Yukon Yes Yukon Chamber of Commerce – Business Directory  

Cape Verde

Official Gazette (subscription required) closed access (in Portuguese) 

Central African Republic

Ministry of Commerce and Industry (in French)

Ministry for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (in French)

Chad

 Chad

Business Formalities Center of National Agency for Investments and Exports of Chad. 

Chile

Registry of Commerce of Santiago (in Spanish) 

Official gazette (in Spanish) 

Securities and Insurance Supervisor (in Spanish) 

Ministry of Finance – Directory of Providers (in Spanish) 

China, People's Republic of

State Administration for Market Regulation (in Chinese) 

Credit China (in Chinese) 

Ministry of Commerce – Corporate Credit Rating System (in Chinese)

State Administration of Taxation – Corporate credit rating inquiry (in Chinese) 

Provincial, sub-provincial and municipal registries

Anhui Province – Anhui Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Hefei – Hefei Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Beijing – Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Chongqing – Chongqing Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Chongqing – Chongqing Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese) 

Fujian Province – Fujian Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Fujian Province – Fujian Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese)

Fuzhou – Fuzhou Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese)

Xiamen – Xiamen Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese)

Gansu – Gansu Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Guangdong – Guangdong Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Guangzhou – Guangzhou Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Guangzhou – Guangzhou Commercial Registration Information (in Chinese)

Shenzhen – Market Supervision Administration of Shenzhen Municipality (in Chinese)

Shenzhen – Shenzhen Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese) 

Guangxi – Guangxi Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Guizhou – Guizhou Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Guizhou Province – Guizhou Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese) 

Guiyang – Guiyang Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Hainan – Hainan Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Hebei – Hebei Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Heilongjiang – Heilongjiang Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Heilongjiang Province – Heilongjiang Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese) 

Harbin – Harbin Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese) 

Henan – Henan Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Hubei – Hubei Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Wuhan – Wuhan Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Hunan – Hunan Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Hunan Province – Hunan Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese) 

Inner Mongolia – Inner Mongolia Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Inner Mongolia – Inner Mongolia Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese) 

Jiangsu -– Jiangsu Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Wuxi – Wuxi Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese)

Jiangxi – Jiangxi Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Jilin – Jilin Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Liaoning – Liaoning Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Liaoning Province – Liaoning Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese) 

Dalian – Dalian Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Dandong – Dandong Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Shenyang – Shenyang Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region – Ningxia Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Qinghai – Qinghai Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Shaanxi – Shaanxi Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Shaanxi Province – Shaanxi enterprise credit information system (in Chinese)

Xi'an – Xi'an Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Shandong – Shandong Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Dongying – Dongying Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese)

Qingdao – Qingdao Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Weihai – Weihai Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Shanghai – Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Shanxi – Shanxi Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Sichuan – Sichuan Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Sichuan Province – Sichuan Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese)

Chengdu – Chengdu Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Tianjin – Tianjin City Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Binhai – Binhai company search (in Chinese)

Tibet Autonomous Region – Tibet Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region – Xinjiang Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Yunnan – Yunnan Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Kunming – Kunming Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese) 

Zhejiang – Zhejiang Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Zhejiang Province – Zhejiang Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese) 

Hangzhou – Hangzhou Administration for Industry and Commerce (in Chinese)

Hangzhou – Hangzhou Enterprise Credit Information System (in Chinese) 

Special Administrative Territories

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Integrated Companies Registry Information System (ICRIS) – Companies Register 

Inland Revenue Department – Business Registration Number Enquiry 

Securities and Futures Commission – Public Register of Licensed Persons and Registered Institutions 

Macau

Government Printing Bureau 

Directorate of Justice Affairs Services (not searchable) 

China, Republic of (Taiwan)

Ministry of Economic Affairs

Company Registration Enquiry (in Chinese) 

Business registration lists (in Chinese) 

Business registration lists (by municipality) (in Chinese)

List of Taiwanese companies in mainland China (in Chinese) 

List of Taiwanese companies doing business outside of Taiwan (in Chinese) 

List of non-Taiwanese companies registered in Taiwan (in Chinese) 

Taiwan Stock Exchange – Market Observation Post System 

Colombia

Unified Commercial and Social Registry (RUES) (in Spanish) 

Superintendency of Corporations

Business Check (in Spanish) 

SIREM Company Search (in Spanish) 

Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia – Comprehensive Stock Market Information System (SIMEV) (in Spanish) 

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Ministry of Justice and Human Rights – Business Registry (Guichet unique) (in French) 

Congo, Republic of the

National Center for Statistics and Economic Studies (in French) – "Base de données" 

Official gazette (in French) 

Cook Islands

Financial Supervisory Commission – Registrar's Office (not searchable) 

Costa Rica

National Registry (registration required) (in Spanish) 

General Directorate Of Taxation (DGT) – Company check (in Spanish) 

Government Procurement System – Provider search (in Spanish) 

Côte d'Ivoire

Center for Investment Promotion – Company search (in French) 

Cuba

National Office of Statistics – Registries (in Spanish) 

Danish realms

 Faroe Islands: Company Registration Authority

 Greenland: Greenland Business Register — (language: Danish)

Djibouti

Office of Industrial Property and Commerce (ODPIC) – Official Bulletin (in French)

Dominica

Companies and Intellectual Property Office – Name search 

Dominican Republic

Generate Directorate of Internal Revenue (DGII) – Tax-paying companies search (in Spanish) 

Generate Directorate of Internal Revenue (DGII) – Companies without operations (in Spanish)

National Office of Industrial Property (ONAPI) – Trade name search (in Spanish) 

General Directorate of Public Procurement – Provider search (in Spanish) 

Santo Domingo – Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and Production (in Spanish)

Dutch Caribbean

Dutch Caribbean:

 Aruba: Aruba Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

 Bonaire: Bonaire Commercial Register 

 Curaçao: Curaçao Chamber of Commerce & Industry 

 Caribbean Netherlands

 Saba: Sint Eustatius and Saba Commercial Register 

 Sint Eustatius: Sint Eustatius and Saba Commercial Register 

 Sint Maarten: St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry (not searchable) 

Ecuador

Superintendency of Companies (in Spanish) 

Internal Revenue Service (SRI) – Company check (in Spanish) 

National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) – Business Directory (in Spanish)

National Secretariat of Policy Management – Directory of Social Organizations (in Spanish) 

Official Public Procurement System – Provider search (in Spanish) 

Egypt

Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade – Egyptian International Trade Point

General Authority for Free Zones and Investment 

El Salvador

National Center of Registries – List of registered businesses (in Spanish) 

Official Gazette search (in Spanish)

Salvadoran Institute of Social Security – Solvent companies (in Spanish)

Public Procurement Unit (UNAC) – List of providers (in Spanish) 

Eritrea

Ministry of Information – Official journal (Haddas Ertra) (in Tigrinya) 

Ethiopia

Ministry of Trade 

Ministry of Tourism 

Fiji

Fiji Government – Companies and Business Registration (registration required) 

Gabon

Investment Promotion Agency (Centre de Développement des Entreprises) (not searchable) (in French)

Gambia

iCommerce Registry (registration required) 

Georgia

 Georgia

D&B Report Guide Georgia — summary of legal forms and filing requirements. (languages: Georgian only)

Public Registry — (languages: Georgian only)

Ghana

Registrar General's Department

Public Procurement Authority – Registered Suppliers and Contractors 

Grenada

Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property (not searchable) 

Guatemala

Mercantile Registry (subscription required) closed access (in Spanish) 

State Procurement System – Provider search (in Spanish) 

Guinea

Investment Promotion Agency (in French)

Guyana

Ministry of Legal Affairs – Deeds Registry (not searchable) 

The Official Gazette of Guyana

Georgetown – Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry – Directory of Members 

Haiti

Ministry of Commerce and Industry – Electronic Commerce Registry (in French)

Hong Kong

Business Registration Office (of the Inland Revenue Department)

Companies Registry

Honduras

Chamber of Commerce and Industry (in Spanish)

Executive Directorate of Income – company tax identification code (RTN) check (in Spanish)

State Office Procurement (ONCAE) – Provider search (in Spanish) 

India

Ministry of Corporate Affairs – Find Company/LLP 

Indonesia

Ministry of Industry – Industrial Company Directory (in Indonesian) 

Ministry of Trade – Corporate Directory

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) (in Indonesian) 

Indonesia Charter bus – Transportation

Iran

Iranian Judiciary System -Properties and documents registration administration [fa] under Iranian trade law [fa](SSAA) Legal Entities National ID Portal (in Persian) Official Journal (RRK) (in Persian) 

Official Journal (Dastour) (in Persian) 

Tehran – Tehran Chamber of Commerce and Industries and Mines – Trade Directory (in Persian) 

Iraq

Ministry of Trade – Iraq Registrar of Companies 

Baghdad – Chamber of Commerce – Companies Search (in Arabic) 

Erbil – Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Companies List 

Israel

Justice Ministry – Israeli Corporations Authority 

Justice Ministry – Israeli Corporations Authority (in Hebrew) closed access – Additional details available in company extract 

Israel Securities Authority – List of Public Companies 

Ministry of Construction – Contractors Registrar 

Jamaica

Office of the Registrar of Companies 

National Contracts Commission – Registered Contractors 

Japan

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry – Company Search (registration required) (in Japanese) 

Jordan

Companies Control Department (in Arabic) 

Ministry of Industry and Trade – Trade Names 

Securities Depository Center – Public Shareholding Companies 

Kazakhstan

Ministry of Justice – Database of legal entities 

State Revenue Committee – Legal entities 

Business Licenses 

Kenya

State Law Office – Registrar General (not searchable)

National Construction Authority – Registered Contractors 

Kiribati

Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives (not searchable) 

Kosovo

Ministry of Trade and Industry – Business Registration Agency 

Kuwait

Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Company Search (in Arabic) 

Kuwait Stock Exchange – Listed Companies

Kyrgyzstan

Ministry of Justice – Register of Legal Entities (in Russian) 

Laos

Ministry of Industry and Commerce – Registered Enterprises 

Lebanon

Investment Development Authority of Lebanon

Lesotho

Ministry of Trade, Industry, Cooperatives and Marketing 

Liberia

Liberia Business Registry

Libya

Libyan Commercial Registry. (in Arabic) Available only for Libyan residents after registration.

Madagascar

Economic Development Board of Madagascar – List of companies

General Directorate of Taxes (DGI) – Taxable entity search (registration required) (in French) 

Malawi

Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs – Registrar General (not searchable) 

Malaysia

Companies Commission of Malaysia – Company search (subscription required) closed access 

Labuan – Labuan Financial Services Authority (registration required) 

Maldives

Ministry of Economic Development 

Mali

Investment Promotion Agency (in French) 

Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands Maritime & Corporate Administrators 

Mauritania

Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (Click on "Répertoires des entreprises") (in French) 

Mauritius

Ministry of Finance and Economic Development – Corporate and Business Registration Department 

Mexico

Secretariat of Economy

National Business Information Registry (SIEM) (in Spanish)

Company name search (in Spanish) 

Integrated System of Registry Management (SIGER) – list of all state and municipal commercial registries (in Spanish) 

Mexican Institute of Industrial Property – Trade name search (in Spanish)

Registry of Suppliers and Contractors (RUPC) (in Spanish) 

ProMéxico – Directory of Exporters (in Spanish) 

State registries

State/District Searchable Registry Ref.

Aguascalientes No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Aguascalientes (in Spanish)  

Baja California No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Baja California (in Spanish)  

Baja California Sur No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Baja California Sur (in Spanish)  

Campeche No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Campeche (in Spanish)  

Chiapas No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Chiapas (in Spanish)  

Chihuahua Yes Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Chihuahua (subscription required) closed access (in Spanish)  

Coahuila Yes Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Coahuila (subscription required) closed access (in Spanish)  

Colima No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Colima (in Spanish)  

Durango No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Durango(in Spanish)  

Guanajuato Yes Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Guanajuato (subscription required) closed access (in Spanish)  

Guerrero No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Guerrero (in Spanish)  

Hidalgo No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Hidalgo (in Spanish)  

Jalisco Yes Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Jalisco (registration required) (in Spanish)  

Mexico City No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Mexico City (in Spanish)  

Mexico State No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Mexico State (in Spanish)  

Michoacán No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Michoacán (in Spanish)  

Morelos No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Morelos (in Spanish)  

Nayarit No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Nayarit (in Spanish)  

Nuevo León No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Nuevo León (in Spanish)  

Oaxaca No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Oaxaca (in Spanish)  

Puebla No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Puebla (in Spanish)  

Querétaro Yes Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Querétaro (registration required) (in Spanish)  

Quintana Roo No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Quintana Roo (in Spanish)  

San Luis Potosí No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of San Luis Potosí (in Spanish)  

Sinaloa No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Sinaloa (in Spanish)  

Sonora No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Sonora (in Spanish)  

Tabasco No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Tabasco (in Spanish)  

Tamaulipas No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Tamaulipas (in Spanish)  

Tlaxcala No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Tlaxcala (in Spanish)  

Veracruz No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Veracruz (in Spanish)  

Yucatán No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Yucatán (in Spanish)  

Zacatecas No Public Registry of Property and Commerce of Zacatecas (in Spanish)  

Micronesia, Federated States of

Registrar of Companies – Listing of FSM Corporations

Moldova

 Moldova

Licensing Chamber 

Ministry of Justice

State Registration Chamber (in Romanian) 

State Register of non-profit Organizations (in Romanian) 

State Tax Service

Taxable entity search (in Romanian) – search by Unique State Identification Number (IDNO) 

List of taxable entities (in Romanian) 

Monaco

Registry of Commerce and Industry (in French) 

Montenegro

 Montenegro

Central Registry of Business Entities 

Montenegro Stock Exchange – Company search 

Mongolia

General Authority for State Registration 

Morocco

Central Trade Registry (OMPIC) (subscription required) closed access (in French) 

Central Trade Registry (OMPIC) (in French) 

Financial Markets Authority (CDVM) – Listed Companies 

Casablanca – Register of Commerce (in French)

Fès – Register of Commerce (in French)

Marrakech – Register of Commerce (in French) 

Meknès – Register of Commerce (in Arabic)

Oujda – Register of Commerce (in Arabic)

Rabat – Register of Commerce (in French)

Salé – Register of Commerce (in French)

Tangier – Register of Commerce (in French)

Mozambique

Bulletin of the Republic (in Portuguese) 

Myanmar

Directorate of Investment and Company Administration 

Namibia

Business and Intellectual Property Authority 

Nauru

Registrar of Corporations

Nepal

Office of Company Registrar 

New Zealand

Companies Office – Search for companies, company directors or shareholders 

Nicaragua

Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade (in Spanish) 

General Revenue Service (DGI) – Business search (in Spanish) 

General Directorate of State Procurement – Provider search (in Spanish) 

Niger

National Institute of Statistics – Directory of Companies (in French)

Nigeria

Corporate Affairs Commission 

Bureau of Public Procurement – Registered Contractors 

Niue

Companies Office of Niue 

North Macedonia

Central Registry (in Macedonian) 

Securities and Exchange Commission – Registry of joint stock companies

Oman

Ministry of Commerce and Industry – Search Company Listings 

Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Trade Directory

Pakistan

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan – Company Name Search 

Palau

Office of the Attorney General – Registrar of Corporations (not searchable) 

Palestine

Ministry of National Economy – Companies Registry 

Panama

Public Registry of Panama (registration required) (in Spanish) 

Panadata (in Spanish) 

Papua New Guinea

Investment Promotion Authority – Entity Search 

Paraguay

Ministry of Finance – Taxable entity search (in Spanish) 

Undersecretary of State Taxation (SET) – company tax identification number (RUC) check (in Spanish) 

National Directorate of Public Procurement – Provider search (in Spanish) 

Peru

National Superintendency of Public Registries (SUNARP) (in Spanish) 

National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration (SUNAT) (in Spanish) 

National Superintendency for Banks, Insurance Companies and Pension Fund Administrators (SBS) (in Spanish) 

National Superintendency for the Securities Market (SMV) - Supervised companies search (in Spanish) 

Supervisory Agency for State Contracts (OSCE) – Provider search (in Spanish) 

Philippines

Philippine Business Hub

Department of Trade and Industry – Business Name Registration System (BNRS) 

Securities and Exchange Commission – Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company (eSPARC) 

Cooperative Development Authority - Cooperative Registration Information System (CoopRIS) 

Qatar

Ministry of Business and Trade – Companies Control Department (Hukoomi) (registration required) 

Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Business Directory 

Qatar Financial Centre Authority – Public Register 

Russia

 Russian Federation

Federal Tax Service – Unified State Register of Legal Entities (in Russian) 

National Classifier of Enterprises and Organizations (in Russian) 

Rwanda

Office of the Registrar General (ORG) 

Rwanda Revenue Authority – VAT Registered Taxpayers

San Marino

 San Marino

Trade Register 

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Financial Services Regulatory Commission – Registrar of Companies (registration required) 

Nevis Financial Regulatory Services Commission 

Saint Lucia

Registry of Companies and Intellectual Property (ROCIP) 

Registry of International Business Companies and International Trusts (Pinnacle) 

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Commerce and Intellectual Property Office (subscription required) closed access 

Samoa

Samoa Business Registry 

São Tomé and Príncipe

Ministry of Justice – Company Registry 

Saudi Arabia

Ministry of Commerce and Industry (in Arabic) 

Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority – License Search (in Arabic)

Riyadh – Riyadh Chamber of Commerce & Industry (in Arabic) 

Jeddah – Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry – Business Directory 

Senegal

Business Creation Support Bureau 

Serbia

 Serbia

Serbian Business Registers Agency — runs three registers. (languages: Serbian)

Business Register — business entities and entrepreneurs

Register of Pledges over Movable Property and Rights

Register of Financial Leasing

Central Securities Depository and Clearing House — includes ownership structure of companies

Public Company Register — maintained by the Securities Commission. (languages: Serbian)

Lists of Providers of Financial Services (National Bank of Serbia) 

Seychelles

Seychelles Business Register (onshore companies only) 

Seychelles Financial Services Authority (not searchable) 

Sierra Leone

Office of the Administrator and Registrar General 

Singapore

Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority – Entity search (subscription required) closed access 

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore – GST Registered Business Search 

Monetary Authority of Singapore – Financial Institutions Directory

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands Business Registry 

South Africa

Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) 

South Korea

Start-Biz Online (in Korean) 

Small and Medium Business Administration (in Korean) 

Supreme Court – Registry (in Korean) 

Financial Supervisory Service – Repository of Korea's Corporate Filings 

South Sudan

Ministry of Justice – Business Registry (not searchable)

Sri Lanka

Department of Registrar of Companies 

Sudan

Ministry of Justice – Commercial Registrations Department (in Arabic) 

Suriname

Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

Swaziland

Switzerland

 Switzerland — Swiss company registers are organized at cantonal level. (There are currently around 45 cantonal commercial registers in Switzerland.) 

Central Business Names Index (Zefix) — maintained by the Federal Commercial Registry Office. Contains information of corporate bodies (corporations, corporations with unlimited partners, limited liability companies, co-operatives, non-profit associations and foundations) and public-law corporations registered in the Commercial Register. (languages: English, French, German, Italian)

Swiss Commercial Gazette (SHAB) — official gazette that publishes new entries and changes in the commercial register.

Moneyhouse (moneyhouse) — maintained by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). Contains information of ultimate beneficial owners, corporate bodies and public-law corporations registered in the Commercial Register. (languages: English, French, German, Italian)

Tajikistan

Tax Committee – Register of Legal Entities (in Russian) 

Tanzania

Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) 

Thailand

Ministry of Commerce – Department of Business Development 

Timor-Leste

Institute for Business Support – Enterprises 

Service Registry and Company Verification (not yet searchable) (in Portuguese) 

Official Gazette (in Portuguese)

Tonga

Business Registries Office 

Togo

Business Start-up Center (in French) 

Tunisia

Registry of Commerce (in French) 

Agency for the Promotion of Industry and Innovation – Directory of industrial enterprises 

Turkey

Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey – Turkish Trade Registry Gazette 

Central Registration System (MERSİS) (registration required) (in Turkish) 

Turkish Standards Institution – Company Search 

Adana – Adana Chamber of Commerce – Trade Name Search 

Aksaray – Aksaray Chamber of Commerce (in Turkish) 

Bursa – Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Search for Member Companies 

Gaziantep – Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce – Member Search (in Turkish) 

Istanbul – Istanbul Chamber of Commerce – Company Search

Konya – Konya Chamber of Commerce – Company Directory (in Turkish) 

Mersin – Mersin Chamber of Commerce (in Turkish) 

Trinidad and Tobago

Companies Registry 

Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission – Registered Companies, Individuals & Securities 

Uganda

Uganda Registration Services Bureau 

Register of Providers 

Ukraine

 Ukraine

State Enterprise Information Resource Centre (Ukrainian: Інформаційно-ресурсний центр - Пошук в ЄДР) — official, searchable companies register for Ukraine. (languages: Ukrainian only)

State Fiscal Service:

Business Search — (languages: Ukrainian only)

Register of VAT payers — (languages: Ukrainian only)

Register of Fixed (or single) tax payers — (languages: Ukrainian only)

State Commission for Regulation of Financial Services Markets:

Integrated Information System — (languages: Ukrainian only)

Other registers — (languages: Ukrainian only)

Unified Register of Civic Organizations — maintained by the Ministry of Justice

United Arab Emirates

Ministry of Economy – Business Name Search 

Securities and Commodities Authority – Company Details

Abu Dhabi – Department of Economic Development – Trade Name Search 

Abu Dhabi – Abu Dhabi Business Center – Business License Search

Abu Dhabi – Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Commercial Directory 

Abu Dhabi – Abu Dhabi Global Market Registration Authority

Abu Dhabi – Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange – Listed Companies

Ajman – Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Commercial Search 

Ajman – Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Industrial Search 

Ajman – Ajman Free Zone – Directory

Dubai – Department of Economic Development – Trade Name Search 

Dubai – Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Commercial Directory 

Dubai – Dubai Financial Market – Listed Companies 

Dubai – Dubai Financial Services Authority – Public Register 

Dubai – Dubai International Financial Centre – Client Directory 

Dubai – Dubai Airport Freezone – Directory 

Dubai – Jebel Ali Free Zone – Client Directory 

Dubai – Dubai Internet City – Partners Directory 

Dubai – Dubai Knowledge Village – Partners Directory 

Dubai – NASDAQ Dubai – Listed Companies 

Fujairah – Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Business Directory 

Fujairah – Fujairah Free Zone – Company Listing 

Ras Al Khaimah – Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority

Sharjah – Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Business Directory 

Sharjah – Hamriyah Free Zone – Directory 

Sharjah – Sharjah Airport International Free Zone – Investor Directory 

Umm al-Quwain – Chamber of Commerce and Industry (in Arabic) 

United Kingdom

 United Kingdom

Companies House — the official UK body to which UK companies must send their accounts. Companies House has two ways to search for company and director information:

WebCHeck

Disqualified Directors Register

Financial Services Register (Financial Conduct Authority) 

British Overseas Territories

 Anguilla: Anguilla Financial Services — Anguilla Commercial Online Registration Network (ACORN) (registration required) 

 Bermuda: Registrar of Companies 

 British Virgin Islands: Financial Services Commission — Registry of Corporate Affairs (not searchable) 

 Cayman Islands:

General Registry (subscription) 

Cayman Islands Monetary Authority — Search for Entities 

 Gibraltar

Companies House Gibraltar (subscription required) closed access 

 Montserrat: Financial Services Commission — not searchable

 Turks and Caicos Islands: Financial Services Commission, companies registry — not searchable

Crown Dependencies

 Guernsey

Guernsey Registry — includes the Bailiwick of Guernsey Intellectual Property Office which administers all trademark and design registrations and activities, and provides information on the intellectual property laws enacted in the Bailiwick.

 Isle of Man

The Companies Registry — responsible for the regulation of Manx companies, as well as the administration of legislation relating to foreign companies, limited liability companies, business names, limited partnerships, and societies incorporated under the Industrial and Building Societies Acts. It is part of the Isle of Man Government. There is a searchable directory. 

 Jersey

JFSC Companies Registry — maintained by the Jersey Financial Services Commission.

United States

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – Search for Company Filings 

State registries

State Department/Agency Ref.

Alabama Secretary of State of Alabama  

Alaska Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development  

Arizona Arizona Corporation Commission  

Arkansas Secretary of State of Arkansas  

California Secretary of State of California  

Colorado Secretary of State of Colorado  

Connecticut Secretary of the State of Connecticut  

Delaware Secretary of State of Delaware  

Florida Secretary of State of Florida  

Georgia Secretary of State of Georgia  

Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA)  

Idaho Secretary of State of Idaho  

Illinois Illinois Secretary of State  

Indiana Secretary of State of Indiana  

Iowa Iowa Secretary of State  

Kansas Secretary of State of Kansas  

Kentucky Secretary of State of Kentucky  

Louisiana Secretary of State of Louisiana  

Maine Secretary of State of Maine  

Maryland Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation  

Massachusetts Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth  

Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs  

Minnesota Minnesota Secretary of State  

Mississippi Secretary of State of Mississippi  

Missouri Missouri Secretary of State  

Montana Secretary of State of Montana  

Nebraska Secretary of State of Nebraska  

Nevada Secretary of State of Nevada  

New Hampshire New Hampshire Secretary of State  

New Jersey New Jersey Department of the Treasury  

New Mexico New Mexico Public Regulation Commission  

New York Secretary of State of New York  

North Carolina North Carolina Secretary of State  

North Dakota North Dakota Secretary of State  

Ohio Ohio Secretary of State  

Oklahoma Oklahoma Secretary of State  

Oregon Oregon Secretary of State  

Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania  

Rhode Island Secretary of State of Rhode Island  

South Carolina Secretary of State of South Carolina  

South Dakota Secretary of State of South Dakota  

Tennessee Tennessee Secretary of State  

Texas Secretary of State of Texas  

Texas Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts  

Utah Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code  

Vermont Secretary of State of Vermont  

Virginia State Corporation Commission  

Washington Secretary of State of Washington  

West Virginia Secretary of State of West Virginia  

Wisconsin Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions  

Wyoming Secretary of State of Wyoming  

District/Territorial registries

Jurisdiction Department/Agency Ref.

District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs – Corporations Division  

Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation – General Licensing and Registration Branch  

Northern Mariana Islands Department of Commerce – Registrar of Corporation  

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Department of State  

United States Virgin Islands Division of Corporations and Trademarks  

Uruguay

Agency for Development of Electronic Government and Society of Information and Knowledge (AGESIC) – Incorporated businesses (e-Diario) (in Spanish) 

Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining – Directory of Industrial Enterprises (in Spanish) 

National Institute of Statistics – Directory of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (in Spanish) 

Official Gazette search (in Spanish) (registration required)

State Purchasing and Contracting Agency – Provider search (in Spanish) 

Investment and Export Promotion Institute – Directory of Exporters (in Spanish) 

Uzbekistan

Registration of limited, stock and other types of the companies are made on municipal level. Online registration of companies and register is available in the center of state services Bir Darcha. 

Vanuatu

Vanuatu Financial Services Commission 

Venezuela

National Procurement Service (RNC) – Registered government contractor search (in Spanish) 

SENIAT – company tax identification code (RIF) check (in Spanish) 

Supreme Tribunal of Justice – Official Gazette (in Spanish)

Autonomous Registries and Notaries Service (not searchable) (in Spanish) 

Vietnam

Ministry of Planning and Investment – Agency of Business Registration 

Ministry of Planning and Investment – E-gazette search 

Ministry of Finance – General Department of Taxation – Taxpayer Directory (in Vietnamese)

Yemen

Ministry of Industry and Trade (in Arabic)

Zambia

Patents and Companies Registration Agency 

Zambia Revenue Authority – Taxpayer Search (Click on "Other e-Services") 

Zimbabwe

Department of Deeds, Companies & Intellectual Property 

Other

the European Business Register Network (EBR) is a network of trade registers kept by the registration authorities in most of the European countries

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift), legally S.W.I.F.T. SC, is a Belgian cooperative society providing services related to the execution of financial transactions and payments between certain banks worldwide. Its principal function is to serve as the main messaging network through which international payments are initiated. It also sells software and services to financial institutions, mostly for use on its proprietary "SWIFTNet", and assigns ISO 9362 Business Identifier Codes (BICs), popularly known as "Swift codes".

The Swift messaging network is a component of the global payments system. Swift acts as a carrier of the "messages containing the payment instructions between financial institutions involved in a transaction". However, the organisation does not manage accounts on behalf of individuals or financial institutions, and it does not hold funds from third parties. It also does not perform clearing or settlement functions. After a payment has been initiated, it must be settled through a payment system, such as TARGET2 in Europe. In the context of cross-border transactions, this step often takes place through correspondent banking accounts that financial institutions have with each other. 

As of 2018, around half of all high-value cross-border payments worldwide used the Swift network, and in 2015, Swift linked more than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries and territories, who were exchanging an average of over 32 million messages per day (compared to an average of 2.4 million daily messages in 1995). 

Though widely utilised, Swift has been criticised for its inefficiency. In 2018, the London-based Financial Times noted that transfers frequently "pass through multiple banks before reaching their final destination, making them time-consuming, costly and lacking transparency on how much money will arrive at the other end". Swift has since introduced an improved service called "Global Payments Innovation" (GPI), claiming it was adopted by 165 banks and was completing half its payments within 30 minutes. The new standard which included Swift Go was supposed to be utilised in receiving and transferring low-value international payments. One of the significant changes was the transaction amount, which would not differ from start to the end. However, as of 2023, uptake was mixed. For instance, Alisherov Eraj, Alif Bank Treasury Department Swift Transfers & Banking Relationship Expert in the Republic of Tajikistan, describes that the leading cause for the late Swift Go adoption in Tajikistan was the Core Banking System itself. To connect to Swift Go, he adds, banking system interfaces needed to be upgraded and integrate with their software to be fully compatible, this hindered many banks from adopting the technology earlier.

As a cooperative society under Belgian law, Swift is owned by its member financial institutions. It is headquartered in La Hulpe, Belgium, near Brussels; its main building was designed by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura and completed in 1989. The chairman of Swift is Graeme Munro of United Kingdom, and its CEO is Javier Pérez-Tasso of Spain. Swift hosts an annual conference, called Sibos, specifically aimed at the financial services industry. 

History

SWIFT was founded in Brussels on 3 May 1973 under the leadership of its inaugural Swedish CEO, Carl Reuterskiöld (1973–1989), a former employee at Wallenberg-owned Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, and was supported by 239 banks in 15 countries. Before its establishment, international financial transactions were communicated over Telex, a public system involving manual writing and reading of messages. It was set up out of fear of what might happen if a single private and fully American entity controlled global financial flows – which before was First National City Bank (FNCB) of New York – later Citibank. In response to FNCB's protocol, FNCB's competitors in the US and Europe pushed an alternative "messaging system that could replace the public providers and speed up the payment process". SWIFT started to establish common standards for financial transactions and a shared data processing system and worldwide communications network designed by Logica and developed by the Burroughs Corporation. Fundamental operating procedures and rules for liability were established in 1975, and the first message was sent in 1977. SWIFT's first international (non-European) operations centre was inaugurated by Governor John N. Dalton of Virginia in 1979. 

Standards

SWIFT has become the industry standard for syntax in financial messages. Messages formatted to SWIFT standards can be read and processed by many well-known financial processing systems, whether or not the message travelled over the SWIFT network. SWIFT cooperates with international organizations for defining standards for message format and content. SWIFT is also Registration authority (RA) for the following ISO standards: 

ISO 9362: 1994 Banking – Banking telecommunication messages – Bank identifier codes

ISO 10383: 2003 Securities and related financial instruments – Codes for exchanges and market identification (MIC)

ISO 13616: 2003 IBAN Registry

ISO 15022: 1999 Securities – Scheme for messages (Data Field Dictionary) (replaces ISO 7775)

ISO 20022-1: 2004 and ISO 20022-2:2007 Financial services – Universal Financial Industry message scheme

In RFC 3615 urn:swift: was defined as Uniform Resource Names (URNs) for SWIFT FIN. 

Operations centres

The SWIFT secure messaging network is run from three data centres, located in the United States, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. These centres share information in near real-time. In case of a failure in one of the data centres, another is able to handle the traffic of the complete network. SWIFT uses submarine communications cables to transmit its data. 

Shortly after opening its third data centre in Switzerland in 2009, SWIFT introduced new distributed architecture with two messaging zones, European and Trans-Atlantic, so data from European SWIFT members no longer mirrored the U.S. data centre. European zone messages are stored in the Netherlands and in part of the Swiss operating centre; Trans-Atlantic zone messages are stored in the United States and in another part of the Swiss operating centre that is segregated from the European zone messages. Countries outside of Europe were by default allocated to the Trans-Atlantic zone, but could choose to have their messages stored in the European zone.

Data centres

SN SWIFT data centres Type

1 Zoeterwoude, Netherlands OPC (Operating Centre)

2 Culpeper, Virginia, United States OPC (Operating Centre)

3 Diessenhofen, Switzerland OPC (Operating Centre)

4 Hong Kong Command and control

SWIFTNet network

SWIFT moved to its current IP network infrastructure, known as SWIFTNet, from 2001 to 2005, providing a total replacement of the previous X.25 infrastructure. The process involved the development of new protocols that facilitate efficient messaging, using existing and new message standards. The adopted technology chosen to develop the protocols was XML, where it now provides a wrapper around all messages legacy or contemporary. The communication protocols can be broken down into:

InterAct

SWIFTNet InterAct Realtime

SWIFTNet InterAct Store and Forward

FileAct

SWIFTNet FileAct Realtime

SWIFTNet FileAct Store and Forward

Browse

SWIFTNet Browse

Architecture

SWIFT provides a centralized store-and-forward mechanism, with some transaction management. For bank A to send a message to bank B with a copy or authorization involving institution C, it formats the message according to standards and securely sends it to SWIFT. SWIFT guarantees its secure and reliable delivery to B after the appropriate action by C. SWIFT guarantees are based primarily on high redundancy of hardware, software, and people.

SWIFTNet Phase 2

During 2007 and 2008, the entire SWIFT network migrated its infrastructure to a new protocol called SWIFTNet Phase 2. The main difference between Phase 2 and the former arrangement is that Phase 2 requires banks connecting to the network to use a Relationship Management Application (RMA) instead of the former bilateral key exchange (BKE) system. According to SWIFT's public information database on the subject, RMA software should eventually prove more secure and easier to keep up-to-date; however, converting to the RMA system meant that thousands of banks around the world had to update their international payments systems to comply with the new standards. RMA completely replaced BKE on 1 January 2009.

Products and interfaces

SWIFT means several things in the financial world:

a secure network for transmitting messages between financial institutions;

a set of syntax standards for financial messages (for transmission over SWIFTNet or any other network)

a set of connection software and services allowing financial institutions to transmit messages over SWIFT network.

Under 3 above, SWIFT provides turn-key solutions for members, consisting of linkage clients to facilitate connectivity to the SWIFT network and CBTs or "computer based terminals" which members use to manage the delivery and receipt of their messages. Some of the more well-known interfaces and CBTs provided to their members are:

SWIFTNet Link (SNL) software which is installed on the SWIFT customer's site and opens a connection to SWIFTNet. Other applications can only communicate with SWIFTNet through the SNL.

Alliance Gateway (SAG) software with interfaces (e.g., RAHA = Remote Access Host Adapter), allowing other software products to use the SNL to connect to SWIFTNet

Alliance WebStation (SAB) desktop interface for SWIFT Alliance Gateway with several usage options:

administrative access to the SAG

direct connection SWIFTNet by the SAG, to administrate SWIFT Certificates

so-called Browse connection to SWIFTNet (also by SAG) to use additional services, for example Target2

Alliance Access (SAA) and Alliance Messaging Hub (AMH) are the main messaging software applications by SWIFT, which allow message creation for FIN messages, routing and monitoring for FIN and MX messages. The main interfaces are FTA (files transfer automated, not FTP) and MQSA, a WebSphere MQ interface.

The Alliance Workstation (SAW) is the desktop software for administration, monitoring and FIN message creation. Since Alliance Access is not yet capable of creating MX messages, Alliance Messenger (SAM) has to be used for this purpose.

Alliance Web Platform (SWP) as new thin-client desktop interface provided as an alternative to existing Alliance WebStation, Alliance Workstation (soon)[when?] and Alliance Messenger.

Alliance Integrator built on Oracle's Java Caps which enables customer's back office applications to connect to Alliance Access or Alliance Entry.

Alliance Lite2 is a secure and reliable, cloud-based way to connect to the SWIFT network which is a light version of Alliance Access specifically targeting customers with low volume of traffic.

Services

There are four key areas that SWIFT services fall under in the financial marketplace: securities, treasury & derivatives, trade services. and payments-and-cash management.

Securities

SWIFTNet FIX (obsolete)

SWIFTNet Data Distribution

SWIFTNet Funds

SWIFTNet Accord for Securities (end of life October 2017) 

Treasury and derivatives

SWIFTNet Accord for Treasury (end of life October 2017) 

SWIFTNet Affirmations

SWIFTNet CLS Third Party Service

Cash management

SWIFTNet Bulk Payments

SWIFTNet Cash Reporting

SWIFTNet Exceptions and Investigations

Trade services

SWIFTNet Trade Services Utility

SWIFTREF

Swift Ref, the global payment reference data utility, is SWIFT's unique reference data service. Swift Ref sources data direct from data originators, including central banks, code issuers and banks making it easy for issuers and originators to maintain data regularly and thoroughly. SWIFTRef constantly validates and cross-checks data across the different data sets. 

SWIFTNet Mail

SWIFT offers a secure person-to-person messaging service, SWIFTNet Mail, which went live on 16 May 2007. SWIFT clients can configure their existing email infrastructure to pass email messages through the highly secure and reliable SWIFTNet network instead of the open Internet. SWIFTNet Mail is intended for the secure transfer of sensitive business documents, such as invoices, contracts and signatories, and is designed to replace existing telex and courier services, as well as the transmission of security-sensitive data over the open Internet. Seven financial institutions, including HSBC, FirstRand Bank, Clearstream, DnB NOR, Nedbank, and Standard Bank of South Africa, as well as SWIFT piloted the service. 

U.S. government involvement

Terrorist Finance Tracking Program

A series of articles published on 23 June 2006 in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times revealed a program, named the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, which the US Treasury Department, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and other United States governmental agencies initiated after the 11 September attacks to gain access to the SWIFT transaction database. 

After the publication of these articles, SWIFT quickly came under pressure for compromising the data privacy of its customers by allowing governments to gain access to sensitive personal information. In September 2006, the Belgian government declared that these SWIFT dealings with American governmental authorities were a breach of Belgian and European privacy laws. 

In response, and to satisfy members' concerns about privacy, SWIFT began a process of improving its architecture by implementing a distributed architecture with a two-zone model for storing messages (see Operations centres).

Concurrently, the European Union negotiated an agreement with the United States government to permit the transfer of intra-EU SWIFT transaction information to the United States under certain circumstances. Because of concerns about its potential contents, the European Parliament adopted a position statement in September 2009, demanding to see the full text of the agreement and asking that it be fully compliant with EU privacy legislation, with oversight mechanisms emplaced to ensure that all data requests were handled appropriately. An interim agreement was signed without European Parliamentary approval by the European Council on 30 November 2009, the day before the Lisbon Treaty—which would have prohibited such an agreement from being signed under the terms of the codecision procedure—formally came into effect. While the interim agreement was scheduled to come into effect on 1 January 2010, the text of the agreement was classified as "EU Restricted" until translations could be provided in all EU languages and published on 25 January 2010.

On 11 February 2010, the European Parliament decided to reject the interim agreement between the EU and the US by 378 to 196 votes. One week earlier, the parliament's civil liberties committee had already rejected the deal, citing legal reservations. 

In March 2011, it was reported that two mechanisms of data protection had failed: EUROPOL released a report complaining that requests for information from the US had been too vague (making it impossible to make judgments on validity) and that the guaranteed right for European citizens to know whether their information had been accessed by US authorities had not been put into practice. 

Monitoring by the NSA

Der Spiegel reported in September 2013 that the National Security Agency (NSA) widely monitors banking transactions via SWIFT, as well as credit card transactions. The NSA intercepted and retained data from the SWIFT network used by thousands of banks to securely send transaction information. SWIFT was named as a "target", according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden. The documents revealed that the NSA spied on SWIFT using a variety of methods, including reading "SWIFT printer traffic from numerous banks". In April 2017, a group known as the Shadow Brokers released files allegedly from the NSA which indicate that the agency monitored financial transactions made through SWIFT. 

Use in sanctions

Belarus