Handelsregister

The Dutch Handelsregister lists every company doing business in the Netherlands, each with a unique KVK number and public record.

The Handelsregister (trade register) is the Dutch government register that records every company, foundation, association and other organisation carrying out economic activity in the Netherlands, together with sole traders and business partnerships. It is kept by the Kamer van Koophandel (KVK, the Chamber of Commerce) under the Handelsregisterwet 2007, and registration is compulsory before an entity may start trading.

Each entry receives a unique KVK number, the identifier other parties use to look the entity up. A typical entry lists:

• legal form: sole trader, partnership (vof, cv, maatschap), BV, NV, foundation or association
• registered name: the statutory name and any trade names used alongside it
• address: the registered office and any branch locations
• representation: officeholders and their signing authority - who may act for the organisation and under what mandate
• dates: when the entity was founded and, where applicable, dissolved

Because the register is public and kept up to date, it functions as an authentic source for company data: a party that needs to know whether a company exists, under what name, and who may sign on its behalf can check the Handelsregister rather than take a claim on trust. This is exactly what a QTSP consults before issuing a company certificate or a qualified electronic seal to a legal person, and what a Wwft-obliged institution checks during customer due diligence. The Handelsregister also underpins the UBO-register, the related but separate register of ultimate beneficial owners that KVK keeps alongside it.

Note: registration confirms that a company exists and, on paper, who may represent it - it does not by itself verify the identity of the person actually signing. A QTSP or notary still carries out that identity check separately before a company certificate or seal is issued.