Denmark Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a Danish Business

TL;DR. Denmark’s CVR register is one of the most open business registries in the world: fully free, full English UI, no account required, annual reports included, and a well-documented public API. A foreign compliance buyer can run a complete company check including financials, ownership, and production units in minutes without any registration or payment.

What is the official Denmark business registry?

Denmark’s central business register is the CVR (Centrale Virksomhedsregister), operated by the Erhvervsstyrelsen (Danish Business Authority) under the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs. CVR has been the authoritative national register since its launch in 1999, consolidating what had previously been fragmented across trade registers, tax authorities, and statistical agencies.

The statutory basis is the Erhvervsregistreringsloven (Business Registration Act), which requires all commercial enterprises, associations, and public entities to register. Sole traders (Enkeltmandsvirksomhed) above the VAT threshold are also registered, as are foundations, public institutions, and foreign branches operating in Denmark.

The primary public access point is datacvr.virk.dk, the full data version of the Virk business portal. The main portal at virk.dk serves both the company registration function and the public search interface. Both are operated by Erhvervsstyrelsen.

CVR coverage includes: A/S (Aktieselskab, public limited company), ApS (Anpartsselskab, private limited company), I/S (Interessentskab, general partnership), K/S (Kommanditselskab, limited partnership), P/S (Partnerselskab, limited liability partnership), IVS (the low-capital variant, now discontinued for new registrations), enkeltmandsvirksomhed (sole trader), and foreign branches (filial). Associations and foundations with commercial activity are also included.

Denmark participates in the EU Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS), and CVR is one of the most extensively integrated national registers in that network.

What can you search?

The CVR is fully open. Everything below is available without an account, without payment, and without registration.

Free search at datacvr.virk.dk:

• Search by company name, CVR-nummer, P-nummer, or industry code (NACE/DB07)
• Returns: company name, CVR-nummer, legal form, registered address, founding date, status (active, dissolved, under dissolution, bankrupt), and industry classification
• Directors and management: names of registered directors, CEO, and board members
• Owners and participations: ownership structure as filed with CVR, including direct ownership percentages
• Real UBO data: Denmark’s beneficial ownership register is integrated into the CVR. Real and ultimate owners (reelle ejere) are searchable directly at datacvr.virk.dk
• Annual reports: filed annual reports are accessible in full through the Regnskabsregisteret, linked from each company record
• Production units (P-numre): each physical business location has its own P-nummer, searchable and linked to the main CVR entity
• Reklamebeskyttelse flag: indicates whether the company has opted out of unsolicited marketing; relevant for data use compliance

What is NOT in the CVR:

• Credit history or payment behavior (available from commercial suppliers)
• Court judgments or litigation records
• Detailed shareholder registers beyond the CVR-reported ownership percentages for certain company types

How much does it cost?

Denmark’s CVR is fully free, including certified data and annual reports. There are no charges for any category of company information available through the official portal.

Do you need a local account or ID?

No. The CVR at datacvr.virk.dk is fully open to anonymous queries. No account, Danish personal identification number (CPR), company number, or Danish address is required for any search or data download.

Danish residents and companies use NemID or MitID for authentication when filing or accessing personal tax data, but public company searches require no authentication at all.

The openness of CVR is a deliberate policy choice by Erhvervsstyrelsen, in line with Denmark’s broader public data transparency principles and the Public Sector Data Act.

Is the website in English?

Yes. Datacvr.virk.dk and virk.dk both provide full English-language interfaces. The language toggle on virk.dk switches the entire navigation, search forms, and results labels to English.

Company records, annual reports, and filed documents may contain Danish-language text because Danish is the language of filing. Annual reports filed in Danish are not translated. However, the metadata, field labels, and navigation are fully in English, making the portal accessible to any compliance buyer without Danish language skills.

For company name and status checks, the English interface is completely sufficient. For detailed review of filed annual accounts or articles of association, a Danish-to-English translation may be needed for non-Danish speakers.

What’s the turnaround time?

Instant. CVR data is updated in near-real time as filings are processed by Erhvervsstyrelsen. Registration changes, director appointments, and status updates typically appear in the CVR within one business day of processing.

Annual report data appears in the CVR as soon as accounts are filed; large companies with calendar-year fiscal years typically file by May-June for the preceding year. Companies outside this window may have a gap between fiscal year-end and the filing date.

There are no paid expedited options because all data is already instantly available at no charge.

Is there an API?

Yes. Denmark provides multiple programmatic access paths:

CVR Open Data API (cvrapi.dk): A well-documented REST API returning structured CVR data by CVR-nummer or company name. The API returns company name, address, industry, employee count, status, and key contact data. Basic lookups are free; commercial use and bulk access require registration at cvrapi.dk. Documentation is available at cvrapi.dk.

Official CVR data distribution (datahub.virk.dk): Erhvervsstyrelsen provides bulk CVR data distribution through the official datahub, including full dataset downloads and streaming data feeds. This is the source used by most Danish data aggregators. Access requires registration but is available to all applicants. Full technical documentation and sample datasets are available at the datahub.

BRIS cross-border API: For EU cross-border queries, CVR data is available through the BRIS network with a standardized cross-border data format.

Rate limits on the cvrapi.dk community endpoint apply; commercial tiers with higher rate limits are available through the service’s own plans.

What you legally cannot do

CVR data is public by statutory design, but use is still bounded by Danish and EU law:

• GDPR applies to personal data. Director names, addresses, and personal identification numbers appearing in CVR records are personal data under GDPR (Regulation 2016/679). Systematic collection and processing of personal data from CVR for purposes beyond the legitimate compliance purpose requires a documented legal basis. Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest) is the most common basis, but proportionality applies.
• Reklamebeskyttelse (marketing protection) is legally binding. If a company record carries the reklamebeskyttelse flag, using that company’s contact details for unsolicited direct marketing is prohibited under Danish Marketing Practices Act (Markedsforingsloven). This applies regardless of whether the data was sourced from CVR or elsewhere.
• Bulk re-publication of CVR data as a competing database requires a specific data use agreement with Erhvervsstyrelsen under the Public Sector Data Act (Lov om videreanvendelse af den offentlige sektors informationer), which implements EU Open Data Directive requirements.
• Annual reports are public record but are protected by copyright held by the filing company. They can be cited and used for compliance analysis; wholesale reproduction as a commercial product is not permitted without authorization.

FATF (fatf-gafi.org) reviewed Denmark’s AML framework; Denmark is not on the FATF grey list as of May 2026. Denmark implements EU AMLD requirements through the Hvidvasklovgivningen (Money Laundering Act), and CVR’s integrated beneficial ownership register meets 5AMLD transparency requirements.

Practical tips for foreign users

• CVR-nummer is the single key identifier. The 8-digit CVR-nummer (for example, 12345678) is the unique, permanent identifier for every registered entity. It does not change on name changes or address changes. When verifying a Danish counterparty, always confirm by CVR-nummer rather than company name alone.
• P-nummer tracks physical locations. If a company operates from multiple sites, each site has its own P-nummer (production unit number). The P-nummer is useful for supply chain due diligence and for identifying specific sites within a group.
• Beneficial ownership is in the same portal. Denmark’s reelle ejere (beneficial owners) data is integrated directly into the CVR record. For most due diligence needs, a single CVR query returns both the entity data and the UBO information without a separate application.
• Annual reports are searchable and downloadable. For financial health assessment, annual accounts filed with Erhvervsstyrelsen are accessible directly from the company record. Denmark’s XBRL-tagged accounts for larger companies are machine-readable.
• IVS is discontinued. The IVS (Ivaerksaetterselskab) low-capital private limited form was discontinued for new registrations in 2019. Existing IVS entities were required to convert to ApS by 2021; an IVS with an active status after 2021 warrants additional checking.
• Status “under frivillig likvidation” means voluntary winding-up. This status indicates the company is in the process of being dissolved voluntarily. The company retains legal capacity during this period but is not trading normally. “Slettet” means struck off.

Alternatives if you cannot access the registry directly

CVR’s open access means direct access barriers are minimal. For users who need enriched data beyond the raw registry record:

• OpenCorporates: Indexes Danish CVR data and provides free company records at opencorporates.com, including entity histories. Useful for bulk lookups and integrations that benefit from OpenCorporates’ multi-jurisdiction API.
• BRIS portal: For EU cross-border queries, basic CVR data is available through the BRIS network in standardized format, useful for multi-jurisdiction workflow integration.
• Local data suppliers (see section below): Bisnode and Creditsafe add payment behavior, credit scores, and monitoring on top of the free CVR data.

Local data suppliers

• Bisnode Denmark (bisnode.dk). Part of the Bisnode/D&B Nordic network, Bisnode Denmark provides credit reports, risk scores, and monitoring services layered on CVR and private data sources. Commonly used by Danish and Nordic financial institutions for counterparty risk assessment. Offers API-based delivery alongside individual report ordering.
• Experian Denmark (experian.dk). The Danish operation of Experian provides commercial credit data, identity verification, fraud prevention tools, and company screening reports. Covers both CVR-registered entities and consumer credit data for Danish counterparts.
• Soliditet (soliditet.dk). A Scandinavian business information provider with deep coverage of Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian companies. Provides credit scores, payment default data, and monitoring. Solid coverage of the SME segment and widely used by Danish trade creditors.
• Creditsafe Denmark (creditsafe.com/dk). Creditsafe’s Danish entity is part of the global Creditsafe network. Provides Danish company credit reports with English-language delivery, real-time CVR monitoring, and sanctions/PEP screening. Used by compliance teams that need Danish coverage integrated with multi-jurisdiction European data.

FAQ

How do I find a Danish company’s CVR number?

CVR numbers are searchable by company name at datacvr.virk.dk or virk.dk. The search returns all matching entities with their 8-digit CVR-nummer, legal form, and address. CVR numbers also appear on official Danish company documents, VAT invoices (as the SE-nummer, which is the same as the CVR-nummer for most entities), and public filings.

Does the CVR include annual reports?

Yes. Annual reports filed with Erhvervsstyrelsen are linked directly from each CVR company record. Most Danish companies of any substantial size are required to file annual accounts. The filing threshold under the Arsregnskabsloven (Financial Statements Act) is low, so a large proportion of registered companies have filed financials accessible through the portal. Reports are in PDF or XBRL format depending on the company size class.

What is the reklamebeskyttelse flag on a CVR record?

Reklamebeskyttelse (literally “advertising protection”) is an opt-out flag that a company can set in its CVR record to indicate it does not wish to receive unsolicited commercial communications. Under the Danish Marketing Practices Act, using a company’s contact information for unsolicited direct marketing when this flag is set is a violation. Data buyers who use CVR data for marketing purposes must screen against this flag.

Does Denmark have a beneficial ownership register?

Yes, and it is integrated into the CVR. Denmark’s reelle ejere (real owners, i.e., UBO) data is filed with Erhvervsstyrelsen and is publicly accessible as part of the standard CVR record at datacvr.virk.dk. This is one of the most accessible UBO registers in the EU. Denmark implemented the 5AMLD beneficial ownership transparency requirements (Directive 2018/843/EU) fully, and the data is open to the public without restriction.

Is Denmark on the FATF grey list?

No. Denmark is a FATF member and is not on the FATF grey list as of May 2026. For current country status, see fatf-gafi.org.

What is the difference between an A/S and an ApS in Denmark?

An A/S (Aktieselskab) is the Danish public limited company form, requiring a minimum share capital of DKK 400,000. It may have its shares publicly traded. An ApS (Anpartsselskab) is the private limited company form with a minimum share capital of DKK 40,000, and its shares are not publicly tradeable without restriction. Most Danish SMEs use the ApS structure. Both are registered in the CVR and have the same public disclosure obligations for annual accounts under the Financial Statements Act, adjusted for size class.

What does “under frivillig likvidation” mean in the CVR?

It means the company is in the process of voluntary liquidation. The owners have decided to wind down the company in an orderly manner without a court-ordered insolvency process. During this period, the company retains legal capacity but is not carrying on normal business. The liquidator’s information appears in the CVR record. This is distinct from “konkurs” (bankruptcy), which indicates a court-managed insolvency proceeding.

Last verified: May 2026. Sources: Erhvervsstyrelsen / CVR (datacvr.virk.dk), Danish Business Authority (erhvervsstyrelsen.dk), EU 5AMLD (Directive 2018/843/EU), FATF (fatf-gafi.org).