Taiwan Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a Taiwan Business

TL;DR. Taiwan’s official company registry is operated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Business Development Administration and is freely searchable at findbiz.nat.gov.tw. No account is required, no fees apply, and the basic search interface has English support. The 8-digit Unified Business Number (UBN) is the anchor identifier across all government systems. Foreign compliance buyers can access the registry directly without any local credentials.

What is the official Taiwan business registry?

Taiwan’s central company registry is maintained by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Business Development Administration, operating under the Company Act (公司法) and the Business Registration Act (商業登記法). The primary public search portal is findbiz.nat.gov.tw, which handles approximately 1.6 million queries monthly and has processed over 2.6 billion cumulative queries since its launch in March 2017.

A parallel portal, gcis.nat.gov.tw (Government Commercial and Industrial Services), provides access to the same registry data and also handles administrative functions including company registration applications. As of May 2026, findbiz.nat.gov.tw is the recommended entry point for public information queries.

Taiwan has two main entity types for commercial purposes. Companies (公司) are registered under the Company Act and include limited companies (有限公司), companies limited by shares (股份有限公司, the equivalent of a joint-stock company), and unlimited companies. Businesses (商業) are registered under the Business Registration Act and cover sole proprietorships and partnerships.

All registered entities in Taiwan are assigned a Unified Business Number (統一編號, UBN), an 8-digit identifier used across government systems, tax, procurement, and commercial databases. The UBN is the anchor identifier for all Taiwan company lookups.

What can you search?

findbiz.nat.gov.tw supports a wide range of search methods:

• Company or business name (partial match supported for Chinese characters; exact match for English names)
• Unified Business Number (UBN): the 8-digit primary identifier
• Factory registration number
• Registered address
• Company representative (法定代理人)
• Directors, supervisors, or managers by name
• Foreign company names as stated in bylaws
• Previous company names or historical UBNs (for records post-2011)
• Multiple UBNs in a single batch query

Data available in the free search includes: registered Chinese and English company name, UBN, entity type, company address, registration date, company status (active, dissolved, revoked), registered capital amount, company representative name, directors and supervisors with shareholding percentages, the company’s business activities (using Taiwan’s business activity codes), and the number of employees in ranges.

The portal distinguishes between companies (subject to the Company Act) and businesses (sole proprietors and partnerships under the Business Registration Act). Both are searchable in the same interface.

Factory registration data is also queryable, which is useful for manufacturing counterparty verification.

How much does it cost?

The findbiz.nat.gov.tw portal is free. There is no charge for any search query, no account required, and no limit on the number of searches.

There is no paid tier for additional data fields. All data fields the portal exposes are available in the free search. This makes Taiwan’s registry one of the more accessible public registries in East Asia for foreign compliance buyers.

For certified extracts or official certificates (e.g., a Certificate of Incorporation for legal or cross-border use), a formal application to the MOEA Business Development Administration or a local agent is required. Those requests may carry administrative fees set by the relevant government office, but routine compliance searches do not.

Do you need a local account or ID?

No account and no Taiwan identity document are required for any search on findbiz.nat.gov.tw. The portal is entirely public and anonymous. A foreign compliance buyer can run unlimited searches using a standard browser without registering.

The companion portal gcis.nat.gov.tw is also publicly accessible for search purposes. Administrative actions (filing submissions, company amendments) on gcis.nat.gov.tw require authentication, but those are out of scope for due diligence queries.

Is the website in English?

Partial. The findbiz.nat.gov.tw portal has an English language toggle in the navigation. Core search functions and company profile fields are translated. However, the most detailed company information, including full articles of incorporation, resolutions, and certain annotations, appears in Traditional Chinese only.

For a typical compliance lookup, the English interface is sufficient to retrieve: company name, UBN, registration status, address, capital amount, and the names of directors and the company representative. Translating the business activity codes from Chinese may require a reference table or a translation step.

The GCIS portal (gcis.nat.gov.tw) also has English content for core search functions.

What’s the turnaround time?

All searches are instant. There is no queue, no processing time, and no manual fulfilment step for standard queries. The portal returns results in real time from the live registry database.

Data freshness is tied to filing events. Company amendments (director changes, capital increases, address updates) appear in the registry within a few business days of the MOEA processing the filing. There is no stated SLA for data propagation, but the registry is generally current within 3 to 5 business days of a change being filed.

Is there an API?

No public API is available as of May 2026. The findbiz.nat.gov.tw portal does not offer a documented external API for programmatic access. Automated queries are technically possible given the portal’s structure, but automating queries in bulk likely falls outside the portal’s terms of use.

For institutional users needing bulk data, engagement with the MOEA Business Development Administration directly is the recommended path. Taiwan’s government data portal (data.gov.tw) publishes some company registration datasets as downloadable files, which can be useful for large-scale compliance database seeding.

The GCIS portal does not offer a public API either.

What you legally cannot do

Taiwan’s Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法, PIPA) governs the use of personal data including director names and representative information found in company registry extracts. Permitted purposes include due diligence, compliance verification, and counterparty screening. Using the data for unsolicited marketing, building personal profiles unrelated to the original compliance purpose, or redistributing it commercially without appropriate legal basis is restricted.

The findbiz.nat.gov.tw portal’s terms prohibit automated bulk scraping of registry data. For large-scale data needs, direct engagement with MOEA for data licensing is the appropriate route.

Foreign compliance buyers should note that Taiwan is not a member of FATF, as FATF membership is limited to states with full international recognition. Taiwan participates in the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) as an observer and has aligned its AML/CFT framework with FATF standards through domestic legislation, including the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) and Terrorism Financing Prevention Act (資恐防制法). The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is the primary AML/CFT regulator for financial institutions.

Practical tips for foreign users

• UBN is the anchor. Always use the 8-digit Unified Business Number (Tax ID) for definitive lookups. The UBN doubles as the company’s tax identification number across all government systems. Company names in Taiwan can be similar or identical across different entity types, and transliterations of Chinese names vary. The UBN is unique per registered entity.
• Check entity type. Taiwan distinguishes between companies (公司, under the Company Act) and businesses (商業, under the Business Registration Act). A manufacturer registered as a “business” has different disclosure obligations than one registered as a “company.” The portal will show the entity type in the result.
• Director names in Chinese. Director and representative names are displayed in Chinese characters. For compliance files requiring English transliterations, obtain the individual’s passport or national ID transliteration rather than relying on any automated romanization.
• Status codes matter. The registry shows distinct status values for: active (核准設立), dissolved (解散), revoked (撤銷), suspended, and branch offices. “Dissolved” does not necessarily mean the company ceased operations abruptly; voluntary dissolution is common after business wind-down.
• Branch offices of foreign companies appear in the registry with their own UBN, separate from their parent. The registered representative in Taiwan is disclosed, but the parent company’s officers are not automatically surfaced.
• Cross-check on GCIS. For any company where the findbiz result seems incomplete, cross-check on gcis.nat.gov.tw. The two portals draw from the same database but occasionally surface different detail levels in the UI.
• Capital amounts are in TWD. A company with registered capital of TWD 1,000,000 is capitalized at approximately USD 31,000 at current rates. Many Taiwanese SMEs have low nominal registered capital that does not reflect actual business scale.

Alternatives if you cannot access the registry directly

• OpenCorporates: indexes some Taiwan company records but coverage depends on what MOEA data is publicly released. Useful for quick name checks; not for compliance-grade UBO verification.
• Taiwan government open data (data.gov.tw): MOEA publishes company registration datasets as CSV downloads, which can be useful for large-scale list screening.

Local data suppliers

If you need a packaged credit or risk report rather than a raw MOEA registry extract, Taiwan has an established set of providers:

• Taiwan Ratings Corporation (taiwanratings.com). An S&P Global affiliate operating in Taiwan since 1997. Provides corporate credit ratings, issue ratings, and rating research for Taiwan-incorporated companies across corporate, financial institution, and structured finance sectors. Use when you need a formal credit opinion rather than a registry extract. Taiwan Ratings covers listed companies and major private issuers. Coverage of small and mid-market companies is limited.

• GCIS Government Commercial and Industrial Services (gcis.nat.gov.tw). The official government portal operated by MOEA’s Business Development Administration. Beyond the free public search layer, GCIS handles applications for certified registration extracts and certificates of incorporation status for use in cross-border legal and compliance processes. Use when you need a government-certified document rather than a screen extract from findbiz.

• China Credit Information Service (ccis.com.tw). A long-established Taiwan credit bureau offering company credit reports, financial statement analysis, and risk assessments on Taiwan-registered companies. Provides both individual company reports and portfolio screening services. Covers listed and unlisted companies with trade reference data.

Use findbiz.nat.gov.tw for the authoritative legal filing record. Use Taiwan Ratings for formal credit opinions on rated entities. Use CCIS or similar credit bureaus when you need payment behavior, trade references, or financial analysis layered on top of the registry extract.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access the Taiwan MOEA company registry without an account?

Yes. The findbiz.nat.gov.tw portal is entirely public and requires no account, no Taiwan identity document, and no payment. A foreign compliance buyer can run unlimited searches directly from any browser. The English-language toggle on the portal makes basic searches accessible without Chinese reading ability, though detailed filings are in Traditional Chinese.

What is the Unified Business Number (UBN) and where do I find it?

The Unified Business Number (統一編號, UBN) is an 8-digit government-assigned identifier for every registered Taiwan company or business. It appears on a company’s invoices, contracts, business cards, and government filings. On findbiz.nat.gov.tw, you can search by UBN directly. If you only have the company name, the portal will display the UBN in the search result. The UBN is the most reliable anchor for unambiguous company identification.

What entity types are registered in Taiwan and how do they differ?

The two main categories are companies (公司) under the Company Act, and businesses (商業) under the Business Registration Act. Companies include limited companies (有限公司), companies limited by shares (股份有限公司), unlimited companies, and limited partnerships. Businesses include sole proprietorships and general partnerships. Companies have more formal disclosure requirements, including director and capital disclosure. Businesses have lighter registration obligations.

Does Taiwan have a beneficial ownership registry?

As of May 2026, Taiwan does not have a centralized public beneficial ownership registry equivalent to the UK’s People with Significant Control (PSC) register. The findbiz portal discloses company representatives and directors. For listed companies, shareholder disclosures are available through the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and Taipei Exchange (TPEx) filing systems. For unlisted companies, UBO tracing requires combining the registry extract with additional due diligence steps.

Is Taiwan company data reliable for AML compliance purposes?

Taiwan has aligned its AML/CFT framework with FATF recommendations through domestic legislation and is an active member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG). The MOEA registry is a primary-source government database with statutory accuracy requirements. For most AML/CFT onboarding purposes, a findbiz extract combined with a company credit report from a local bureau constitutes a compliant CDD baseline. Enhanced due diligence requirements depend on the risk rating of the specific counterparty and the policies of the compliance buyer’s institution.

How do I get a certified copy of a Taiwan company’s registration documents?

Certified extracts and certificates of incorporation status are available through the GCIS portal (gcis.nat.gov.tw) or via local licensed agents. The process involves submitting a formal application and paying the prescribed government fee. For cross-border legal use, documents may require apostille under the Hague Convention process, which Taiwan handles through its representative offices abroad and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs domestically.

What is the difference between findbiz.nat.gov.tw and gcis.nat.gov.tw?

Both portals are operated by the MOEA Business Development Administration and draw from the same registry database. findbiz.nat.gov.tw is optimized for public information queries and provides instant, free, anonymous access to company profiles. gcis.nat.gov.tw is the broader administrative portal that also handles company registration applications, amendments, and certificate requests. For routine due diligence searches, findbiz is the faster and simpler entry point. For certified document requests or registration-related administrative processes, gcis is the correct portal.

Last verified: May 2026. Source: Ministry of Economic Affairs Business Development Administration (MOEA) via findbiz.nat.gov.tw and gcis.nat.gov.tw. For the full global due diligence framework, see the Global Business Due Diligence Guide.