Swiss commercial register

The quickest way to find a Swiss company is Zefix, the federal government's central business name index: enter the company name or UID, and the result links to the free extract from the cantonal commercial register. Only the register office of the canton where the company has its seat issues a certified extract. Prospex counts 737,556 active legal entities in the register; in the last 30 days the SHAB published 4,537 new registrations and, excluding sole proprietorships, 1,467 bankruptcies or court-ordered dissolutions.

What the commercial register holds and who keeps it

The commercial register lists Switzerland's legal entities: stock corporations (AG/SA), limited liability companies (GmbH/Sàrl), cooperatives, associations and foundations, as well as general partnerships, sole proprietorships and branches. For each it records the company name, seat and address, legal form and purpose, the people authorised to sign and, for companies with share capital, the capital and the auditor. An AG, a GmbH or a cooperative only comes into existence when it is entered. A sole proprietorship must register once its turnover in the last financial year has reached CHF 100,000. The shareholders of an AG do not appear in the register.

The cantons keep the register under federal oversight: 26 cantonal registers run by 28 offices, three of them in Valais. The Federal Commercial Registry Office (EHRA), part of the Federal Office of Justice, checks and approves every cantonal entry and runs Zefix. The rules are set out in Art. 927 ff. of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) and in the Commercial Register Ordinance (HRegV).

How to search the Swiss commercial register

Zefix searches the registers of all 26 cantons at once, free and without an account. You can narrow the results by canton or legal form. The EHRA updates the index daily. Only the entry in the cantonal register is authoritative: data shown on Zefix has no legal effect.

Most cantonal portals also offer a version with deleted entries, which shows former names and addresses and people who have left.

Company profiles on Prospex show the register data with the current board members and signatories, rebuilt from SHAB notices. Prospex is a private company and does not keep the commercial register. For a step-by-step check, see How to check a Swiss company. To query many companies, use the Zefix REST API; Zefix, Moneyhouse or SHAB compares which source answers which question.

Commercial register extract: free online or certified

The online extract, on Zefix or the cantonal portal, is free and current to the last entry. It is enough for your own checks. Banks, notaries, courts and foreign authorities ask for a certified extract with a stamp and signature, which only the seat canton's register office issues.

The federal fee ordinance (GebV-HReg) allows CHF 10 to 120 for a certified extract. The offices that publish their price charge between CHF 25 and 50, with CHF 50 in Zurich and Vaud. To read an extract section by section, use the guide to the Swiss commercial register extract.

The SHAB, where every entry is published

Every entry is published online in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce (SHAB, FOSC in French) and only takes effect on publication (Art. 936a CO). The cantonal office sends the entry to the EHRA on the working day it records it in the daily register; once approved, it appears in the SHAB. Of the roughly 226,000 register notices published since January 2026, 94% appeared three working days after the daily-register entry.

The SHAB also carries the other notices the law requires, among them bankruptcy openings and the call to creditors of a company in liquidation. Reading SHAB/FOSC explains how a notice is built.

The UID number and the UID register

The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) assigns every entity in the commercial register a business identification number (UID) in the format CHE-123.456.789, free of charge and never the same number twice. It stays the same when the name or seat changes, and with the suffix MWST, TVA or IVA it serves as the VAT number.

The FSO's UID register also holds entities with no commercial register entry: self-employed people and liberal professions, associations and foundations that pay social security (AHV) contributions, farms and administrative units. For each entity it shows whether it is in the commercial register and registered for VAT. The guide to the Swiss UID number explains how to look one up and verify its check digit.

Terms on a commercial register extract

Legal form: stock corporation (AG), limited liability company (GmbH), sole proprietorship, general partnership or branch.
Capital: the share capital of an AG or the nominal capital of a GmbH. For a rise in capital, see What a capital increase means.
People and signatures: the board of directors and how each person may sign, with sole signature or joint signature by two.
Address and status: a c/o address means the company is domiciled with a third party; deletion ends the entry.

Commercial register offices of the 26 cantons

Each canton's page gives the office's address and opening hours and explains how to order a certified extract; it also lists the latest SHAB entries.

Canton	Register office	New registrations (30 days)	Bankruptcies (30 days)
Zurich	Zürich	864	170
Geneva	Genève	346	277
Vaud	Moudon	403	147
Bern	Ostermundigen	349	60
Zug	Zug	322	159
Aargau	Aarau	339	71
St. Gallen	St.Gallen	229	51
Lucerne	Luzern	205	60
Ticino	Biasca	179	85
Schwyz	Schwyz	139	43
Valais	Brig-Glis · Sion · St-Maurice	209	37
Thurgau	Frauenfeld	113	37
Basel-Landschaft	Arlesheim	113	37
Basel-Stadt	Basel	124	37
Fribourg	Fribourg	164	50
Solothurn	Klus-Balsthal	116	46
Grisons	Chur	87	26
Neuchâtel	Neuchâtel 2	74	20
Schaffhausen	Schaffhausen	25	3
Nidwalden	Stans	24	13
Jura	Delémont	34	5
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	Herisau	19	28
Obwalden	Sarnen	17	0
Glarus	Glarus	22	3
Uri	Altdorf	12	0
Appenzell Innerrhoden	Appenzell	9	2

Frequently asked questions about the Swiss commercial register

Is the Swiss commercial register public and free?

Yes. The commercial register is public (Art. 936 CO), and the law requires entries, articles of association and foundation deeds to be available online free of charge. You can view any company's extract for free on Zefix or the cantonal portal. Only the certified extract carries a fee.

How do I get a certified commercial register extract?

From the register office of the canton where the company has its seat, depending on the canton online, by email, by post or at the counter. The federal ordinance allows a fee of CHF 10 to 120; the offices that publish a price charge CHF 25 to 50. Each canton's page explains the procedure.

What is the difference between Zefix and the cantonal commercial register?

The canton keeps the register, and its entry is the authoritative one. Zefix is the federal index: it makes the entries of all cantons searchable in one place and links to the cantonal extract. The data shown on Zefix itself has no legal effect.

What is a Swiss UID number?

The business identification number, in the format CHE-123.456.789. The Federal Statistical Office assigns it to each business once and for good. Since 2014 it has replaced the old commercial register number, and with the suffix MWST, TVA or IVA it is the VAT number.

How long does a new entry take to appear in the SHAB?

Usually three working days after the entry in the daily register: that was the case for 94% of the roughly 226,000 register notices published since January 2026. The cantonal office sends the entry to the EHRA the same working day, and the EHRA checks and approves it. The entry only takes effect once the SHAB publishes it.

I received an invoice for a commercial register entry. Is it genuine?

Commercial register fees are charged only by the cantonal offices. No federal authority sends invoices for commercial register entries, as the Federal Office of Justice points out. Check who is issuing an invoice before you pay it. SECO takes reports of suspicious invoices at fair-business@seco.admin.ch.