Required documents for business verification

This list contains a description of required documents for business verification. 

For an overview of the documents required for the verification of your business, please visit this article about business verification. 

1. Commercial registry extract

The commercial registry extract is a document issued by the commercial register confirming entry in this register. The commercial register contains information about the company, the registered office, the branch, the object of the company, the persons authorized to represent it and the legal form of the company, as well as the shared capital and the name of the business owner.

The two most common forms of the commercial registry extract are the “current” commercial register extract and the “chronological” extract. Depending on the length, the commercial registry extract may include several pages. All pages are required for verification and the extract must not be older than 6 months.

2. Shareholder list / Shareholder agreement

Shareholder list:

A shareholder list is a list of all shareholders and their shares in a company. The list of shareholders is an appendix to the commercial register. The shareholder list must contain the following information about shareholders who are natural persons:

• first and last name
• date of birth
• residence
• nominal amount and serial numbers of the business shares
• percentage of participation in the shared capital
• if a shareholder holds several shares: indicate the total amount of the participation in the share capital as a separate percentage

If a shareholder is another company, additional information must be provided:

• list of affiliated companies
• status list
• register court and registration number

Shareholder agreement:

The shareholder agreement is the appendix or statute to the founding document of a registered company. This is notarised for all registered companies and describes the object of the company, the company name, the shareholders and the capital, the distribution of the shares, the address of the company, as well as all resolutions resolved in the first company meeting and the resulting circumstances.
Alternatively, a company can also be founded as a one-person or multi-person company using a sample protocol (Musterprotokoll). This contains all information of the partnership agreement and replaces the founding certificate and the annex as a simplified form of foundation according to Paragraph 2 Paragraph 1a GmbHG. This is possible if a company with one or up to three shareholders.

3. Company Agreement

A social contract is a document that sets out the principles of the company and, for example, decision-making powers for special transactions, changes in capital or changes in shareholder structure. A company agreement has several pages and must be authorised by a notary. All pages of the company agreement, as well as signatures and the notary's authorisation must be present on the document.

4. Power of Attorney

A power of attorney is a document that gives a person the power of representation for another person in legal transactions. In other words, if you are not the sole director of the company, you will also need a completed power of attorney confirming that legal transactions may be conducted on behalf of the company.

The forms can be found here:

• Power of Attorney Company

Authorized representative = Person, which opens the Holvi account.