A jurisdiction report answers one question before any other: who controls the company, and what can be established from official sources in that jurisdiction. The angle is control — not incorporation history, not tax status, not market position. Control: who holds voting rights, who sits on the board, and what the shareholder can enforce.
Across 35 jurisdictions, the answer differs by registry architecture, access rules, and the gap between what is filed and what is disclosed. This page describes what a jurisdiction report covers, what it cannot cover, and what it costs.
What the report establishesCorporate control layer: registered shareholders, directors, voting structure, and filed status — drawn from official registries in the target jurisdiction. Jurisdictions covered35 jurisdictions across common law, civil law, and hybrid systems. Source availability is mapped before the report is commissioned. Ceiling stated before paymentYes. The data limit for the target jurisdiction is disclosed at the Signal tier before the Standard or Extended scope is ordered. Registry access feesAccess costs vary by jurisdiction and registry. Mechanisms are described in the scope; exact tariffs are not embedded in the report price.The report draws on official registries: company registers, insolvency registers, court records where publicly accessible, and filed financial statements where disclosure is mandatory. The object is the control layer — the structure that determines who can bind the company, who can remove directors, and what a minority shareholder can enforce.
Each report maps three layers in sequence.
Registry layer. Registered name, registration number, legal form, registered address, and current status. This layer is available in all 35 jurisdictions, though the depth of structured data varies significantly.
Control layer. Registered shareholders with percentage holdings, directors with appointment and cessation dates, and — where the jurisdiction requires filing — voting agreements or shareholder resolutions. This is the primary layer for a buyer verifying an object.
Filed documents layer. Annual accounts, articles of association, and any filed amendments. Availability depends on the jurisdiction's disclosure requirements and the company's filing compliance.
Where a layer is unavailable or incomplete, the report states this explicitly. A gap in the filed documents layer is itself a finding.
Corporate control is not uniform across jurisdictions. The same economic reality — one person directing a company — can appear in the registry as a sole director, a majority shareholder, a managing partner, or a beneficial owner, depending on the legal form and the jurisdiction's disclosure rules.
The report identifies the control structure as it appears in official sources. It does not infer control from economic logic. Where the registry shows a nominee or a holding company at the top of the chain, the report states the chain as filed and names the point at which it stops.
Three structural patterns recur across the 35 jurisdictions:
Direct shareholding. The controlling person appears by name in the shareholders register with a stated percentage. This is the most legible structure. It is common in jurisdictions with mandatory shareholder disclosure and public registry access.
Layered holding. The registered shareholder is a legal entity in another jurisdiction. The report traces the chain to the next layer and states whether that layer is accessible from official sources. Where it is not, the report names the jurisdiction and the access barrier.
Nominee or trust arrangement. The registered shareholder holds shares on behalf of another party. This arrangement may or may not be disclosed in the registry. Where it is disclosed, the report records it. Where it is not, the report cannot establish it from official sources — and says so.
The 35 jurisdictions in scope span three registry architectures. Each architecture determines what the report can establish and at what cost.
| Architecture | Characteristics | Control layer depth |
|---|---|---|
| Public electronic registry | Structured data, searchable by name or number, documents downloadable | High — shareholders and directors named with dates |
| Public registry, document-based | Registry is accessible but returns scanned filings, not structured data | Medium — data must be extracted from filed documents |
| Restricted registry | Access requires registration, national identifier, or declaration of legitimate interest | Variable — depth depends on access granted |
| Nominee-permissive jurisdiction | Beneficial owner not required to appear in the registry | Low — registered layer may not reflect control |
The report specifies the architecture of the target jurisdiction before the scope is confirmed. A buyer ordering a report on a nominee-permissive jurisdiction receives the registered layer in full and a stated explanation of why the beneficial layer is not accessible from official sources.
Beneficial ownership registers exist in a number of the 35 jurisdictions. Access rules differ materially from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and from the position before 2022 to the position now.
In several EU jurisdictions, public access to beneficial ownership registers was restricted following the Court of Justice ruling in November 2022. The report does not state that a register is publicly accessible without verifying current access conditions for the target jurisdiction. Where access requires a demonstrated legitimate interest, the report describes the mechanism and the documentation required.
In common law jurisdictions outside the EU, the position varies. Some jurisdictions maintain publicly accessible registers of persons with significant control. Others do not require beneficial ownership disclosure at the registry level. The report states which category applies to the target jurisdiction.
Where beneficial ownership cannot be established from official sources, the report names the last verifiable layer in the chain and states the access barrier at the next layer. This is a finding, not a gap in the report.
Every jurisdiction report carries a stated ceiling. The ceiling is not a disclaimer — it is a finding about the registry architecture of the target jurisdiction.
The following limits apply across the 35 jurisdictions in scope:
Nominee arrangements not disclosed in the registry cannot be established from official sources. The report records the registered shareholder. It does not establish whether that shareholder holds on behalf of another party unless a declaration is filed.
Layered holding structures are traced to the point where the chain enters a jurisdiction whose registry is not accessible to foreign applicants without a national identifier or a licensed local agent. The report names that point.
Beneficial ownership registers with restricted access are described by mechanism. Where access requires a court order, a regulatory referral, or a demonstrated legitimate interest that a foreign buyer cannot establish without local representation, the report states this before the Extended scope is ordered.
Insolvency registers return a negative result as of the date of search. A negative result does not confirm the absence of a filed application that has not yet been processed or published. The report states the search date and the register searched.
Filed financial statements reflect what the company has filed, not what it has earned. Where filing compliance is low in the target jurisdiction, the report notes the gap between the filing obligation and the available record.
The ceiling for the specific target jurisdiction is stated at the Signal tier. A buyer who finds the ceiling unacceptable at Signal does not pay for Standard or Extended.
Where official sources in the same jurisdiction return inconsistent data — a different director name in the company register and in a filed annual return, a shareholder percentage that does not match the articles of association — the report records both versions and states the source and date of each.
A discrepancy between sources is itself a finding. It may reflect a filing error, a delay in registry processing, or a structural change that has been filed in one place and not yet reflected in another. The report does not resolve the discrepancy. It presents both records and states what each source shows.
Where the discrepancy is material to the control question — for example, where the registered director differs from the signatory on filed documents — the report flags this in the summary.
| Tier | Price | What is included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €440 | Registry layer: registered name, number, legal form, address, current status. Control layer: registered shareholders and directors as filed. Stated ceiling for the target jurisdiction. | Beneficial ownership layer. Filed financial statements. Insolvency search. Document retrieval. |
| Standard | €890 | Everything in Signal. Filed documents: articles of association, most recent annual return, any filed amendments. Insolvency register search. Discrepancy flag where sources disagree. | Beneficial ownership layer where access is restricted. Translation of filed documents. Legal qualification of findings. |
| Extended | €1800 | Everything in Standard. Beneficial ownership layer where accessible from official sources. Layered holding chain traced to the accessible limit. Stated access barrier at the point where the chain stops. Summary of control structure with source citations. | Legal advice. Representation before any registry. Findings beyond what official sources disclose. |
The ceiling for the target jurisdiction is stated before Standard or Extended is ordered. Where the Extended scope cannot reach the beneficial ownership layer due to access restrictions, the price reflects the scope that can be delivered — not the scope that cannot.
Signal tier: three to five business days from confirmation of the target jurisdiction and company identifier.
Standard tier: five to eight business days. Where filed documents require retrieval from a document-based registry, the timeline extends to the upper end of this range.
Extended tier: eight to fifteen business days. Where the beneficial ownership layer requires a declaration of legitimate interest or a formal access request, the timeline is stated before the scope is confirmed.
Turnaround is counted from the date the company identifier and jurisdiction are confirmed, not from the date of the initial request.
What is a jurisdiction report? A jurisdiction report is a factual compilation drawn from official registries in a named jurisdiction. It establishes the control layer — registered shareholders, directors, voting structure — and states what the sources in that jurisdiction allow and where they stop.
Which jurisdictions are covered? 35 jurisdictions across common law, civil law, and hybrid systems. The specific list is available on request. Source availability is mapped before the report is commissioned.
Can the report establish who the beneficial owner is? Where the target jurisdiction maintains an accessible beneficial ownership register, the Extended tier traces the chain to the accessible limit. Where access is restricted — as it is in several EU jurisdictions following the 2022 Court of Justice ruling — the report states the last verifiable layer and the access barrier at the next layer.
What if the company has a layered holding structure? The report traces the chain layer by layer. Where the chain enters a jurisdiction whose registry is not accessible to foreign applicants without a national identifier or local representation, the report names that point and states the barrier. This is included in the Extended tier.
What does the Signal tier tell a buyer? Signal establishes the registered layer — name, number, status, shareholders, directors — and states the ceiling for the target jurisdiction. A buyer who finds the ceiling unacceptable at Signal does not pay for Standard or Extended.
Is the report a legal opinion? No. The report is a factual compilation from official sources. It does not constitute legal advice and contains no legal qualification of the facts established.
How is the company identified? By registered name and jurisdiction, or by registration number. Where the jurisdiction uses a national identifier that is not publicly searchable, the report describes the access mechanism.
What happens if the sources disagree? Where official sources return inconsistent data, the report records both versions with source and date. A discrepancy is a finding, not an error in the report.
Official registries in the 35 jurisdictions in scope. Specific registry names, access URLs, and extraction dates are listed in each delivered report by jurisdiction. Registry data is extracted within 30 days of the report delivery date.
Where a registry is document-based rather than structured, the source citation identifies the specific filed document and its filing date.
Disclaimer: This report is a factual compilation from official registers and public sources. It is provided for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and contains no legal qualification of the facts established. VLO Law Firm assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@vlolawfirm.com.
Author: James Whitfield — Partner, UK & Common Law, VLO Law Firm