Q1. Marco Vianello, as International Advisor of InfoCamere – the Italian Business Register – and Board Member of EBRA, how do you see the transformation driven by artificial intelligence in business registers from a broader perspective?

Artificial intelligence represents a profound shift for business registers.

For many years, registers have been primarily repositories of certified information. Today, AI allows us to move beyond simple storage and retrieval of data toward intelligent processing, automation, and advanced analytical capabilities.

But if we look at this transformation from a broader perspective, AI is not just a technological upgrade.

It is reshaping the role of business registers themselves.

The real question is not only how AI improves efficiency, but how it changes the institutional function of the register — especially in a European context.

Q2. What do you mean by that?

Traditionally, we think of the Business Register as a database. In reality, it is much more than that.

It is an institutional infrastructure of trust.

It guarantees legal certainty, market transparency, and the reliability of corporate information. It protects third parties and ensures stability in economic relationships.

And precisely because of this role, continuity in reliability and data quality must remain non-negotiable.

Artificial intelligence does not reduce this responsibility — it increases it. The more we rely on automated systems, predictive analytics, and algorithmic tools, the greater the need for accurate, consistent, and well-governed data.

AI requires an additional effort in ensuring data integrity, semantic coherence, and robust validation processes.

And this responsibility can no longer be understood purely at national level.

Q3. How does the European dimension change this picture?

The European Union has already taken a crucial step with the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS).

Through BRIS, national registers are interconnected. Cross-border access to company information is possible. Corporate mobility within the Single Market has been strengthened.

But interconnection is only the first layer.

We are now entering a new phase.

The ongoing proposal to further digitalise and harmonise EU company law aims at:

• greater standardisation of company data,
• increased use of structured, machine-readable formats,
• enhanced interoperability between registers,
• and simplification for companies operating across borders.

This is not just about exchanging information. It is about building a European ecosystem of reliable corporate data.

Q4. The EU is also discussing a possible “28th regime”. How does that relate to business registers?

The discussion around a potential “28th regime” — an optional European framework alongside national regimes — is particularly relevant.

If such a regime moves forward, it would imply a higher degree of standardisation and uniformity at European level.

But you cannot have a truly European legal framework without a coherent and integrated information infrastructure.

Business Registers would become even more central.

Standardised rules require standardised data. European legal forms require European data architecture.

Q5. How does artificial intelligence fit into this European evolution?

Artificial intelligence is a powerful multiplier.

But AI amplifies what already exists.

If data is:

• harmonised,
• structured,
• semantically aligned across Member States,
  

AI generates value.

If data remain fragmented and inconsistent, AI amplifies fragmentation.

So the key European question is:

Can we develop advanced cross-border tools — for fraud detection, complex ownership analysis, early warning systems — without a truly interoperable data foundation?

Digital reform at the EU level is not only an administrative improvement. It is a technological precondition.

Q6. Is cooperation between European registers already strong enough to support this evolution?

European registers are not starting from scratch.

For many years, they have cooperated closely through the European Business Registry Association (EBRA).

EBRA provides a structured forum where registers:

• exchange best practices,
• coordinate on technical standards,
• discuss strategic challenges,
• and engage with European institutions.

This cooperation is essential.

Integration in Europe does not happen only through directives. It also happens through continuous institutional collaboration.

InfoCamere has always strongly supported EBRA’s founding principles and has significantly contributed to shaping its strategies and common vision.

This demonstrates that European integration is not abstract. It is operational.

Q7. Beyond technology and governance, what are the main challenges ahead?

I see three main challenges.

First, moving from interconnection to integration. We have connected systems. Now we must harmonise semantics and standards.

Second, moving from digitalisation to standardisation. A PDF is digital. Structured, machine-readable data are interoperable.

The real transformation is not from paper to file — but from document to data.

Third, moving from technology to trust. AI, automation, predictive analytics — all of these are powerful tools.

But the value of the Business Register lies in trust.

Trust requires transparency, human oversight where necessary, clear accountability, and common governance principles.

Q8. So, what is your final message about the future of Business Registers in Europe?

If the Single Market is borderless, if companies operate across Member States, if we are discussing a potential 28th regime,

then we must ask ourselves:

Are we ready to build a truly integrated European infrastructure for corporate data?

The future of Business Registers is not only about innovation. It is about the quality of the Single Market. It is about economic transparency. It is about Europe’s credibility in the digital age.

Artificial intelligence can make registers more efficient.

But the real transformation is institutional.

And the real challenge is European.

Thank you.

The post Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Business Registers: A European Perspective appeared first on Ebra.

Earlier this year, Maureen O’Sullivan, Registrar of Companies for Companies Registration Office (CRO) in Ireland, stepped down from the EBRA Board after four years of dedicated service. Throughout her time with EBRA, she was a trusted and respected voice, helping to strengthen EBRA’s influence and establish the Association as the leading network for business registries across Europe.

We caught up with Maureen to reflect on her time with EBRA, hear about her career journey, and discover her standout moments from the past four years.

Hi Maureen, thanks for chatting to us. Let’s go right back to the start. When did you first join the Companies Registration Office (CRO) for Ireland?

I first joined the CRO back in 1992 and stayed for about 18 months. I then spent a number of years in various parts of our parent Government Department and returned to the CRO in my current role in 2015.

Tell us more your career path, which led you being the Registrar of Companies for the CRO.

I started at the lowest Civil Service grade and advanced to my current grade. My parent Department is responsible for employment and industry and over the years I have worked in a wide variety of areas such as HR, Labour Force Development, Company Law, Industrial Relations and Environmental issues, among others.

What would you say has been the biggest shift at CRO during that time in terms of priorities and focus?

The major shift in the CRO in the last 10 years has been the move to mandatory electronic filing for most of our submissions. As a result, we now have an electronic filing rate of 96%. This has changed the nature of the work for our staff who have to spend less time on data entry and now have the opportunity for more interesting work such as contributing to the integrity of the register.

You became an EBRA Board member in 2021. Tell us about how you balanced this role with your role at the CRO.

It can be tricky at times to balance the roles given the level of commitment that a Board member has to give but it was very worthwhile and of course there are synergies so a lot of issues that we would come across at Board level are also ones that I would encounter in the day job. Overall, I found my time on the Board to be a very worthwhile experience.

In the EBRA working groups we see that registries across the world experience similar challenges. How has your participation in EBRA helped the CRO, or how has CRO helped other EBRA members?

Participation in EBRA has been very helpful to the CRO. While we are all experiencing the same issues, it is often by meeting colleagues and discussing particular aspects with them that we can share ideas about how to approach them.

The working groups in particular are very helpful as we get an early view of forthcoming legislation which helps when discussing it with our Departments at home. There are numerous instances where working group meetings have highlighted subtleties of legislation that might not have been obvious until we started to discuss it in detail.

As a direct result of participation in working group meetings we in CRO have forged links with different jurisdictions who face similar issues and have been able to exchange information and swap experiences which is very helpful for everyone.

As a Board member, you got to see the mechanics of running a global Association. What’s been the most interesting thing you’ve learned during your time as an EBRA Board member?

Given that in my role I deal with company directors all the time and I know the theory of the role of a Board member/director, it was very interesting to see that working in practice and to see the various processes and procedures that running an Association such as EBRA demands.

The role of Board member is a very responsible one and all of my colleagues on the EBRA Board take that role very seriously.

What’s been your proudest achievement as an EBRA Board member ?

I have enjoyed all my time on the Board, but I think that my proudest achievement was hosting the Beneficial Ownership Working Group in Dublin in 2022.

What opportunities do you think lie ahead for EBRA in the coming years?

I think that the decision as part of the Strategy to expand membership to different register types and geographically makes this a very exciting time for EBRA but I think the main opportunity is to forge links with the EU Commission so that Registers, through EBRA, can have an opportunity to comment at an earlier stage on proposals.

The Registers are the ones who have to implement these proposals and it is better to be able to contribute at an early stage than to try to implement something that may have been designed without the perspective of the operational experts.

As an EBRA Board member, you’ve had the opportunity to meet colleagues from across the globe. What’s been a stand-out moment, or visit, for you, and why?

My role on the Board provided opportunities to visit many interesting places, some of which I might not have visited otherwise. Each time I was struck by the efforts the hosts made to welcome us and showcase their country or city.

A standout for me was the Board meeting in Iceland last September. I stayed on afterwards and had a chance to explore a little bit of that fascinating country but of course I only scratched the surface and will have to go back to see more.

We’re sure we’ll still see you around but one last question for now, if you had one piece of advice for our newest Board member, Rodrique Engering, what would it be?

From my point of view the most important part of the Board’s work is that we all work together for the good of the Association and not think only about our own jurisdiction so in my time on the Board that is what I tried to do and that is the advice that I would give any new Board member.

The post Maureen O’Sullivan reflects on four years as an EBRA Board member appeared first on Ebra.

Transcrime is a European research centre that specialises in analysing issues related to crime, security, and the prevention of illicit activities. It’s based in Italy and operates as a joint research centre involving the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and other academic institutions. It combines expertise to address various aspects of crime and its prevention.  

Transcrime is responsible for the Kleptotrace project, which aims to strengthen EU asset recovery and sanction tracing against transnational high-level corruption. It’s a collaboration of organisations that cover 8 EU countries including research centres, LEAs, anti-corruption agencies, FIUs, journalists and, of course, the business registers, who are represented by EBRA.  
 

What’s the relationship between EBRA and Transcrime? 

Our relationship actually goes back quite a few years. Originally, Transcrime was a partner on the EBOCS project, an EBRA-led project that simplified access to Business Registry data for financial analysis and investigation purposes. More recently, Transcrime approached EBRA again to collaborate on Kleptotrace for our expertise on the operation of business registries.  

These projects are really important to EBRA and are a key part of our wider strategy. It allows us to use the unique expertise from our business registry community and positively contribute to projects that impact the whole of Europe. 
 

Why is Kleptotrace important? 

Kleptotrace’s goal is to boost the investigation, tracing and recovery of the assets related to high-level corruption. A big task and one which it seems the whole world is facing. The only way to face corruption at this scale is to work together, which is why it’s so important that we work with Kleptotrace on initiatives like this.

The project itself aims to achieve its objectives through a combination of research, training and data-driven tools. Kleptotrace is developing a toolbox that will build on and improve existing tools by connecting new asset registers and data and embedding innovative AI-based risk assessment functions. 
 

What is EBRA’s involvement in Kleptotrace? 

EBRA has been an Associate Partner in the Kleptotrace consortium since 2023.  We were invited to the table to provide expertise and insight on the tools that are being developed for the project. EBRA will review their studies and audit their ideas from the perspective of the registries, and users of the registers. It is a critical role that ensures that the tools being developed can be practically used in the real world.  

 
What’s coming up in the future? 

In 2025, EBRA has been asked to partner in another Transcrime project called DATACROS III. DATACROS III is a research project co-funded by the European Union to develop an ethical AI-driven toolbox to support cross-border financial investigations on organised crime networks. As with Kleptotrace, EBRA will be providing expert insight on European business registries and feedback on the development of tools to support the fight against crime and money-laundering.  It’s something we fully believe in and look forward to working on together. We welcome the opportunity to contribute to these vital discussions to build cross-border cooperation and join the fight against corruption.

The post EBRA’s collaboration with Transcrime: An interview with Board member Marco Vianello appeared first on Ebra.

The first survey of 2025 revisits our previous surveys on Business Dynamics. It will build on data from previous years to enable trend analysis of the business registry landscape across the world. We encourage as many registries as possible to take part in the survey so we can build a comprehensive global perspective on registry practices.

The survey is open from 20 March until 30 April. If you’d like to take part in the survey, please contact us using our contact form and we’ll send you a link to complete the survey.

Data Verification

RECENTLY RELEASED! On 20 march, the Business Registry Insights working group launched three live webinars to share the results of our previous survey on Data Verification. If you missed the webinars, you can catch up with the recording – click here. 

The survey results are based on over 90 respondent and provide valuable insights into the data verification practices being used by business registries across the world.

Some interesting highlights include:

• Registers are verifying the data they receive. Globally, on all indicators, more registers verify their data than don’t
• Around half the responding registries stated that they don’t require consent from individuals to be recorded as officers in a legal entity
• There are clear differences in data verification practices by region
  

To see the data for yourself, you can head to the dashboards on the Business Registry Insights website.

The post Launch of Business Registry survey and release of results from Data Verification survey appeared first on Ebra.

EBRA Board Meeting 

The first day in Madrid was dedicated to the EBRA Board, where Board members discussed a range of strategic priorities and initiatives for the year ahead. Key topics included the decision on the future of the EBR network, the recent updates to the Articles of Assocation, discussion on the operational and financial organisation of the Association, and preparation for the Member’s meeting taking place the following day.  

The EBRA Board are elected representatives from business registries across Europe, including Finland, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the UK. This breadth of experience provides valuable insight into the different regulatory and operational landscapes across Europe, and ensures that EBRA continues to represent a wide range of views on behalf of its members.  

EBRA Members’ Meeting 

On the second day, the focus shifted to the broader EBRA membership with a comprehensive meeting that welcomed Members both in-person and online for the Autumn General Assembly. The meeting agenda included updates on the activities of the Association, as well as opportunities to hear a wider exchange of ideas and feedback. 

EBRA members received feedback from the Board on the implementation of the EBRA strategy 2024-2028 through the association’s planned activities, the financial updates for 2024 and draft budget for 2025, and reports from the Chairs of the EBRA working groups. The Board also took the opportunity to say ‘Grazie’ to Flavio Burlizzi, who is stepping down as Chair of the Business Registry Insights working group after many years’ service, and welcome Ana Del Valle as the new Chair of this important, global working group. 

One of the main discussion points during the meeting was the EBR Network, including the network’s performance during 2024, the results from the recent Pilot project which has been running for six months, and the decision being put to Members to decide the future of the network. This is a crucial decision for EBRA, which will impact the activities for 2025 and beyond.

Final thoughts 

The EBRA Member’s meeting in Madrid was an opportunity for business registry professionals from across Europe to come together and have their say in shaping the future of business registry practices. The EBRA Board are grateful to Registradores de España for their role in hosting the event and making EBRA feel so welcome during the two days.  

This is a time of great change for the business registries with many areas of legislation impacting the future of registry operations. The best way to face these challenges is through a collaborative international community, which EBRA is happy to support and grow. 

The post The European Business Registry Association travel to Madrid for its Board meeting and Autumn General Assembly  appeared first on Ebra.

On 10^th and 11^th September, the EBRA Board held their first post-summer meeting in a new location, Iceland. The Board travelled to meet new members, the Icelandic business registry – Skatturinn, at their new premises in Reykjavik.

The temperature might have been low but the warm welcome more than made up for the extra layers needed. After being greeted by Snorri Olsen, Edda Símonardóttir, Matthildur Magnúsdóttir and Rannveig Lind Bjargardóttir from the registry, the Board settled into their one-and-a-half day meeting on at Skatturinn’s premises in central Reykjavik.

A packed agenda for Autumn/Winter

The first meeting after Summer is a crucial starting point for a busy and productive Autumn/Winter for EBRA. In Reykjavik, the Board had a full agenda covering issues relating to the EBR Platform, the upcoming General Assembly in Madrid (29 November), planning for Brussels week, budget discussions, the implementation of the EBRA strategy, as well as detailed matters related to the governance of the Association. In addition, the Board were joined online by colleagues from Unioncamere, who provided an update on their planning for the EBRA Annual conference 2025 in Milan.

The Board look forward to meeting with EBRA members in the coming months to deliver several high-value meetings and working groups. In particular, the Brussels week promises to be highly productive with the opportunity for members to take part in the Beneficial Ownership working group and the Company Law and Open Data working group, as well as a networking event with the European institutions. It will be the first meeting of its kind and we’re sure it will be a great event.

Meeting the Icelandic registry

In addition to a productive Board meeting, the trip was a great opportunity to meet our colleagues from the Icelandic business registry, Skatturinn, who joined EBRA in 2023. Snorri Olsen, Commissioner of Revenue and Customs, welcomed the EBRA Board saying how appreciative he was of the visit and wishing the Board a fruitful two days.

It was great to hear colleagues in the Icelandic registry say they are already benefiting from being an EBRA member. They have derived value through their participation in the Working Groups as well as the more informal discussions that take place on our digital platform, Basecamp. They said it has been interesting to understand that many European registries, EU and non-EU, share the same challenges as themselves and they are grateful to EBRA for bringing the registries together to share different approaches and solutions. 

Takk Fyrir – Thank you

The EBRA Board and Core team are very grateful to everyone involved in the visit to Iceland. We appreciate the time and effort that was put into hosting the meeting during the two days and look forward to working with closely together in the future.

More about the Icelandic registry

Skatturinn is governed by the Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs and is part of Iceland Revenue and Customs. The central registry holds data on more than 80,000 entities including public and private limited companies, partnerships and branches of foreign companies.

The registry plays a central role in registering and maintains a number of key registers, including:

• Companies
• Partnerships
• Non-profit (and profit) legal organisations
• Beneficial Owners
• Annual Accounts

For more information, visit https://www.skatturinn.is/.

The post The EBRA Board visit the Icelandic business registry-Skatturinn appeared first on Ebra.

Julian has been a Board member since EBRA was formed in 2019, and before that was heavily involved in the Association’s predecessors, ECRF and EBR.

It feels hard to imagine an EBRA (or ECRF or EBR!) without Julian but we’re sure that our paths will cross again in the near future.

The EBRA Board – and we’re sure many of the members – would like to thank Julian for his contribution to the European registry landscape over the years.

Julian’s always been a strong supporter of the business registry community and helped to progress best practice and close collaboration for over two decades. We’re grateful for his calm, balanced approach to discussions and generous knowledge sharing; especially his insight around anti-money laundering.

We wish you all the best Julian, and look forward to seeing you again soon.

Your friends at EBRA

The post We bid a fond farewell to Julian Lamb appeared first on Ebra.

Hi Sarah.  Can you tell us a little about your role at Companies House.

I am the Director of Strategy, Policy and External Communications at Companies House – I joined last July after heading up Business and International Policy at the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO).

This is a really exciting role, where I not only get to work with passionate colleagues within Companies House, but I’m also incredibly lucky to be responsible for our international engagement too. During my time at the IPO I had the honour of chairing a committee at the World Intellectual Property Organization, and I saw first-hand how beneficial international collaboration can be.

My directorate at Companies House covers:

• Developing our policy across 3 legal jurisdictions (England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland), including how we implement our exciting new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act,
• planning and implementing our organisational strategy, and
• telling our story to the world.

You recently attended the EBRA Working Group on Company Law and Open Data for the first time. How did you find it?

Firstly, I am a huge enthusiast for international cooperation so it was fantastic for me, on a personal level, to be surrounded by colleagues from so many jurisdictions, sharing experiences and learning from one another.  What an uplifting experience!

Secondly, for the last two years Companies House has been working on transformative new legislation, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act and throughout this process it is fair to say we’ve bumped up against a few challenges along the way.

So, it was really reassuring to hear that the challenges we’ve faced around drafting and implementing the new legislation were echoed by so many others around the table at the working group.  Almost like group therapy! But it also highlighted areas where we can tackle these challenges more effectively if we work together.

You mention your new legislation, could you tell us a little more about it?

Of course.  So, you can think of our recent reforms as taking two steps. 

Step one was the fast-tracked introduction of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022.  Among other things, this introduced our Register of Overseas Entities (ROE) which is essentially an additional Beneficial Ownership register requiring overseas entities owning land or real estate in the UK to register their beneficial owner.  It’s quite powerful, and as well as fines for non-compliance, we can prevent the sale of the property if the beneficial owner doesn’t register with us.

Step two introduced our wider, far-reaching reforms through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. This completely overhauls Companies House’s role from, essentially, a passive library to a more proactive guardian.  Our three Registrars (England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) will now not only have increased powers to ensure the integrity of our registers, but a duty to do so too.

The Act tightens the rules around who can be a director, introduces a new requirement for their identity to be verified, and for proof that their Registered Office Address is theirs to use.  We also have far more wide-ranging powers to query, check and reject the information provided to us and increased penalties (criminal and civil) for non-compliance.

That sounds like a lot of work…

Yes, it’s been an interesting time to join Companies House for sure!  We’ve had to transform our whole organisation to align with our new powers, while also maintaining the really high standards of customer service we’re so proud of. 

There’s also been a tremendous effort by my team, not only to help write the new legislation, but to provide guidance for operational colleagues responsible for implementing the policy. Our External Communications team have also been engaging with stakeholders across the country, and across the globe, to explain the changes.

Companies House has always played a big role in EBRA but the nature of the UK’s relationship with the EU has changed in recent years.  What does that mean for you?

Great question.  I think it’s really important to underline just how important EBRA and engagement with our European colleagues is to us.  Beneficial ownership and the tension between transparency and privacy, the fight against money laundering and economic crime, and the opportunities presented by new technology are common to all of us.

EBRA provides the most amazing platform to enable peers from across the corporate registry world to come together, cooperate and discuss these challenges together.  The threats and opportunities are the same, even if the legal framework sometimes differs – I really value the ability to hear about and learn from the incredible work being done across our continent from such experts and I’m so excited about the future!

Thank you for your time, Sarah. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

The post Sarah Whitehead from Companies House talks to us about their new legislation, her experience of EBRA, and why EBRA remains so important for the UK appeared first on Ebra.

Take part in the Penalties and Business Dynamics (2023) Survey

The latest International Business Registers survey is now open for business registers across the globe. It’s purpose is to collect key information from business registers to help business registries compare their own practice and performance with those of other jurisdictions and identify global trends in the corporate registry world.

The first survey of 2024 looks at the penalties that Business Registries issue in the event of non-compliance by registered companies. It also collects business dynamics data for 2023, for example, the number of incorporations, new registrations and terminations during the year. The business dynamics data is collated into a digital database that builds comparative data on the business registers over a number of years.

The survey will close on 3 April 2024 after which time no further submissions will be accepted.

Read more on the Survey website: www.ibrr.net

The post PENALTIES SURVEY: NOW OPEN appeared first on Ebra.

On 21 February, EBRA, CRF and IACA launched three global webinars across three timezones to present the results from the Fees survey. The webinars reached over 120 participants.

We had a brilliant response to the webinars which showcased:

• The results from the Fees survey
• A live demonstration of the interactive platform
• A look at the future survey, which is coming soon

There was great engagement during the webinars including suggestions about how to improve the surveys and results.

The aim of the webinars was to bring the business register survey data to life and show the great potential it has to inform people’s own work – whether they work for a business registry or in the wider registry domain.

Go to  www.ibrr.net to see the results from all the surveys and read about the upcoming survey. You can use the Contact form to get in touch with the team at any time to provide feedback on the survey or ideas for future survey topics.

Coming up
We’re launching the next survey very soon!

A survey looking at Penalties will be launched in the next few days, please check your emails and take part! The survey is only as good as the data we receive so we encourage as many registries as possible to take part. This survey will NOT be extended as we have in the past, so please complete it within the deadline.

Webinar Presenters:
Martin Fidler Jones
Angela Doneva
Christoph Labenski
Helen Fletcher
Stephen Brandon
Ljubinka Slaveska
Marissa N. Soto-Ortiz

****
The International Business Registry Survey is a collaborative project with Corporate Registers Forum, International Association of Commercial Administrators and ASORLAC that has been running for over 20 years. It is now run as a digital survey: www.ibrr.net

The survey collects data directly from the registers on areas such as company incorporation, termination, total number of registered entities and on topics of interest.

It is the only global survey of its kind and has become a source of rich information for comparison between business registers, as well as informing policy papers and new initiatives.

The post Launch of the Fees survey results appeared first on Ebra.