Extracts from commercial register of Svalbard

Schmidt & Schmidt provides extracts from the commercial register of Svalbard with a translation and an apostille.

Svalbard (formerly known as Spitsbergen) is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean that belongs to Norway. Svalbard has got a special status within the Kingdom of Norway. It is not one of the country’s 18 administrative regions (fylker – counties) – Svalbard is an unincorporated area that is ruled by the governor appointed directly by the Norwegian government. Local currency is the Euro. Official language is Norwegian Bokmål.

The current status of Svalbard was established by the Svalbard Treaty of 1920. Countries that ratified the treaty officially recognise the sovereignty of Norway over Svalbard – in turn, they are given equal commercial rights within the archipelago, which mainly implies coal mining. The Treaty also introduced military restrictions and relatively low taxes. In addition, the Treaty made Svalbard an entirely visa-free zone.

Coal mining is the main industry in the area, as well as tourism and scientific research. Svalbard taxation system is only meant to support Svalbard itself, and does not support mainland Norway in any way. Fiscal policy here is regulated by internal legislation of the area. Svalbard is not blacklisted as an offshore or a tax haven.

At the same time, Norwegian legislation and international treaties it is a part of apply to Svalbard too.

Main types of businesses in Svalbard

• Allmennaksjeselskap (ASA) – joint-stock company
• Aksjeselskap (AS) – private company limited by shares
• Selskap med begrenset ansvar (BA) – limited liability company
• Kommanditselskab (KS) – limited partnership
• Enkeltpersonforetak – registered individual entrepreneur
• Ansvarlig selskap (ANS) – simple partnership
• Selskap med delt ansvar (DA) – shared liability partnership

Registration of companies in Svalbard is a task of the Brønnøysund Register Centre (created in 1988). Information about such companies is submitted in the Register of Business Enterprises of Norway. At the same time, local authorities manage their own public commercial register of legal entities in Svalbard. There are more than 170 companies registered here today.

Extract from the business register of Svalbard ( the business register of Norway) contains the following information:

• Full legal name
• Registration number
• Type of business
• Main activity
• Tax ID number
• Legal address
• Status (active/inactive)
• Founders and key management
• Record of amendments

The local commercial register of Svalbard contains company’s name, type of business, contact information, main activities, and the name of CEO.

Search in the register is not free of charge. Search results are sent to you within 3-5 days after request submission.

To get a required document, we will need the following information about a company:

• Full legal name
• Registration number

Extracts from the Norwegian registers (both nationwide and local) come in the Norwegian language.

An extract from the commercial register of Svalbard can be used in order to:

• Obtain detailed information about potential business partners
• Negotiate foreign trade agreements
• Register legal entities with foreign participation
• File legal claims

We provide extracts from the register in strict compliance with the legislation of the Kingdom of Norway and the General Data Protection Regulation.
Inquiries are processed within one working day. Courier delivery of apostilled documents is paid separately by courier service tariffs.

You can order free preliminary availability check of required information on our website.

Apostille for extracts from Svalbard

Svalbard acceded to the The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents on 30 May 1983, as a part of Norway.

Therefore, the documents issued in Svalbard are subject to a simplified apostilling procedure, thus the documents gain full legal value in your country after notarised translation.

Apostilling usually takes about two weeks.

In addition, you can order notarised translation from Norwegian.