Summary: You Need to Pay For the Information and State What You Plan to Do With the Personal Data in the Register
| Request sent to | Swedish Companies Registration Office Trade and Industry Register |
| Outcome of request | Information refused |
| Time taken to respond | 1 working day (Deadline is “immediately”) |
| Reason for refusal | Must pay for access. Personal privacy. |
On 4 November 2013, the initial request was sent in English to the Swedish Companies Registration Office. Legally, Sweden is bound to answer immediately under its access to information law. Only one day later, the Swedish Registration Office responded, asking us to specify which company it was that we were requesting information about and informing us about the costs to access a company record. On the same day, we responded, clarifying that we were seeking access to the full database. The Registration Office then informed us that in order to access the full database, we needed to pay for access to the “e-business” service. The Registration Office therefore decided to transfer our request to the Trade and Industry Register so that they could provide us with a quote for access to the e-business service.
On 12 November 2013, we sent a reminder to the Trade and Industry Register, which responded on 19 November that the database could be accessed in a reusable format but that the file was too big to send by email so it would have to be sent via post on a DVD, and that all the information was in Swedish anyway. We were informed that, in order to access the names of directors of companies, we would need to explain to the authorities exactly how we planned to use that information. Since providing information about why you want public data and how you plan to use it is out of line with international standards on the right of access to information, Access Info Europe decided not to pursue the request further and instead to work together with local lawyers to assess the chances of winning free access to the database before the Courts.
Access Info Europe and our partners at OCCRP are now working together with pro bono lawyers at Morrison & Foerster and the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice to analyse local laws and regulations affecting the availability of this information. We will use this analysis to determine what options are available to us for obtaining the requested information.
Accessing the Swedish Company Register
| Information available (for free) | Name, business number, form of business enterprise, town, country, status. |
| Provision for public access | On the website of the register, you can search by using two filters: the name of the enterprise or the name of a person. You must know what you are looking for, as blank searches are not permitted.You can buy copies of documents from the Trade and Industry Register or you can register and pay for the “e-business”, which is how you can access the full register.Certificate registrations can be purchased in either English or Swedish. You can also buy the annual report, the articles of the association or the interim report of a company. |
| Cost per record | SEK 3 for each page (0.34 €) Certification of registration in English : 125 SEK (14.11 €) Certification of registration in Swedish : 75 SEK (8.46 €) Annual report : 50 SEK (5.64 €) Articles of association : 50 SEK (5.64 €) Interim report : 50 SEK (5.64 €) |
| Cost for whole database | 600 000 SEK (66 330 €) : full dump 900 000 SEK (99 495 €) : full dump + daily notification |
Additional Information:
Sweden´s Right to Information (RTI) Rating (Click here)
Sweden´s Freedom of the Press Act (Click here)
Sweden’s company register (Click here)