Searching the Companies Register

Searching for New Zealand companies

You can search for a company using its name, registration number or New Zealand Business Number (NZBN).

You can also search for companies using a director or shareholder’s name. Please note we only record shareholder details of the 10 largest share parcels for companies listed on the stock exchange or with extensive shareholdings.

For each company, you can see the following basic details.

• Name
• Number
• NZBN
• Date of incorporation, and
• Status
  • Registered
    The company is currently registered.
  • In liquidation, In receivership, In Voluntary administration or In Statutory Management
    We have received notice that a receiver, liquidator, administrator or statutory manager has been appointed to administer this company.
  • Removed
    The company has been removed from the register.
  • Approved
    The name has been reserved but has not yet been used to start a new company or change the name of an existing company.

Other information held about New Zealand companies

Company addresses

Registered office address, address for service and address for records (current and previous addresses).

Director details

Their names, addresses, appointment date, and if relevant the date they ceased to be a director (current and former directors).

Shareholding information

The number of shares, the names of shareholders and how many shares they hold. If a company is listed on the stock exchange or has extensive shareholdings, we only show details of the 10 largest share parcels.

Company documents

Documents registered with us, including:

• directors' consents
• annual returns
• its constitution, if the company has one, and
• insolvency documents, such as receiver’s and liquidator’s reports.

NZBN details

Optional public business information shared on the New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) Register, such as its trading name, industry classification and trading area.

Searching the PPSR for a company

Searching the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) can help you find registered security interests involving a company’s property. You will be prompted to log in and a search fee applies — $2 (plus GST).

Searching for directors

You can search for directors by name. Using their surname and first name can help to refine the search.

For each director you can see the following details.

• Full legal name
• Address
• The date they were appointed
• Their status — whether they are current or have ceased to be a director, and
• A copy of their consent form agreeing to be a director.

You can also see a record of any other directors for that company.

Searching for banned directors

A person can be banned (‘prohibited’ or ‘disqualified’) from being a company director if the Registrar is satisfied that their management of one or more failed companies contributed to the failure of those companies.

They can also be banned if they are convicted of certain offences.

You can search for banned directors by their name.

For each banned director you can see the following details.

• Their name and any other names they are known by
• Their last known address
• The start and end date for their disqualification, and
• The criteria under which they were disqualified or prohibited (usually sections 382(1) or 385 of the Companies Act 1993).

Searching for shareholders

Shareholders can be people or other organisations (such as another company).

You can search for shareholders by their name.

For each shareholder you can see the following details.

• Full name
• Address
• Status — whether they are current or removed (that is, no longer a shareholder)
• The number or percentage of shares they hold.

You can also see the total number of shares in the company and details of the other shareholdings.

• Full shareholding information, including any changes, must be recorded in the share register held by the company.
• Companies must check and update the shareholding details on the Companies Register each time they complete an annual return.
• For companies that are listed on the stock exchange or that have extensive shareholdings, we only show details of the 10 largest share parcels.To obtain a full list of shareholders you need to contact the company directly.

Advanced search options

Select ‘Show advanced search’ to refine your search.

For example, you can search for:

• types of companies — including unlimited companies, co-operative companies and companies on our Overseas Register
• companies incorporated between specific dates
• different types of company addresses
• key words used in company addresses — such as a street name, city or postcode
• companies by current status — for example, only see registered companies or those that have been removed.
• directors and shareholders by status — either current or ceased
• directors and shareholders by entity status — for example, only see directors for registered companies.

Searching for overseas companies

Companies incorporated in other countries and registered to do business in New Zealand are registered on the Overseas Register. This register is part of the New Zealand Companies Register.

Use our 'Advanced search' option to find all the companies on the Overseas Register or to filter search results to show only overseas companies.

• Use the following options in the 'Entity type' drop-down menu:
  • Overseas ASIC company — for all the Australian companies
  • Overseas non-ASIC company — for all overseas companies, other than Australian companies.

Saving your search results

You can save up to 1,000 search results by:

• printing them out
• saving them as a PDF
• attaching them to an email as a PDF
• exporting them in a CSV file format to further analyse in spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel (or similar).

If your search returns more than 1,000 results, try refining your search (consider the advanced search options above).

If your search still returns over 1,000 results you can request access to our bulk data to do your own filtering or analysis. Bulk data is a monthly snapshot of most of the publicly available information on the Companies Register contained in a series of CSV files.

Other guides in

Getting support to use the Companies Register

• Uploading documents to the Companies Register
• Filing documents with electronic signatures
• Forgotten your RealMe® username or password
• Searching the PPSR from the Companies Register
• Searching using other applications
• NZBN and the Companies Register
• Suppressing a residential address on the register

Other help topics