(1) Subject to any provision made pursuant to section 9a (1), the Business Register is maintained in electronic form by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
(2) The following are accessible via the website of the Business Register:
1. entries in the Commercial Register and documents submitted to the Commercial Register;
2. entries in the Register of Cooperatives and documents submitted to the Register of Cooperatives;
2a. entries in the Register of Companies and documents submitted to the Register of Companies
3. entries in the Register of Partnerships and documents submitted to the Register of Partnerships;
4. financial reporting documents and corporate reports disclosed in accordance with the present Code, with the Disclosure Act (Publizitätsgesetz – PublG), the Railway Regulation Act (Eisenbahnregulierungsgesetz – ERegG), the Energy Industry Act (Energiewirtschaftsgesetz – EnWG), the Transparency in Wage Structures Act (Entgelttransparenzgesetz – EntgTranspG), the Investment Code (Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch – KAGB), the Telecommunications Act (Telekommunikationsgesetz – TKG), the Capital Investment Act (Vermögensanlagengesetz – VermAnlG) or the Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz – WpHG), to the exception of the documents entered for permanent lodgment;
5. notices by publication in the Federal Gazette that are required under company and partnership law;
6. entries in the shareholders’ forum pursuant to section 127a of the Stock Corporation Act;
7. publications in the Federal Gazette by enterprises in accordance with the Securities Trading Act or the Capital Investment Act, by bidders, companies, boards of management and supervisory boards pursuant to the Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (Wertpapiererwerbs- und Übernahmegesetz – WpÜG), as well as publications in the Federal Gazette in accordance with the Stock Exchange Admission Ordinance (Börsenzulassungs-Verordnung);
8. notices by publication and publications in the Federal Gazette by capital management companies and externally managed investment companies in accordance with the Investment Code, the Investment Act (Investmentgesetz – InvG) and the Investment Tax Act (Investmentsteuergesetz – InvStG);
9. publications and other information made available to the public pursuant to section 5, section 26 (1) and (2), section 40 (1), sections 41 and 46 (2), sections 50 and 51 (2) and section 127 of the Securities Trading Act, unless the publication has already been made available in the Business Register via no. 7;
10. communications concerning publications required by capital market law to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht), if the publication itself has not already been made available in the Business Register via no. 7 or no. 9;
11. notices by publication by the insolvency courts as provided for in section 9 of the Insolvency Statute (Insolvenzordnung – InsO), with the exception of proceedings pursuant to Part 10 of the Insolvency Statute;
12. register notices by publication by the Commercial Register, the Register of Cooperatives, the Register of Companies and the Register of Partnerships;
13. notices by publication by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority in accordance with section 107 (1) sentence 6, section 109 (2) sentences 1 and 5, subsection (3) of the Securities Trading Act and section 31 (4) of the Capital Investment Act.
(3) The following are to be transmitted to the Business Register for entry in the Business Register:
1. the data set out in subsection (2) nos. 5 to 8 via the operator of the Federal Gazette;
2. the data set out in subsection (2) nos. 4, 9 and 10, as well as those documents it is intended to lodge permanently, via the respective entity subject to the disclosure or publication requirement, or via the third party commissioned by that entity to effect such disclosure or publication;
3. the data set out in subsection (2) no. 13 via the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
The Land departments of justice transmit to the Business Register the data pursuant to subsection (2) nos. 1 to 3, 11 and 12, insofar as such transmission is required to create access to the original data via the website of the Business Register. The body maintaining the Business Register makes available to the operator of the Federal Gazette the data transmitted in accordance with sentence 2 by the Land departments of justice insofar as this is required in order to fulfil the task of allocating submissions on the part of the operator of the Federal Gazette pursuant to subsection (2) nos. 5 to 8. The operator of the Federal Gazette may use the data only for these purposes. The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority monitors the transmission of the publications and other information made available to the public pursuant to section 5, section 26 (1) and (2), section 40 (1), sections 41 and 46 (2), sections 50 and 51 (2), section 114 (1) to section 116 (2), sections 117 and 118 (4), and section 127 of the Securities Trading Act to the Business Register for the purpose of entry, and may make orders which are suited and necessary to enforce such transmission. In cases in which the transmission duty is not complied with, or not complied with correctly, fully or in the prescribed manner, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority may carry out, at the expense of those subject to the duty, such compulsory transmission of publications, of information made available to the public and communications as are referred to in sentence 5. Section 6 subsection (3) sentences 1 and 3, subsections (15) and (16), and sections 13, 18 and 21 of the Securities Trading Act apply accordingly to the supervisory activities of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
(4) The service provided by the Business Register includes the provision of printouts and certification according to section 9 (3) and (4), for financial reporting documents and corporate reports within the meaning of subsection (2), no. 4, entered in the Business Register.
(5) The service provided by the Business Register also includes the exchange of information in accordance with section 9c.