RCS France Company Search: How to Look Up the French Trade Register

What the Registre du commerce et des sociétés is and who must register

The Registre du commerce et des sociétés (RCS) is best understood as the civil-status register of French business. It records the identity and legal situation of traders and companies in much the same way a births-and-deaths register records the life events of individuals. For a foreign supplier deciding whether to ship goods on credit, an RCS France company search is the natural starting point: for a modest cost it yields a considerable amount of reliable, officially held information about who the counterparty is and what state it is in.

Registration is compulsory for commercial companies and for individuals carrying on a commercial activity. On registration, each business is entered under a unique nine-digit SIREN identification number and allocated to the registry (greffe) of the commercial court in whose jurisdiction it has its seat. The legal foundation for the register and the duty to be entered on it sits in the Commercial Code, and the obligation to register is expressed in Article L123-1 of the Commercial Code.

Registration is not a mere formality. The register is designed to be relied on by third parties, which is why the Commercial Code attaches consequences to what it does and does not show. Under the principle reflected in Article L123-6 of the Commercial Code, the register is kept under the supervision of the court registrar, who checks that filings are complete and consistent before entry. That supervision is what makes the RCS a more trustworthy source than a company's own marketing material.

What information the RCS records about a French company

The core output of an RCS France company search is the extract of registration, universally known as the extrait Kbis for companies (and extrait K for sole traders). The Kbis is a one-page snapshot that is up to date as at the moment of consultation. It shows the company name, legal form, registered office, SIREN number, share capital, the identity of the directors and, where relevant, of the statutory auditor, the date of creation and the activity carried on.

The Kbis is also where signs of distress surface. If the company is subject to an insolvency or protective procedure — sauvegarde, redressement or liquidation judiciaire — the extract says so and is updated as the procedure unfolds. It will likewise carry the notice that must be published when the accounts of an SARL or a joint-stock company show net equity that has fallen below half the share capital, a warning sign that the business may be undercapitalised. The Kbis can also record cross-border insolvency proceedings opened in another EU Member State.

Beyond the headline extract, the register captures the age of the business (a young company is often more fragile than an established one), the amount of share capital (which for many French forms can be minimal, as no statutory minimum applies to an SARL, SAS, SNC or société civile), and, for individual entrepreneurs, declarations protecting certain assets from seizure. Read together, these entries let you build a preliminary risk picture before a single euro of credit is advanced.

How to run an RCS France company search — Infogreffe, INPI and the RNE

There are two practical routes into the register. The traditional route is Infogreffe (www.infogreffe.fr), the online service that emanates directly from the commercial court registrars. Through Infogreffe you can order the Kbis extract, a copy of the statutes and the filed annual accounts, generally for a small fee. Because it is fed by the registrars themselves, it remains the authoritative channel for documents that carry official weight, such as the Kbis and certificates of non-bankruptcy.

The newer route is the Registre National des Entreprises (RNE), the national business register operated by INPI and accessible free of charge at data.inpi.fr. Live since 1 January 2023, the RNE gathers, for every business, the bulk of the information that appears on the RCS. Most entries and annexed documents — the significant exception being accounting documents covered by a confidentiality declaration — are available to the public electronically, free, both for consultation and for re-use. For a quick RCS France company search to confirm identity, capital and directors, the free RNE is often all you need.

The two sources are complementary rather than competing. The RNE does not replace the RCS; it aggregates most of what the RCS holds and makes it freely searchable. But certain official documents cannot be downloaded from the RNE — notably the Kbis extract itself and certificates of non-bankruptcy — which must still be ordered from the commercial court registry or through Infogreffe. In practice, use the RNE for a free first pass and Infogreffe when you need a document with official standing.

The documents available — statutes, filed accounts and registered acts

Three families of document can be obtained from an RCS France company search: the Kbis extract, the company's statutes, and its annual accounts. Each answers a different question. The Kbis tells you who and what the company is today; the statutes tell you how it is structured and governed; the accounts tell you how it is performing.

A full copy of the statutes is available to any applicant, together with every amending act filed since incorporation — a change of registered office, a change in ownership of the business, the opening of a new establishment — as well as the acts appointing the directors and, where applicable, the statutory auditor. This paper trail lets you confirm that the person signing your contract has authority to bind the company and that the company you are dealing with is the one described on the Kbis.

Annual accounts are the third pillar. SARLs and joint-stock companies must, in principle, file their accounts with the registry within a month of approval by the shareholders (two months where filing is electronic). Once filed, the accounts can be consulted through Infogreffe or the RNE. There is an important caveat: small companies and micro-enterprises may opt to keep their accounts, or their profit-and-loss account, confidential, so absence of published accounts does not always mean the company is hiding something — but it does reduce the information available to creditors.

The guichet unique and INPI reform — where filings now go

Anyone running an RCS France company search today should understand the reform that reshaped French business filing on 1 January 2023. From that date, all businesses must complete their formalities — creation, modification and cessation — through a single electronic one-stop shop, the guichet unique operated by INPI, rather than through the patchwork of centres that existed before. The register machinery behind these filings is anchored in the Commercial Code's registration provisions, including Article R123-1 of the Commercial Code.

The guichet unique feeds the Registre National des Entreprises. In effect, a company files once through the one-stop shop, and the information flows into the RNE and, for commercial companies, into the RCS held by the competent registry. This is why the RNE has become a natural first port of call: it is where the freshly filed data lands and is made public, without charge, in electronic form.

For a foreign creditor, the practical consequence is convenience. A single free search on the RNE now surfaces most of the legal information about a French counterparty that once required a paid registry request. But the reform did not abolish the registrars' role: the Kbis, the certificate of non-bankruptcy and the register's official probative value remain matters for the commercial court registry, which is why Infogreffe has not disappeared. Treat the RNE as the free public window and the registry as the source of officially certified documents.

Using the RCS for counterparty checks before you sell

The point of an RCS France company search is rarely academic; it is to decide whether to trust a counterparty with your goods or your money. Start from a commercial document — an invoice, an order form or the customer's website — which by law must carry the SIREN number and the RCS town. That single identifier lets you pull the register entry and cross-check that the trading name in front of you matches a real, currently registered legal entity.

From the register entry you can read the warning signs directly. An open insolvency procedure appears on the Kbis. The publication triggered when net equity falls below half the share capital is a red flag of undercapitalisation. A very recent creation date suggests fragility. Repeated changes of registered office or of directors, visible through the registered acts, can indicate instability. None of these is decisive on its own, but together they shape the credit decision and the security you should ask for.

The register is not the only public source, and a thorough check reaches beyond it. The register of movable securities (registre des sûretés mobilières), searchable free online, shows charges, pledges, finance-lease operations and retention-of-title sales weighing on the company's assets. The BODACC alert service flags new commercial notices, and the European e-Justice portal reveals insolvency proceedings opened elsewhere in the EU. An RCS lookup is the foundation, but a prudent creditor layers these registers on top of it.

The limits of the RCS — what a company search will not tell you

An RCS France company search is powerful, but it has blind spots that every creditor should keep in mind. The first is timing. The registrar only updates an entry once the information is communicated, and in practice there is almost always a lag between an event and its appearance on the Kbis: a trader has a month to file an amendment to the statutes, so the register may not yet reflect a recent change of director or seat.

The second blind spot is the accounts. Filed accounts typically become available only around seven months after the financial year closes, so they never reflect the company's situation at the moment you consult them. Worse, small companies and micro-enterprises may keep their accounts or profit-and-loss account confidential, and many businesses simply do not file at all. Non-filing is not proof of insolvency, but it does raise a presumption of poor financial health, and credit-information agencies routinely mark down companies that withhold their figures.

The third blind spot is hidden liabilities. Certain privileged creditors — the social security bodies and the Treasury — are only required to register their claims above high thresholds, so an entity can owe substantial sums that never appear on any register. Confidential prevention procedures, such as a mandat ad hoc or conciliation, are protected by law and will not show up either. The register tells you what has been declared and published, not the whole truth, which is why important transactions still warrant a direct request for the latest balance sheet or an independent audit.

A step-by-step checklist for an RCS France company search

The following sequence turns an RCS France company search from a single lookup into a structured due-diligence exercise. It works whether you are onboarding a new customer, vetting a supplier or preparing to litigate an unpaid invoice.

Running this checklist before you extend credit is inexpensive and quick, and it puts you in a far stronger position if the relationship later turns into a dispute. A creditor who can show a documented RCS France company search has both a better risk decision and a clearer evidential record.

Frequently asked questions about an RCS France company search

What is the RCS?

The Registre du commerce et des sociétés is the French trade and companies register. It is the civil-status register of French traders and companies, recording their identity and legal situation, and is held under the supervision of the commercial court registrars. Registration is compulsory for commercial companies and traders under Article L123-1 of the Commercial Code.

How do I run an RCS France company search?

Use the counterparty's SIREN number or company name to search the free national register at data.inpi.fr (the RNE), or order documents through Infogreffe. The RNE gives you identity, capital and directors free of charge; Infogreffe supplies the official Kbis extract and certificates for a fee.

What documents can I get from the RCS?

The three main documents are the Kbis extract (a current snapshot of the company), the statutes together with registered amending acts, and the filed annual accounts. The Kbis and certificates of non-bankruptcy must be obtained from Infogreffe or the registry, as they cannot be downloaded from the RNE.

Is the RCS free to search?

The Registre National des Entreprises on data.inpi.fr is free for consultation and re-use, and covers most of the RCS information. Ordering an official Kbis extract, certificates or certified copies through Infogreffe or the commercial court registry carries a small charge.

What is the Registre National des Entreprises?

The RNE is the national business register, run by INPI and live since 1 January 2023. It aggregates most of the information held on the RCS and makes it publicly available online for free. It does not replace the RCS but is fed by the guichet unique, the electronic one-stop shop through which businesses now file their formalities.

What is a Kbis extract?

The Kbis is the official extract of a company's registration, up to date as at the date of consultation. It shows the company name, legal form, capital, registered office, SIREN number, directors and any insolvency procedure. It is the single most useful document in an RCS France company search and is available through Infogreffe or the registry.

Can the register tell me if a French company is insolvent?

An open insolvency procedure — sauvegarde, redressement or liquidation — appears on the Kbis, and the e-Justice portal shows EU proceedings. But confidential prevention procedures such as mandat ad hoc and conciliation are protected by law and will not appear, and some privileged debts to the Treasury or social security are only registered above high thresholds, so the register does not reveal every difficulty.

How our French lawyers help with an RCS France company search

Petroff Avocats helps foreign businesses on both sides of the register. For creditors and suppliers, we run and interpret RCS, RNE and Infogreffe searches, read the Kbis, statutes and filed accounts, check the register of movable securities and the e-Justice portal, and translate the findings into a practical credit and security decision — and, if payment fails, into recovery. For companies established or trading in France, we make sure your own filings through the guichet unique are complete and up to date, advise on the confidentiality options for your accounts, and help you present a clean register entry to your commercial partners.

This article is for general information only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. The French registers, thresholds and procedures described here change over time and apply differently to different situations. Contact our French lawyers for advice on your situation.