Bosnia and Herzegovina Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a BiH Business

TL;DR. Bosnia and Herzegovina has no single federal company registry. Business entities are registered across three parallel systems: municipal courts in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), the Agency for Intermediary, Informatics and Financial Services (APIF) in Republika Srpska, and the Brcko District Basic Court. A partially unified search portal exists at bizreg.pravosudje.ba, with a separate Republika Srpska portal at bizreg.osbd.ba. Basic searches are free and require no account, but the interface is in Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian only. Bosnia faces a credible risk of FATF grey listing at the June 2026 plenary due to persistent AML/CFT deficiencies.

What is the official Bosnia and Herzegovina business registry?

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitutional structure, established under the Dayton Peace Agreement (1995), divides governing authority between two entities (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska) and one special district (Brcko District). This division extends to company registration: there is no single national business registry.

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH). Companies in FBiH are registered with municipal courts in the canton where the company’s registered office is located. The principal legal basis is the FBiH Law on Registration of Business Entities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are ten cantons in FBiH, each with a municipal court handling registrations. The court-based registration data feeds into a unified federal court electronic register at bizreg.pravosudje.ba, operated under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Republika Srpska (RS). Companies in Republika Srpska are registered with the Agency for Intermediary, Informatics and Financial Services (APIF), a specialized agency distinct from the court system. The public search portal for APIF data is at bizreg.osbd.ba and apif.ba. The APIF system is entirely separate from the FBiH court system.

Brcko District. The self-governing Brcko District has its own registration system through the Brcko District Basic Court. Brcko District companies can be found via bizreg.pravosudje.ba within the state-level portal.

Both portals are publicly accessible without registration. The state-level portal covers FBiH and Brcko District entities; the APIF portal covers Republika Srpska entities. There is no single query that searches all three jurisdictions simultaneously.

What can you search?

Through bizreg.pravosudje.ba, users can search FBiH and Brcko District companies by:

• Company name (full or partial, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian Latin script)
• Registration number (unique entity identifier)
• Abbreviation of the business entity name
• Founder name (individual or legal entity)

Through bizreg.osbd.ba (Republika Srpska / APIF), users can search by:

• Company name
• Registration number (JIB, the unique identification number in RS)
• Address

Data returned per entity typically includes: registered name, registration number, registered address, legal form, founders and their shares, managers/directors, branch offices, and current status (active, in liquidation, etc.). Annual financial statements are filed separately with APIF (Republika Srpska) and with the FBiH Tax Administration for FBiH entities; these may or may not be directly accessible from the company profile depending on the portal.

Data freshness is driven by when registrars (courts in FBiH, APIF in RS) process filed changes. Processing timelines vary by canton and workload; expect 3-10 business days for standard filings.

How much does it cost?

Basic online searches through bizreg.pravosudje.ba and bizreg.osbd.ba are free. Certified extracts with an official stamp require going through the relevant court (FBiH) or APIF (RS), either in person, by post, or through a local attorney. Fees vary by canton court in FBiH. Exchange rate used: BAM/USD approximately 1.8:1 (May 2026, approximate; BAM is pegged to EUR at 1.95583 BAM/EUR). Verify fees at each issuing authority before ordering.

Do you need a local account or ID?

No. Both public portals are freely accessible to international users without any account or identity document. Downloading certified extracts, however, requires interaction with the issuing authority (court or APIF), which in practice means engaging a local attorney or agent in Bosnia and Herzegovina for documents needed in formal compliance workflows.

Is the website in English?

No. Both bizreg.pravosudje.ba and bizreg.osbd.ba operate entirely in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian (which are mutually intelligible and co-official in BiH). There is no built-in English interface on either portal. Company names, director names, and address data are in local script (Latin is standard in FBiH; both Latin and Cyrillic are used in Republika Srpska).

Foreign compliance buyers should use Google Translate applied to the search result page, or engage a local agent for document retrieval and translation. Key status terms: “aktivno” means active, “u likvidaciji” means in liquidation, “u stečaju” means in bankruptcy, “brisano” means deregistered.

What’s the turnaround time?

Free online searches return results instantly from the portals. Certified extracts require a formal request to the issuing court or APIF. Turnaround for certified extracts is typically 1-5 business days depending on the court’s workload; in cantonal courts outside major cities, longer processing times are common. Urgent processing may be available at additional cost in some jurisdictions.

Is there an API?

No public API is available for either the FBiH court registry portal or the APIF Republika Srpska portal as of May 2026. Bulk data is not officially distributed for external API integration. Third-party commercial aggregators (such as those indexing OpenCorporates data) have limited and often lagged coverage of BiH entities. For compliance workflows requiring regular or bulk BiH company lookups, engaging a local data partner or law firm is the practical approach.

What you legally cannot do

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s data protection is governed by the Law on Personal Data Protection (Official Gazette BiH No. 49/06 and 76/11), supervised by the BiH Personal Data Protection Agency (Agencija za zaštitu ličnih/osobnih podataka, AZLP). The registry portals prohibit:

• Automated bulk scraping for commercial redistribution
• Using personal data (director names, addresses) for unsolicited marketing or profiling
• Representing uncertified online extracts as official certified documents in legal proceedings

For standard compliance and KYC due-diligence purposes, fetching individual entity profiles is within permitted use. Reference the Global Business Due Diligence Guide for the broader legal framework applicable to BiH-entity onboarding.

Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers

• Three registries, one counterparty. Before concluding a BiH entity is not found, search both bizreg.pravosudje.ba (FBiH and Brcko) and bizreg.osbd.ba (Republika Srpska). A company registered in Banja Luka will not appear on the FBiH court portal, and vice versa.
• Identify the entity’s entity first. The registered office address should tell you which registry applies: addresses in Sarajevo, Mostar, Tuzla, and other FBiH cities point to the FBiH courts; addresses in Banja Luka, Bijeljina, or other RS cities point to APIF.
• JIB is the RS identifier; court registration number is the FBiH anchor. The JIB (Jedinstveni identifikacioni broj) is the 13-digit unique identification number used in Republika Srpska. FBiH entities use court-assigned registration numbers. The state-level tax administration (UIO) assigns a separate 13-digit indirect tax/PIB number to entities in both entities; this is sometimes useful for cross-entity searches.
• Beneficial ownership gap. Bosnia lacks a complete, operational, and publicly searchable UBO registry as of May 2026. This is one of the primary AML/CFT deficiencies identified by MONEYVAL. Compliance buyers should apply enhanced due diligence procedures for BiH counterparties and seek UBO declarations directly from the entity rather than relying on registry data.
• FATF grey list risk. Bosnia’s observation period expired in February 2026. A FATF plenary decision on grey listing is expected in June 2026. If Bosnia is grey-listed, regulated firms will be required to apply enhanced due diligence to all transactions involving BiH counterparties. Monitor fatf-gafi.org for current status before any material transaction.
• Correspondent banking implications. Grey listing would likely trigger additional correspondent banking scrutiny and potentially affect BAM wire transfers clearing through correspondent banks. Factor this into your transaction risk assessment for BiH deals.

Alternatives if you cannot access BiH registries directly

• Aggregator search (free, indicative only): OpenCorporates and the OCCRP’s Aleph platform index BiH company filings from both the FBiH courts and APIF, but coverage lags official data. Useful for a quick name check; not for compliance-grade verification.
• Schmidt and Schmidt (schmidt-export.com): A German-based company document retrieval service that handles certified extract requests from BiH registries, for a service fee. Useful for foreign buyers who cannot engage a local agent directly.
• Local law firms and corporate service providers in Sarajevo or Banja Luka can retrieve certified extracts and provide UBO declarations within days.

Local data suppliers

• Bisnode Bosnia and Herzegovina (bisnode.ba). Part of the Dun and Bradstreet network. Provides commercial credit reports for BiH companies drawing on registry data and trade payment information. Primary audience: banks and suppliers extending trade credit to BiH counterparties.

Use the official registry portals (bizreg.pravosudje.ba and bizreg.osbd.ba) for the primary legal record. Use a commercial credit bureau or local agent when you need a certified document, risk rating, or consolidated data across both entities.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access the BiH registry directly?

Yes. Both public portals are open globally without registration. However, the interface is in local language only, and certified extracts require engagement with local courts or APIF. For compliance-grade verification, foreign buyers typically engage a local attorney or document retrieval service, particularly given the fragmented multi-registry structure.

What is the primary identifier for a company in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

There is no single national identifier. FBiH entities have a court-assigned registration number tied to the issuing cantonal court. Republika Srpska entities have a JIB (Jedinstveni identifikacioni broj), a 13-digit number. Both entities’ companies have a state-level tax number (also 13 digits) issued by the state tax administration (UIO, Uprava za indirektno oporezivanje). Foreign compliance buyers should collect both the registration number and the tax number for any BiH counterparty.

What entity types are registered in BiH?

Common types in FBiH include: limited liability company (društvo s ograničenom odgovornošću, d.o.o.), joint-stock company (dioničko društvo, d.d.), sole proprietor (obrt/preduzetnik), and branches of foreign companies. In Republika Srpska, equivalent types use Serbian terminology: d.o.o. and a.d. (akcionarsko društvo). Non-profit organizations are registered separately with the Ministry of Justice of BiH or the relevant entity ministry.

Does Bosnia and Herzegovina have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?

Not in any operationally complete form as of May 2026. Both the FBiH and RS have enacted laws requiring UBO disclosure, but MONEYVAL’s December 2024 evaluation found the register to be incomplete and not fully operational. The lack of a functional state-level UBO registry is one of the primary deficiencies driving BiH’s grey-list risk. Enhanced due diligence and direct UBO declarations from counterparties are the practical substitutes for registry-based UBO verification in BiH.

How current is the data in BiH registries?

Data in both portals is updated when registrars process filed changes, typically within 3-10 business days of submission. Cantonal courts in FBiH vary widely in processing speed. APIF in Republika Srpska tends to be more consistent. Historical records from before the electronic registry systems (pre-2005 in most areas) may have incomplete or delayed digitization.

Is Bosnia and Herzegovina on the FATF grey list?

Not as of May 2026, but the risk is acute. Bosnia entered a MONEYVAL-triggered observation period in February 2025 following a critical December 2024 mutual evaluation report. That observation period expired in February 2026. The FATF plenary in June 2026 in Strasbourg is expected to assess whether Bosnia has made sufficient progress to avoid grey listing. Key deficiencies include: lack of a complete UBO register, incomplete targeted financial sanctions regime, and structural governance constraints from the Dayton constitutional framework. Monitor fatf-gafi.org in June 2026 for the definitive status update.

What’s the difference between the registry and financial filings in BiH?

Company registration (legal existence, directors, shareholders) sits with the cantonal courts (FBiH) or APIF (RS). Annual financial statements are filed separately: FBiH entities file with the FBiH Tax Administration and the FBiH Institute for Accounting and Auditing; RS entities file with APIF, which also acts as the financial reporting custodian for RS. Financial statements filed with APIF for RS entities are accessible through APIF’s portal. FBiH financial statements are not uniformly accessible online and may require a local agent to retrieve.

Last verified: May 2026. Sources: Ministry of Justice of BiH registry portal (bizreg.pravosudje.ba); APIF Republika Srpska (apif.ba); VinciWorks / Sarajevo Times reporting on BiH FATF grey-list risk (February 2026); MONEYVAL mutual evaluation of Bosnia and Herzegovina December 2024 (coe.int/en/web/moneyval). For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.