Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Europe |
| ISO 3166-1 | BE / BEL |
| Registry | KBO/BCE (FOD Economie / SPF Économie) |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Belgium and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | BTW-nummer / Numéro TVA (VAT number) | FOD Financiën / SPF Finances |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | Ondernemingsnummer / Numéro d’entreprise (Enterprise Number) | KBO/BCE (FOD Economie / SPF Économie) |
Sector regulators
NBB/BNB · FSMA · CTIF-CFI · FOD Economie
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Besloten vennootschap / Société à responsabilité limitée | BV/SRL | Private limited liability company; no minimum capital (financial plan required); replaced BVBA/SPRL under the 2019 CSA/WVV reform; the default SME vehicle. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Naamloze vennootschap / Société anonyme | NV/SA | Public limited liability company; minimum €61,500 capital; shares freely transferable; mandatory board structure; used for larger companies and listed entities. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Europese vennootschap / Société Européenne | SE | European public company (Regulation (EC) 2157/2001); minimum €120,000 capital; share-based, freely transferable; registered in KBO/BCE. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Vennootschap onder firma / Société en nom collectif | VOF/SNC | General partnership with legal personality; all partners jointly and unlimitedly liable; no minimum capital. Closest US equivalent: General Partnership (GP). |
| Commanditaire vennootschap / Société en commandite | CommV/SComm | Limited partnership with legal personality; one or more general partners bear unlimited liability alongside limited (silent) partners; no minimum capital. Closest US equivalent: Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Maatschap / Société simple | — | Silent or civil partnership without legal personality; the base partnership form under the CSA/WVV; registrable in KBO; all partners bear unlimited liability. Closest US equivalent: General Partnership (GP). |
| Eenmanszaak / Entreprise individuelle | — | Sole proprietorship; a single natural person trading under their own name or a trade name; no separate legal entity; registered in KBO/BCE at an accredited enterprise counter. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Coöperatieve vennootschap / Société coopérative | CV/SC | Cooperative company; variable membership and capital; designed for the cooperative economic model; minimum three founders; may obtain recognition as an accredited social enterprise. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative. |
| Europese coöperatieve vennootschap / Société coopérative européenne | SCE | European Cooperative Society (Regulation (EC) 1435/2003); supranational cooperative form; minimum €30,000 capital; registered in KBO/BCE. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative. |
| Europese economische samenwerkingsverbanden / Groupement européen d’intérêt économique | EESV/GEIE | European Economic Interest Grouping (Regulation (EEC) 2137/85); facilitates cross-border economic cooperation between member-state entities; no profit motive; registered in KBO/BCE. Closest US equivalent: Branch/Rep Office. |
| Vereniging zonder winstoogmerk / Association sans but lucratif | VZW/ASBL | Non-profit association; no share capital; profits may not be distributed to members; widely used by NGOs, professional bodies, and social enterprises. Closest US equivalent: Nonprofit Corporation (501(c)(3)). |
| Bijkantoor / Succursale (buitenlandse vennootschap) | — | Belgian branch of a foreign company; not a separate legal entity; the foreign parent bears full liability; must register in KBO/BCE and publish accounts. Closest US equivalent: Branch/Rep Office. |
How documents combine
For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.| Evidence area | Documents needed |
|---|---|
| Legal Registration | Extrait KBO/BCE |
| Constitutive Documents | All required: Acte constitutif + Statuts |
| Tax Registration | BTW/TVA confirmation |
| Ownership Records | Any one of: Registre des actionnaires · Livre d’actions |
| Governance Records | Annexes Moniteur belge |
| Signing Authority | Any one of: Procès-verbal · Procuration |
| Address | Any one of: Contrat de bail · Facture de services · Relevé bancaire |
Documents to collect
The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.| Document | Proves |
|---|---|
| Extrait KBO/BCE | Legal Registration |
| Acte constitutif / Oprichtingsakte | Constitutive Documents |
| Statuts (notarised) | Constitutive Documents |
| BTW/TVA confirmation (FOD Financiën) | Tax Registration |
| Registre des actionnaires / Aandeelhoudersregister (BV/SRL) | Ownership Records |
| Livre d’actions / Aandelenboek (SA/NV) | Ownership Records |
| Annexes Moniteur belge / Bijlagen Belgisch Staatsblad | Governance Records |
| Procès-verbal / Notulen (board or general-assembly resolution) | Signing Authority |
| Procuration / Volmacht (notarised POA) | Signing Authority |
| Contrat de bail | Address |
| Facture de services (≤90 jours) | Address |
| Relevé bancaire (≤90 jours) | Address |
| Sector-Specific License | NBB licence (banking, payment, e-money, insurance), FSMA authorisation (investment, intermediary, VASP) |
Collection notes
- Legal Registration: Free download at kbopub.economie.fgov.be; collect the full-detail printout showing status, legal form, registered office, and NACE codes.
- Constitutive Documents: Authentic deed by notary; published in Annexes Moniteur belge / Bijlagen Belgisch Staatsblad. Collect the original deed or certified copy; the Moniteur belge publication confirms it.
- Tax Registration: The VAT number is “BE” + enterprise number; verify via VIES. Note: VAT activation is separate from KBO registration — an entity may be KBO-registered but not yet BTW-active.
- Sector-Specific License: NBB supervises credit institutions (law of 25 Apr 2014), payment/e-money institutions (law of 11 Mar 2018), insurance (law of 13 Mar 2016). FSMA supervises investment firms, intermediaries, crowdfunding, VASPs.
- Ownership Records: BV/SRL: mandatory internal register of shareholders (CSA/WVV Art. 5:24). SA/NV: livre d’actions (Art. 7:31).
- Governance Records: Current managers/directors published in Moniteur belge on appointment; KBO extract lists current representatives. Note: KBO does not include personal identifiers (DOB, address) for directors — obtain from Moniteur belge publications or certified statuts extract.
- Signing Authority: For routine authority: KBO-registered gérant/bestuurder’s appointment in Moniteur belge is sufficient. For specific non-routine acts or agents: notarised procuration.
- Address: Conduit universal policy: lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
Person roles
When you submit a person on the application body, set theirrole to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.
| Local role | Canonical API role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Zaakvoerder / Gérant (BV/SRL) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Appointed managing director of BV/SRL; day-to-day authority; registered in KBO and Moniteur belge. |
| Bestuurder / Administrateur (SA/NV) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Board member of SA/NV (Raad van Bestuur / Conseil d’administration); governance role. |
| Gedelegeerd bestuurder / Administrateur délégué (SA/NV) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Delegated director of SA/NV with executive/operational authority; registered in Moniteur belge. |
| Dagelijks bestuurder / Délégué à la gestion journalière | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Person delegated daily management authority; may be a manager or an appointed officer. |
| Vaste vertegenwoordiger / Représentant permanent | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Named individual representing a corporate director; required when a legal person holds a directorship (CSA/WVV). |
| Gemachtigde / Mandataire (POA holder) | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Holder of a notarised procuration / volmacht binding the company for specific acts. |
Notes
- Trilingual jurisdiction: language of document depends on registered-office region. Flanders → Dutch; Wallonia → French; German-speaking community → German; Brussels-Capital → bilingual nl/fr. An SRL incorporated in Ghent will have Dutch-language statuts; one in Liège will have French-language. KYB extract language cannot be freely chosen — it follows the registered office.
- No minimum capital for BV/SRL since 2019 reform. The CSA/WVV abolished the €18,550 minimum for BV/SRL (replaced BVBA); founders must instead submit a detailed financial plan (plan financier / financieel plan) for at least 2 years. Collect the financial plan at onboarding for newly incorporated BV/SRLs — it is a statutory document.
- KBO extract does not include director personal identifiers. The CBE public extract shows management names and functions but not date of birth, address, or other PII for directors. Full details appear in the notarised acte constitutif and Moniteur belge publications; request certified copies or a Moniteur belge printout for identity-verification purposes.
- NACE-BEL codes updated to 2025 classification from 1 January 2025. Legacy 2008 codes discontinued 31 December 2024; automatically converted in KBO from 1 January 2025. When reading older extracts or historical filings, verify NACE code mapping has been applied correctly before inferring regulated-sector status.