Is there a national US company register?

No. Corporate law is state law and each state keeps its own register. The SEC (EDGAR) covers companies that file with it, and GLEIF covers companies that hold a Legal Entity Identifier, in every state.

What is the difference between a domestic and a foreign entity?

A domestic entity was formed in the state whose register lists it. A foreign entity was formed in another state or country and has registered (qualified) to do business in this one. The same company can therefore appear in several states, with a different entity number in each.

What does good standing mean?

That the entity is active and has filed what the state requires, such as annual reports and fees. A delinquent or suspended entity has missed one, and a state can dissolve or revoke an entity that stays out of compliance. A certificate of good standing is a document the state issues on request; it is not a field in the open data.

Can I search Delaware companies?

Delaware does not publish its register as open data. Delaware companies can be found through the SEC if they file with it, through GLEIF if they hold an LEI, or through their registrations as foreign entities in other states. The Prometiam API serves them that way.

Which US states does the Prometiam API cover?

The business registers of New York, Colorado, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, plus SEC filers and LEI holders from every state, Delaware included. One record per state registration; New York and Pennsylvania publish active entities only. It is not every US company.

What is a Secretary of State business search?

In the United States there is no national company register. Companies are formed and registered by each state, usually through its Secretary of State (or a Department of State), and a Secretary of State business search is the public search of that state's register of business entities.

What a state register records

For each entity: its name, a state entity number, the entity type (corporation, LLC, limited partnership and so on), the date it was formed or registered, its status, whether it is domestic (formed in that state) or foreign (formed elsewhere and qualified to do business there), and an address. Registers also list a registered agent and often officers; the Prometiam API does not read those.

Entity numbers, domestic and foreign

The entity number belongs to one state: the same number can exist in two states for two different companies, so a US company number is the state code and the number, for example NY-4424185. A company formed in Delaware that does business in New York registers there as a foreign entity, and has a second record with its own number.

Status: good standing, delinquent, dissolved

An active entity in good standing has filed what the state requires. A delinquent or suspended entity has missed a filing or fee (Colorado publishes delinquent entities), and an entity can be administratively dissolved, revoked, withdrawn (a foreign entity that stops doing business in the state) or merged into another. States do not agree on the words, and a certificate of good standing is a document you request from the state, not a field in the open data.

Why there is no national register, and Delaware

Corporate law is state law, so each state keeps its own register in its own format. Delaware is where a large share of US corporations are formed, but its entity search is not published as open data, so Delaware companies are best found through the SEC (listed and other filers) and GLEIF (LEI holders), or through the foreign-entity records they have in other states.

What EDGAR and the LEI add

The SEC's EDGAR system identifies every filer by a CIK and records its EIN, SIC code and state of incorporation. GLEIF's Legal Entity Identifier is a 20-character code, with the state register and number the entity is registered under. Neither gives a legal status, but both cover companies in every state.

How Prometiam exposes it

Company records from the business registers of New York, Colorado, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, plus SEC filers and LEI holders from every state, Delaware included, in one API: GET /companies/search?country=US. One record per state registration, updated weekly. New York and Pennsylvania publish active entities only. No officers and no registry-compliance signal, with register-change events (dated by the weekly read) and monitoring and no VAT number. It is not every US company.

New York business entity search · Colorado business search · Connecticut business lookup · Pennsylvania business search · Delaware company search · SEC EDGAR company search API

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US sources: New York Department of State, Colorado Secretary of State, Connecticut Secretary of the State, Pennsylvania Department of State (open data), SEC EDGAR, GLEIF (CC0).

What a state register records

Field	Notes
Name	The entity's legal name. A state does not register two live entities with the same name, so within one state a name is effectively unique.
Entity number	The state's own identifier, called a file number, entity ID or SOS ID depending on the state.
Entity type	Corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, nonprofit and so on, in the state's own vocabulary.
Formation date	When the entity was formed or, for a foreign entity, registered in this state.
Status	Active, delinquent, dissolved and others; see below.
Domestic or foreign	Whether the entity was formed in this state or elsewhere.
Addresses	A principal, mailing or service address, and a registered agent. The Prometiam API reads only the entity's own address, never the names of agents or officers.

What EDGAR and the LEI add

Source	What it is
SEC EDGAR	The SEC's filing system. Every filer has a CIK (Central Index Key, ten digits) and usually an EIN, an SIC code and a state of incorporation. It covers listed and other reporting companies in every state, gives no legal status, and holds their annual reports.
GLEIF	The Global LEI Foundation's open register of Legal Entity Identifiers: a 20-character code per entity that holds one, with its legal form, addresses and the state register and number it is registered under. Open data, CC0.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Secretary of State business search?: The public search of a US state's register of business entities, usually run by the Secretary of State or a Department of State. It returns the entity's name, state entity number, type, formation date, status, whether it is domestic or foreign, and an address.
Is there a national US company register?: No. Corporate law is state law and each state keeps its own register. The SEC (EDGAR) covers companies that file with it, and GLEIF covers companies that hold a Legal Entity Identifier, in every state.
What is the difference between a domestic and a foreign entity?: A domestic entity was formed in the state whose register lists it. A foreign entity was formed in another state or country and has registered (qualified) to do business in this one. The same company can therefore appear in several states, with a different entity number in each.
What does good standing mean?: That the entity is active and has filed what the state requires, such as annual reports and fees. A delinquent or suspended entity has missed one, and a state can dissolve or revoke an entity that stays out of compliance. A certificate of good standing is a document the state issues on request; it is not a field in the open data.
Can I search Delaware companies?: Delaware does not publish its register as open data. Delaware companies can be found through the SEC if they file with it, through GLEIF if they hold an LEI, or through their registrations as foreign entities in other states. The Prometiam API serves them that way.
Which US states does the Prometiam API cover?: The business registers of New York, Colorado, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, plus SEC filers and LEI holders from every state, Delaware included. One record per state registration; New York and Pennsylvania publish active entities only. It is not every US company.