Bundesanzeiger Verlag

Bundesanzeiger Verlag GmbH is a German publishing house based in Cologne, with a branch office in Limburg an der Lahn. It is best known as the publisher of the Bundesanzeiger, the official promulgation and announcement organ of the Federal Republic of Germany, and it also published the Bundesgesetzblatt from 1949 until 2022. The company traces its origins to 1949, when it began work as a promulgation body with the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. For decades it was partly state-owned; the federal government held 70% of the shares until 1998, when 34.9% were partially privatized. In October 2006, the publishing house M. DuMont Schauberg took over the remaining 35.10% from the Federal Republic and 32.45% from the Herausgebergemeinschaft Wertpapier-Mitteilungen Keppler, Lehmann GmbH & Co. KG, retroactive to 1 January 2006, giving DuMont full ownership. Today the company describes itself as a partner to legislation, bundling its public-law tasks under the heading "Evidenzzentrale." Its portfolio includes the Bundesanzeiger, the Unternehmensregister (company register), the Transparenzregister (transparency register on beneficial owners), the Legal Entity Identifier Register (LEIReg), the Bundesgesetzblatt, parliamentary papers, the Official Journal of the EU, and various legal specialist media. Since the beginning of 2007 it has been legally entrusted with operating the Unternehmensregister as a unified nationwide access portal to company data, including access to the electronic commercial, cooperative and partnership registers. Since 2014 it has been an accredited issuing agency for the global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), and since 2017 it has maintained the Transparenzregister as the registering authority. It also receives electronic balance sheets for the tax authorities and operates the eBilanz-Online portal. The publisher's specialist media business was spun off in September 2019 into a separate company, Reguvis, whose name combines "Regu" for regulatory requirements and "Vis" for visibility. The company also publishes numerous journals in public law and in guardianship and youth law, including AW-Prax and the Zeitschrift für Kindschaftsrecht und Jugendhilfe, as well as legal specialist literature. Until 31 March 2021 it operated the website spritpreismonitor.de with information from the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels. Since 2023 the Bundesgesetzblatt has been issued electronically by the Federal Office of Justice at www.recht.bund.de rather than in printed form by Bundesanzeiger Verlag, following a change to Article 82(1) of the Basic Law and the Act on the Modernization of the Promulgation and Announcement System at the end of 2022. The company remains active and is led by managing director Matthias Schulenberg, who has held the position since October 2012.

The history of Bundesanzeiger Verlag begins in 1949 with the resumption of an orderly announcement and promulgation system in post-war Germany. With the publications Bundesanzeiger and Bundesgesetzblatt, the publisher became responsible for the publication of legally prescribed announcements and laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. Until 1998 the federal government held 70% of the publishing shares; in that year 34.9% were partially privatized. In October 2006, the publishing house M. DuMont Schauberg took over the remaining 35.10% of shares from the Federal Republic of Germany and 32.45% of shares from the Herausgebergemeinschaft Wertpapier-Mitteilungen Keppler, Lehmann GmbH & Co. KG in Frankfurt am Main, retroactive to 1 January 2006, thereby acquiring full ownership of the publisher. Whether a bidding process was initiated in 2005 in which other publishers besides M. DuMont Schauberg participated is highly disputed; no other bidders are publicly known. Shortly before the privatization of the publisher, it received the contract to produce and distribute the Bundesgesetzblatt. After privatization, a new regulation of the long-standing publication obligation for corporations took effect on 1 January 2007 (EHUG). Under this, more than one million German corporations are obliged to publish at least their annual financial statements in the electronic Bundesanzeiger for a fee each year. Even before that, according to the published participation reports of the Federal Ministry of Finance for the years 2002 to 2005, the Federal Republic of Germany was able to achieve annual profits in the millions (2004 and 2005: 4.2 million euros net each) from its participation. Since the beginning of 2007, the publisher has also been legally entrusted with operating the Unternehmensregister as a unified nationwide access portal to all important publication-obligated data about companies, including access to the electronic commercial, cooperative and partnership registers. Since 2014 it has been an accredited issuing agency for the global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), decided at the 2011 G20 summit in Pittsburgh. Since 2017 it has maintained the Transparenzregister as the registering authority, the official platform of the Federal Republic of Germany for data on beneficial owners, including access to relevant documents from the commercial, cooperative, partnership and association registers. In September 2019, the publisher spun off a separate company, Reguvis, to present its specialist media. The brand name combines 'Regu' for regulatory requirements and 'Vis' for visibility. The publisher also operates the portal www.ebilanzonline.de for creating e-balance sheets and, until 31 March 2021, operated the website www.spritpreismonitor.de with information from the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels. With a change to Article 82(1) of the Basic Law and the Act on the Modernization of the Promulgation and Announcement System at the end of 2022, the legal basis was created for the Bundesgesetzblatt to be maintained electronically. Since 2023 it has been issued not in printed form by Bundesanzeiger Verlag but electronically by the Federal Office of Justice at www.recht.bund.de. The issues published between 1949 and 2022 are made available by the publisher in a freely accessible archive. The company remains active under managing director Matthias Schulenberg, who has led it since October 2012 and was previously chief legal counsel of the DuMont Schauberg media group.

• 2022

  Legal basis created for electronic Bundesgesetzblatt; publication moves to the Federal Office of Justice from 2023.

• 2021

  Operation of spritpreismonitor.de ends on 31 March 2021.

• 2019

  Spin-off of Reguvis, the specialist media company.

• 2017

  The publisher begins maintaining the Transparenzregister as the registering authority.

• 2014

  Bundesanzeiger Verlag becomes an accredited issuing agency for the global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI).

• 2007

  New publication obligation for corporations (EHUG) takes effect; the publisher is entrusted with operating the Unternehmensregister.

• 2006

  M. DuMont Schauberg takes over the remaining shares from the Federal Republic and other holders, retroactive to 1 January 2006, acquiring 100% ownership.

• 1998

  Partial privatization: 34.9% of the publishing shares are privatized; the federal government had held 70% until then.

• 1949

  Bundesanzeiger Verlag begins work as a promulgation organ with the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Official partner to German legislation and a provider of legally mandated publication and register platforms.

• Bundesanzeiger

  The official promulgation and announcement organ of the Federal Republic of Germany, containing official and court announcements, company announcements, accounting/financial reports, capital market reports and many other official announcements.

• Unternehmensregister

  A unified nationwide access portal to all important publication-obligated data about companies, including access to the electronic commercial, cooperative and partnership registers.

• Transparenzregister

  The official platform of the Federal Republic of Germany for data on beneficial owners, including access to relevant documents from the commercial, cooperative, partnership and association registers.

• LEIReg

  The Legal Entity Identifier Register; the publisher has been an accredited issuing agency for the global LEI since 2014.

• Bundesgesetzblatt

  Published by Bundesanzeiger Verlag from 1949 to 2022; since 2023 issued electronically by the Federal Office of Justice.

• eBilanz-Online

  Portal for creating e-balance sheets; the publisher receives electronic balance sheets for the tax authorities.

• Reguvis

  Specialist media company spun off in September 2019, presenting the publisher's specialist media.

1. 1Bundesanzeiger | Startseitebundesanzeiger-verlag.de
2. 2Bundesanzeiger | Über unsbundesanzeiger-verlag.de
3. 3Bundesanzeiger Verlag - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Bundesanzeiger Verlag - Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org