Foster Moore & Bundesanzeiger launch GRX venture

Foster Moore and Bundesanzeiger Verlag have formed a joint venture, GRX, to connect business registers across jurisdictions.

GRX, short for Global Registry Exchange, has been set up by the Auckland-based registry technology company and the German publisher of the country's official federal gazette. The initiative is designed to make it easier for registry authorities to exchange authoritative information across borders while retaining control of their own systems and data.

The venture brings together a New Zealand company with a long history in registry systems and one of Germany's central registry and publication operators. Foster Moore supports registers in 21 jurisdictions, while Bundesanzeiger Verlag operates infrastructure including Germany's Company Registry and its beneficial ownership registry platform.

How it works

GRX is being built as a shared exchange layer for participating registry authorities rather than a central database. Authorities using the platform would decide which services to make available, who can access them, and what conditions or charges apply.

The structure is intended to address a longstanding problem in cross-border registry access. Business registers hold information used for commercial activity, regulation and public trust, but international access can be difficult because systems vary between jurisdictions and integrations are often built one by one.

One example is company verification across borders. A register in one country may need to confirm company information held in another, and GRX is intended to simplify finding available services, submitting requests and receiving responses from the relevant register.

The platform is currently in pilot and testing with participating registers. Those trials are being used to validate the model and guide further development.

Registry roots

For Foster Moore, the initiative also reflects its New Zealand origins. The company built the world's first fully electronic online company register for the New Zealand Companies Office and has since expanded internationally from its Auckland headquarters.

Bundesanzeiger Verlag brings experience from Germany's statutory publication and registry infrastructure. Based in Cologne, it has published official statutory announcements since 1949 and operates registry and publication systems on behalf of the German federal government.

"Founding GRX is a strategically important step for us," said Ulf Krause, Managing Director of Bundesanzeiger Verlag. "The platform supports us in fulfilling our own statutory responsibilities, and until now no solution of this kind has existed at a global scale. GRX enables registers worldwide to exchange data securely and with confidence. We are particularly pleased to build it with Foster Moore, who brings a unique wealth of technical expertise. Together, we are creating a solution that will benefit registers around the world for years to come."

Vision evolves

The venture builds on an interoperability concept originally conceived as MetaReg by John Murray, Vice President of Europe and Special Operations at Foster Moore. The central idea was that business registers in different countries should be able to exchange authoritative information more easily without giving up their independence or sovereignty.

GRX is the practical expression of that idea through the partnership between the two companies. The project combines Foster Moore's technical work in registry systems with Bundesanzeiger Verlag's role in official registry operations.

Justin Hygate, Chief Registry Officer at Foster Moore, described the platform's model in operational terms. "One connection, a world of registers. That's the power of GRX. And because GRX connects to registers rather than storing their data, users get information that is live, trusted and straight from the source," he said.

Murray said the project marks the realisation of a long-held goal. "I have waited a long time to see this vision become a reality," he said. "I have always believed a platform like GRX would fundamentally change how registers connect, collaborate and operate. I am convinced that, once established, registers around the world will wonder how they ever managed without it. I want to pay particular tribute to our partners at Bundesanzeiger Verlag, whose commitment and belief in this vision have been instrumental in bringing GRX to life."

The joint venture adds an international layer to work that began in New Zealand's registry system and has since expanded into multiple jurisdictions, with the new platform focused on exchanging official business register information between independent authorities.