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Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR) is a very useful and low cost investigative technique. This is an expanding domain, which proved to help enormous the accomplishment of big investigative projects. We have opened here a list with web addresses that can be used as sources of information, as well as for checking facts. We will try to keep this list up to date.
Website with information’s
about Romanian companies:
www.ccir.ro
www.onrc.ro
The Minister of
Finance website, where you can find for free financial information’s about
Romanian companies:
www.mfin.ro
Here you can find
information’s about companies that are quoted on the Romanian Stock Exchange:
www.rasd.ro
Website with information’s
about companies all around the world:
www.nexis.com
A part of a database
created by the US government for the CIA, with articles and news gathered from
arround the world and translated into English:
wnc.fedworld.gov
The Wayback Machine
makes it possible to surf more than 10 billion pages stored in the Internet
Archive's web archive
web.archive.org
Professional search
engine:
www.copernic.com
PGP develops secure-messaging
and data-storage products used to protect the confidential, sensitive, and proprietary
information
www.pgp.com
An archive with
most of the NGO’s worldwide:
www.idealist.org
Australian Securities & Investments Commission
Provides Australian companies’ data.
http://www.asic.gov.au
Belgium
This is the Belgian website with basic company information:
http://www.mineco.fgov.be/redir_new.asp?loc=/enterprises/crossroads_bank/home_fr.htm
In Dutch and French.
Brazilian Stock Exchange (only in Portuguese)
http://www.somativos.com.br/empresas/empresas.htm
Bulgaria
www.apis.bg
www.daxy.com
http://www.apis.bg/en/index.php
http://www.is-bg.net/frames.php
http://www.ciela.net/home_e.asp
Denmark
www.biq.dk
That too is only in Danish, and it's a paid for database, but it's possible to get one weeks free membership – without any obligations. You can search for all Danish companies - for all individuals attached to them, and you can get data back in time (like: Person XX was earlier a member of these company boards...) You can search for companies or individuals on the same address and so on. To register, go to this page:
http://www.biq.dk/user/register and when you have written your email, password, first name (fornavn), Last name (Efternavn) you click on "Bestil prøveabonnement" (Order trial-subscription). You'll shortly get a mail, and that's that. It's really useful. And you won't have to cancel your subscription. It just dies after a week.
The Danish Commerce and Company Agency has a limited open database
http://www.publi-com.dk/index2.htm where you will find basic information such as name (and company aliases), address, company registration number and the date for last published account. To gain access to the whole database, you will have to pay the agency a certain fee to obtain information on e.g. accounts, board members, and host/mother companies.
Finland
For Finland, you can browse companies at the official trade registry's site:
http://www.ytj.fi/english/default.asp?path=605
The search page: http://www.ytj.fi/english/Yrit_sel2.asp?kielikoodi=3&path=605
(don't forget to specify the "company form", for example for Nokia it should be "public limited company").This database does not give you financial records. For those, you need to turn to commercial providers, either Suomen Asiakastieto, which has an English language service (online payment with Visa possible) at: http://www.asiakastieto.fi/en/index.shtml or
TietoEnator's ePortti, which is only in Finnish:
https://eportti.tietopalvelut.com/
France
In France the best site is
www.euridile.fr recently reorganized as a portal (in French only) on a lot of company info. Some is paid for but you can get a lot of data free.
Hungary
English: http://www.adatbazis.com/default.asp?lang=en
German: http://www.adatbazis.com/default.asp?lang=de
The Netherlands
The Dutch trade register is available online with an English language interface on:
http://www.handelsregister.nl/sectie/sectie.asp?sectieID=102 Most of the information has to be paid for.
New Zealand
www.companies.govt.nz It is mostly free and only in English.
Norway
http://www.brreg.no/english/
Romania
http://recom.onrc.ro/accesare_.htm Basic information is free of charge.
Serbia
http://www.pks.co.yu/pksen/servlet/XMLProcesor?i_sys=pksen&i_xml=a5000&i_xsl=s5000
South Africa
In South Africa company records may be officially obtained via the Registrar of Companies which falls under the Dept of Trade and Industry.
Their website is: www.cipro.gov.za
Privately, records can be scrutinised electronically (although not always as updated) via www.legalcity.co.za (you will be required to pay a certain amount which would give you access to South African records, also deeds (property in some cases).
Another suggestion from South Africa would be the local Lexis-Nexis affiliate www.DeedSearch.co.za which gives access to local property deeds & mortgages, the SA company registrar, criminal records, vehicle registration info, drivers' license databases, credit reference info, birth & death certificates, educational qualifications, employment records, & a range of other public databases.
Switzerland
https://www.shab.ch/shabforms/servlet/forms/SearchView?lg=EN&TYPE=HR
The Swiss Commercial Register offers free company data for the last two years. Data older than these is paid for.
There is an easier way to cross check quickly and freely our company registries at www.zefix.admin.ch
This website is updated by the ministry of police and justice in English, French, German and Italian. You can research by canton or cities, or name of companies. There are the usual indications by company names, holders, shareholders, capital, etc...If you need more details on companies, you may order a full extract of the registry, stamped, from the cantons and there is a contact address.
The United Kingdom
http://www.companieshouse.co.uk/
The United States
The first place in the States I would go is the US
Securities and Exchange Commission's online database, Edgar at
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
Publicly traded corporations must file regular, detailed reports that include data on finances, stock, lawsuits, and more. The 10K reports are particularly useful, although they can be long and
conffusing documents.
www.edgaronline.com
It allows you to search for people in SEC documents (much easier than going through each company filing at SEC's EDGAR database) if you want to track down a specific individual. EdgarOnline also allows you to choose how you want to view the SEC filings, i.e. the original filing, word file, pdf, excel (which makes incorporating the numbers in a database so much easier).
http://www.nass.org
It is the National Association of Secretaries of State, which links to the data for all 50 states. Do a search, and it will ask you which state i.e. New York, California, etc. You will be directed to the search page for the state you select, and you can search by entity name, registered agent, or corporate ID number. It is a free service to use. Some states are easier to use than others, and some have better info than others, because in the US, each state has its own laws for corporations concerning registration with the secretary of state and filling data with the SoS office. Hope this helps. Another hint: Arkansas and Delaware have some interesting companies, often with many eastern European connections.
Ukraine
www.smida.gov.ua
Available in Ukrainian language only, but an English speaking journalist in Ukraine named Roman Olearchyk will be glad to help when time is available or could recommend others who could help do the search (romchuk@gmail.com)
OTHER DATABASES
The European Business Register
http://www.ebr.org/ You have to pay (varies from country to country), but you'll get access to 14 countries.
Also, don’t forget about the world’s stock exchanges which can provide valuable data on listed companies. This is a yahoo compiled directory of stock exchanges:
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/Financial_Services/Exchanges/Stock_Exchanges/
LEXIS-NEXIS
http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/business
OTHER USEFUL ON-LINE TOOLS
USEFUL SOFTWARE:
DC++ is a computer program that connects computers all around the world and facilitates data exchanges. Can be useful when investigating cyber-crime.
http://dcplusplus.sourceforge.net/
IP and WEB ADDRESS CHECK:
The following websites can be used in order to find out who owns a website and for tracking down IPs
http://allwhois.com/
http://www.ripe.net/whois
http://remote.12dt.com/rns/
DECLASSIFIED INFORMATION CIA
www.foia.cia.gov
The CIA has established this site to provide the public with an overview of access to CIA information, including electronic access to previously released documents.
ON-LINE TRANSLATION
These web-sites might come in handy when we need to read documents in foreign languages
http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr
http://www.freetranslation.com/
The following one is helpful with translations from Arabic:
tarjim.ajeeb.com/ajeeb/default.asp?lang=1
US GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
http://vsearch2.eps.gov/servlet/SearchServlet
Military and Civil contracts which are awarded by the US Government are searchable by using this web site
TERRORISM, FINANCIAL FRAUD, WANTED CRIMINALS
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sdn/
http://chaos.fedworld.gov/bxa/prohib.html
SEARCH ENGINES
www.msn.com
www.gigablast.com
www.ixquick.com
www.teoma.com
www.alltheweb.com
www.hotbot.com
www.a9.com
www.live.com
http://searchenginewatch.com
The latter provides data and ratings on search engines
THE INTERNET AS AN ARCHIVE
http://www.waybackmachine.org/
This is a very important tool when it comes to checking web sites which are not on-line anymore or to check previous stages of a web site. It stores web sites in different stages of their development.
ENCRYPTION SOFTWARE
http://www.pgpi.org/cgi/download.cgi?filename=PGPFW703.zip
PGP, Pretty Good Privacy, encrypts files and documents on your hard-disk and can be used for e-mail communications as well.
http://www.scramdisk.clara.net/
Encrypts your hard-drives
OTHER DATABASES AND USEFUL WEBSITES
http://wnc.dialog.com/
Database which contains collections of articles (from media outlets not covered by Lexis-Nexis) translated into English. Articles from all over the world (mainly on intelligence, companies, criminal stuff) are searchable here. Requires subscription.
NOT-FOR-PROFITS/FOUNDATIONS
www.guidestar.org
Data about NGO’s established in the US. Provides comprehensive financial data. Requires registration. Free.
www.defenselink.mil
A Pentagon searchable contracts database. Data about companies involved in Pentagon contracts all over the world. Reporters can search for companies involved abroad.
HUMAN RIGHTS
www.hrw.org
Human Rights Watch is the largest human rights organization. It conducts investigations into human rights abuses all over the world.
www.amnesty.org
www.oneworld.net
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
www.freedominfo.org
This website points out to Freedom of Information laws all around the globe
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS NETWORKS
www.globalinvestigativejournalism.org