Does the organisation we sign a contract with exist?
If you look up the VAT number here http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/vies/en/vieshome.htm then you will have the answer to this question. Yes we do use this link for verification of the VAT number of the registry. The VAT registration only refers to the tax status of an organisation regarding
At 10:20 AM 10/11/2005 +0100, Michael.Dillon@btradianz.com wrote: the Sales tax. The Chamber of Commerce papers give us more information regarding company structure, authorised persons etc. Although this does not apply for all countries for instance UK gives a very brief overview. So we have always stuck to the extract of the Chamber of Commerce. Additional problems are: - For not all countries it states the name, address - Not possible for outside EU states (in addition for us it is not clear how the VAT regulation is implemented in countries outside the EU) - Not all organisations have a VAT number (governments) - In addition some countries state in their Chamber of Commerce extract the authorised persons within the company.
and do we sign a legal contract with this organisation? for a legal contract we need to make sure that the contract is signed by an authorised person.
If it is not signed by an authorised person then you can take back the addresses whenever you wish because there is no contract. Why worry about this?
From a financial point of view I worry. It would imply the company is not bound to the agreement and any related policy, legal or financial claims. The company could claim back all their payments, with interest etc as they have no contract. Aside from the administration problems this gives in recognizing revenue.
And yes we do accept foreign language documents (but prefer English documents)
You should really make it much clearer what is optional and what is mandatory. In order to have a level playing field, the rules must be fair and they must be published clearly. For an example of how a UK bank handles this look here: http://www.rbs.co.uk/small_business/Opening_a_new_account/documentation.htm As you can see the tables clearly show that 3 documents must be presented and there are several options for two types of document. Then the third document varies depending on the type of entity.
I'm sure that RIPE could publish something similar. Yes I think this is a good suggestion. We are working on improving the New LIR process and can add this information so that it is explicit what documents must be provided.
Regards, Jochem de Ruig
--Michael Dillon