The Cape Town Convention Academic Project (CTCAP) has officially launched a targeted consultation on its Draft Guide on Best Practices for Electronic Business Registries (“Draft Guide”). The launch workshop took place on 1 September 2025 at Robinson College in Cambridge, with both in-person and online participation.
The workshop featured presentations from CTCAP Directors Ignacio Tirado and Louise Gullifer, and Kateryna Bovsunovska, Legal Consultant managing the Project on Best Practices in Electronic Registry Design and Operation (BPER). The presentations provided an overview of the project’s background and methodology, emphasising that the Guide is intended to be a practical and technologically neutral reference for registries worldwide. Key project stakeholders Aviareto and Information Services Corporation highlighted the collaborative approach of the project and the Guide’s potential to serve as a valuable tool for registries of all sizes. The event concluded with a productive discussion on how the Guide’s methodology could be applied to other types of registries in the future.
About the Guide
The Draft Guide is the second major publication of the BPER Project, following the release of its Guide on Best Practices for Electronic Collateral Registries in 2021. Through five dedicated workshops, experts focused on adapting the BPER project’s methodology to the specific needs of business registries. The Draft Guide expands on the original work, identifying 24 Critical Performance Factors (CPFs) – up from 17 – that reflect the evolving role of business registries and the scale of technological progress in recent years. These factors cover key areas such as accuracy, error detection, continual improvement, interoperability, and transparency.
About the Consultation
The consultation marks the final stage of a multi-year effort to develop authoritative best practices for electronic business registries. It will run for two months, from 1 September to 1 November 22 November 2025. The purpose of this consultation is to:
- Collect feedback on the clarity, coherence, and usefulness of the Draft Guide for different business registries.
- Review the structure and content of supporting materials, including charts and the annexes to the Draft Guide, and assess their value as reference tools.
- Ensure the Draft Guide addresses the challenges and opportunities faced by registries at different stages of digital transformation.
- Promote awareness and international dialogue on the evolving role of electronic business registries.
The consultation targets business registries, associations of registries, electronic registry operators, registry service and technology providers, academics, and experts in digital transformation.
How to Participate
Respondents are invited to review the Draft Guide and submit their feedback by completing a questionnaire on the dedicated consultation webpage. As this is a targeted consultation, the consultation document is accessible only to invited participants. For any inquiries or to request access, please contact the ctcap@unidroit.org.
Next steps
The BPER Project Group will consider the feedback received at its Tenth Workshop, foreseen to be held in virtual format in the first quarter of 2026. It is anticipated that the Guide on Best Practices for Electronic Business Registries will be finalised and published later in 2026.
