United States federal public records and research resources.
How to use this page
A curated research starting point. Sources listed below are public-record gateways and official registries we have evaluated for reliability and active maintenance.
Use each link to access the source directly. Lawful basis, professional purpose, and compliance with each source’s terms remain the user’s responsibility.
For investigative work in a specific matter, contact us through the channels below.
A curated index of federal-level public registers, court databases, and research starting points relevant to corporate, regulatory, and legal research in the United States.
This page covers federal sources. State-level sources — including Secretary of State business filings, state court records, county recorder records, and state attorney-general registries — will be added in Phase 2 starting with the priority states of Delaware, New York, California, Florida, and Texas.
For sanctions and watchlist sources, see International Sanctions & Watchlists.
Corporate filings and securities
SEC EDGAR — US Securities and Exchange Commission
Type: Securities filings register. · Maintained by: US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cost / access: Free, no registration. Bulk downloads available.
Useful for: Filings by publicly-traded US companies and certain foreign filers — annual reports (10-K), quarterly reports (10-Q), current reports (8-K), proxy statements, registration statements, beneficial-ownership filings (13D, 13G, Section 16), and Investment Adviser disclosures.
Limitations: Covers SEC registrants only. Private companies, foreign filers not registered with the SEC, and many smaller funds are not in EDGAR. State-level corporate filings are separate.
Official link: www.sec.gov/edgar · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
IAPD — Investment Adviser Public Disclosure
Type: Investment-adviser register. · Maintained by: SEC and state securities regulators, hosted by FINRA.
Cost / access: Free, no registration.
Useful for: Verifying registered investment advisers, their assets under management, disciplinary history, and Form ADV disclosures.
Limitations: Covers registered investment advisers only.
Official link: adviserinfo.sec.gov · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
FINRA BrokerCheck
Type: Securities professional and firm register. · Maintained by: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Cost / access: Free, no registration.
Useful for: Verifying licensed brokers and broker-dealer firms, registration status, employment history, regulatory disclosures, and customer complaints on record.
Limitations: US securities-industry registrants only.
Official link: brokercheck.finra.org · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
Courts and case law
PACER — Public Access to Court Electronic Records
Type: US federal court electronic records system. · Maintained by: Administrative Office of the US Courts.
Cost / access: Free registration required. Per-page fee (currently $0.10 per page; $3.00 cap per document). Fees can be waived under certain thresholds.
Useful for: Federal district courts, federal appellate courts, federal bankruptcy courts — dockets, filings, judgments. The authoritative source for US federal court records.
Limitations: Does not cover state courts. Per-page billing can mount quickly on large dockets; consider commercial subscription tools for high-volume work.
Official link: pacer.uscourts.gov · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
US Supreme Court — Opinions
Type: Final-court opinions database. · Maintained by: Supreme Court of the United States.
Cost / access: Free.
Useful for: US Supreme Court opinions, orders, oral-argument transcripts, and rule changes.
Limitations: Final-appeal opinions only. Lower-court reasoning sits in PACER and circuit-court databases.
Official link: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/opinions.aspx · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
CourtListener — Free Law Project
Type: Aggregated US case-law database. · Maintained by: Free Law Project (not-for-profit).
Cost / access: Free.
Useful for: Searchable archive of US federal and selected state opinions, oral-argument audio, judge information, and citator network. Often the most efficient free starting point for US case-law research.
Limitations: Coverage of state-court materials varies by jurisdiction and time period.
Official link: www.courtlistener.com · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
Tax-exempt and not-for-profit
IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search
Type: Tax-exempt entity register. · Maintained by: Internal Revenue Service.
Cost / access: Free, no registration.
Useful for: Verifying tax-exempt status under section 501, finding Form 990 filings, identifying revocations and reinstatements, and confirming public-charity versus private-foundation status.
Limitations: US tax-exempt entities only.
Official link: www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
Intellectual property
USPTO — US Patent and Trademark Office
Type: Patent and trademark register. · Maintained by: US Patent and Trademark Office.
Cost / access: Free search. Paid filing.
Useful for: US patents, patent applications, registered trademarks, trademark applications, ownership records, and prosecution history.
Limitations: US-registered rights only. International rights via WIPO or other jurisdictions.
Official link: www.uspto.gov · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
US Copyright Office — Public Catalog
Type: Copyright registration register. · Maintained by: US Copyright Office (Library of Congress).
Cost / access: Free.
Useful for: Verifying registered copyrights, claimants, and recorded transfers since 1978.
Limitations: Copyright protection does not require registration in the US, so the Public Catalog is not a complete record of US copyrights.
Official link: publicrecords.copyright.gov · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
Procurement and federal contracting
SAM.gov — System for Award Management
Type: Federal procurement, entity, and exclusion register. · Maintained by: US General Services Administration.
Cost / access: Free.
Useful for: Verifying federal contractors and grantees, federal contract awards, and the federal exclusion list (parties excluded from federal procurement and other Federal assistance and benefits programs). The US-federal counterpart to multilateral debarment lists.
Limitations: Federal awards only. State and local procurement are separate.
Official link: sam.gov · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
Regulatory and legislative
Federal Register
Type: Federal government publication of rules and notices. · Maintained by: US Government Publishing Office and National Archives.
Cost / access: Free.
Useful for: Proposed rules, final rules, presidential documents, notices, and agency actions. The authoritative source for what the federal government has done and is proposing to do.
Limitations: Procedural and rule-making documents only. Substantive case law is elsewhere.
Official link: www.federalregister.gov · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
Congress.gov
Type: Federal legislation tracker. · Maintained by: Library of Congress.
Cost / access: Free.
Useful for: Bills, resolutions, public laws, congressional record, committee documents, and member voting records.
Limitations: Federal legislative materials only.
Official link: www.congress.gov · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
Election and political-spending records
FEC — Federal Election Commission
Type: Federal campaign-finance register. · Maintained by: Federal Election Commission.
Cost / access: Free.
Useful for: Federal candidate filings, political action committee filings, party committee filings, and individual contribution records.
Limitations: Federal-level only. State and local campaign finance is held by state authorities.
Official link: www.fec.gov · Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.
What’s coming in Phase 2
State-level sources for the priority states of Delaware, New York, California, Florida, and Texas — Secretary of State business filings, state court records (where searchable online), county recorder records (selectively), state professional licensing boards, and state attorney-general consumer-protection actions. Plus federal additions including Department of Labor Form 5500, Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List, FinCEN guidance, GAO bid protests, and FOIA reading rooms.
Disclaimer
General information only. This directory is provided for general information and professional research purposes only. It is not legal advice, financial advice, or due-diligence advice. Information found through any third-party source is not verified by Transglobal Intel Net.
Third-party sources. Transglobal Intel Net does not control, certify, or guarantee the accuracy, currency, or completeness of any source listed. Links are provided as starting points. Each source is maintained independently by its respective authority.
Access conditions. Some sources require payment, registration, lawful-purpose attestation, or local professional access. Users are responsible for compliance with each source’s terms of use and with applicable law.
Not a Transglobal service. Listing a source in this directory does not constitute an endorsement, a recommendation, or a Transglobal service. The directory is a reference index, not an investigative product.
Lawful use only. Users must have a lawful basis for any search undertaken. Users are responsible for compliance with privacy law, data-protection law, anti-stalking law, and any other applicable framework in their jurisdiction.
Reservation. Transglobal Intel Net may add, remove, or modify entries without notice. Outdated entries are reviewed quarterly and updated as resources change.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-24.