Denmark

Denmark is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system, an EU member state since 1 January 1973 and a WTO member since 1 January 1995. The monarch is head of state with limited powers, and the Folketing has 179 seats, four of them for Greenland and the Faroe Islands. In 2025 Denmark ranked fourth in the EU for GDP per capita, at about EUR 53,000, and produced 2.2 per cent of EU GDP. Denmark negotiated an opt-out from the euro; Danmarks Nationalbank has run a fixed exchange rate policy since 1982 and keeps the krone pegged to the euro. The US Federal Judicial Center describes the legal tradition as civil law with Scandinavian roots.

The IMF's 2025 Article IV summary describes strong growth driven mainly by pharmaceutical exports, sluggish domestic demand, inflation below 2 per cent, robust public finances and a resilient financial system. Hvidvasksekretariatet's national risk assessment of money laundering for 2022 rates tax and VAT crime, IT-related economic crime and the proceeds of crime committed abroad, with corruption among its examples, as high threats. It names banks, currency exchange businesses and providers of services to businesses as the three sectors most at risk. The FATF's 2017 mutual evaluation found that Denmark had the foundations of a sound AML/CFT regime but rated the effectiveness of supervision low. A 2021 follow-up report left two Recommendations partially compliant (correspondent banking and new technologies).

The Companies Act (selskabsloven) provides for public limited companies (A/S) and private limited companies (ApS), with minimum share capital of DKK 400,000 and DKK 40,000 respectively in the 2023 consolidated text. A company's articles must state its management structure and the number of members of each management body. Listed companies report against the Recommendations on Corporate Governance (2020 edition) on a comply-or-explain basis, and companies covered by Financial Statements Act section 107 b must publish the resulting statement. Businesses, foundations, certain associations and foreign trusts must register their beneficial owners with Erhvervsstyrelsen, and the Central Business Register publishes each owner's name, country of residence, and the nature of their rights. AML-obliged businesses must report discrepancies under AML Act section 15 a. In 2017 the FATF rated transparency of legal persons partially compliant.