KYB business verification
Identify and rank high-risk organizations based on KYB data analysis. Trace connections between entities clearly, even when they sit in different jurisdictions. Recognize opaque ownership signals right away. Following the ownership structure of a company you deal with — from its legal entity down to the ultimate beneficial owner — becomes simple and accessible. Direct access to global corporate databases keeps the picture accurate and up to date.
What KYB actually checks
KYB answers what kind of organization you are dealing with and who stands behind it. Establishing a name is not enough: a legal entity is a shell, and the point of the check is to see who controls it and what it is connected to.
- Registration data: whether the company exists, whether the registration is current, whether the stated address matches the register.
- Ownership structure and ultimate beneficial owners — the people, not the chain of holding companies.
- Signing authority: the director, the power of attorney, its expiry.
- Licences, where the activity requires them.
- Presence of the company and its beneficiaries on sanctions and other restrictive lists.
- Links to other entities: shared addresses, directors, owners.
How KYB differs from KYC
KYC establishes the identity of a person; KYB establishes the nature of an organization. The difference is one of subject rather than depth: a company has no face and no passport, but it does have owners, authority and a history of connections that an individual customer does not.
| Question | KYC | KYB |
|---|---|---|
| Who is checked | An individual | An organization and the people behind it |
| Evidence used | Identity document and selfie | Register extract, constitutional documents, powers of attorney |
| What is being established | That the person matches the document | That the company, its owners and their authority are real |
| How often repeated | Usually once, and on material change | Periodically: ownership changes |
KYB does not replace source-of-funds checks. A verified company can still transact with risky addresses, and the reverse also happens. These are separate questions answered by separate tools.
When KYB is unavoidable
- Opening an account or enabling a payment service for a legal entity.
- Dealing with a counterparty you have no history with: a first transaction, a large amount, payment in advance.
- Partner and agency arrangements where responsibility for the partner stays with you.
- Periodic review of customers already accepted: ownership changes without notice, and last year's check does not describe this year's company.
What to prepare
The exact set depends on jurisdiction, but the core is much the same everywhere. Collected in advance, it turns weeks of back-and-forth into days.
- A recent extract from the company register of the country of registration.
- Constitutional documents and the ownership structure down to natural persons.
- Evidence of the signatory's authority, together with their identity document.
- Licences, where the activity requires them.
- Proof of the operating address, where it differs from the registered one.
Frequently asked questions
It is verification of an organization: whether it genuinely exists, who owns it, who may sign on its behalf and whether the company or its owners appear on restrictive lists. KYC does the same for an individual.
Counterparty due diligence tends to look at solvency and litigation history. KYB answers a compliance question: is the company real, who are its ultimate beneficial owners, and are there restrictions. The two are neighbours, but they produce different conclusions.
Yes. Ownership and signing authority change, and they change without notifying counterparties, so the check is treated as periodic rather than one-off.
No. They answer different questions: KYB establishes who you are dealing with, while address and transaction analysis establishes where the money came from. A verified company can still transact with risky addresses.
Most of the elapsed time goes on collecting documents from the company rather than on analysis. A package prepared in advance — register extract, constitutional documents, ownership structure, signing authority — shortens it considerably.
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