Idenfo Direct UK enhances Know Your Business (KYB) checks
Learn about our latest integration with Companies House
What is Know Your Business?
Know Your Business (KYB) is the process of verifying the ownership of a company as well as understanding its activities and functions before entering into a business relationship with it. It can be understood as being similar to Know Your Customer (KYC) which is the process required when checking individuals. The KYB process enables firms to examine the companies that they are dealing with and help them determine whether they are genuine or are being used to conceal the identities of owners for illegitimate purposes.
How does Idenfo assist with KYB?
Idenfo already performs multiple checks to support KYB – this includes name screening the company and its key directors, shareholders and management against sanction, PEP and enforcement lists as well as adverse media checks worldwide. We also perform a money laundering risk based assessment which aligns with global and national standards. When you onboard a new customer with us, we keep its record for you as well as a full audit log of any actions you choose to take.
What is Companies House in the UK?
Companies House is the official government agency that incorporates and dissolves limited companies, and registers company information. All of its information is publicly available here. Idenfo Direct is now fully integrated with this database.
How does it work?
Companies House maintains a comprehensive database of all registered companies in the United Kingdom. Anyone can access this database online to search for company information. This includes the company’s name, registration number and registered office address as well as Director and Persons with Significant Control. Idenfo pulls relevant information about a company for you in one simple process, reducing your on-boarding and research journey and ensuring all relevant data is kept in one place.
What does Idenfo’s integration with Companies House mean for your business?
Idenfo Direct’s integration with Companies House means that when using
our system to perform KYB checks on companies, you can now :
- When onboarding the company, input the Company Number into our form and then automatically pull all the Companies House data directly into the onboarding form. Such data includes the company name, incorporation date, status, company type, company address, director info and authorised personnel information.
- Utilise the “red flags” in Companies House alongside our own proprietary risk rating engine. For example if Companies House has marked the company as insolvent, behind on their accounts or with their registered office in dispute, Idenfo Direct will augment this information with our own risk scorecard and set of high risk flags.
Why is it important to perform KYB?
KYB checks are essential because they assist in identifying and mitigating the risks of fraud, money laundering, and other financial crimes. By verifying a company’s background, ownership structure, and financial activities, businesses can safeguard against entering into relationships or transactions with fraudulent or high-risk entities. By auto-populating data, businesses can ensure that the company and director information are aligned with official sources which improves potential hits when the same entities appear on sanction, PEP or enforcement lists worldwide. Moreover, these checks are particularly pertinent given the UK’s unenviable position as being the top centre worldwide for shell company risk. According to findings from Moody’s, “the UK astonishingly leads the global tally with nearly five million risk flags, notably surpassing the second-placed China with 3.4 million flags and more than doubling the count of the United States, which stands third with 1.8 million flags.” By incorporating Companies House’s own red flags as well as directly pulling data, Idenfo Direct can give you a more complete picture of the actual risk of a particular company.
Conclusion
Performing KYB checks has never been more important and should be a key plank of any firm’s AML and CFT compliance strategy. Idenfo Direct, with this new integration from Companies House, can ensure full KYB coverage for your firm.