KYB FAQs

This article provides common FAQs for KYB checks, including FAQs for using Credas KYB report product. If you would like help understanding your report/obtaining a report please also see our guide here.

If you are looking for guidance on verifying directors and shareholders to meet Companies House EECTA standards, please view our director verification product guide here.

General FAQs 

What is KYB (Know your business)?

KYB is the process of verifying the identity, ownership structure and legitimacy of a business before entering into a relationship with it. It helps you confirm who owns and controls the business, and ensure it is genuine, active and not involved in illegal activity.

Why do you need to do KYB?

KYB checks are a legal and regulatory requirement in many sectors. They protect your organisation from financial crime, and regulatory penalties by making sure you only work with legitimate, low-risk businesses. 

How is KYB different from KYC (Know your customer)?

KYC focuses on verifying individuals, whilst KYB verifies business entities. 

When should you run a KYB check?

You should complete KYB checks before entering into a relationship with a business. We also recommend referring to your internal policies on when you should further run KYB checks on the business during your relationship.

When should you run a KYC check?

Most legalisations stipulate that you have to verify an individual if they hold shares of 25% or more in a business. If you are unsure, you can clarify requirements on the UK Governments website here or refer to your internal compliance policies. 

How long should KYB records be retained?

Under Money Laundering Regulations, you must keep KYB records for at least five years after the relationship ends, however we recommend referring to your internal compliance for further information.

Using the Credas system

How much does a KYB report cost using Credas?

Running a KYB check on an UK company will cost 9 credits, and 18 credits for international companies. If you run a KYC check on any individuals, the amount of credits used will depend on the journey you issue to them.

What is the coverage for Credas' KYB reports?

We offer KYB reports for 430,000,000 companies across 230 countries and territories.

What is the coverage of the business sanctions checks?

Our PEPs & sanctions checks will bring up any sanctions related to that business, or an associated business. PEPs will also be highlighted if they are linked to the business within an article. You may wish to run a direct PEPs & Sanctions check on an individual, such as a director/shareholder, you can do this straight from your KYB report as can be seen below.

What financial information do Credas provide?

We provide up to five years worth of accounts if the information is available. The type of financial information you see will depend on the company itself, for example in the UK only Public Limited companies have to file full account information with Companies House, whereas Micro-entities only have to file a balance sheet containing assets, liabilities and equity. 

When will companies documents be available?

When the company files their document is dependent on the company and the country. A companies filings will be available within 24 hours of Companies House releasing it. When the company files t

Will all companies show the same information?

The information available about a company depends on the country’s filing requirements and the company itself. For example, in the United Kingdom, limited companies must file annual accounts, whereas in the United States there is no federal requirement to do so, and filing rules vary by state. In addition, while United States companies must declare their directors, they are not required to publicly disclose their shareholders. You can see a full list of each country and what we can provide to you here. 

Will Credas provide contact details for the directors & shareholders?

No, contact details will not be provided from the KYB report, due to UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, directors and shareholders contact details are almost never made public. These will have to be obtained from yourselves by using the company's registered office/official business contact channels or requested directly by yourselves from the company during the KYB process.

Got any questions? 

If you have any questions please reach out to the Credas support team by contacting us here

We are committed to continually improving our support resources for you. We would greatly appreciate your feedback on this article to help us enhance your experience.