UBO Verify

What is UBO Verify?

UBO Verify automates the analysis of corporate ownership structures and calculates ultimate beneficial ownership at the click of a button, meaning accurate UBO identification in minutes not hours.

The UBO Verify API and portal application are a tool which sits on top of the Kyckr registry network, retrieving profile information across jurisdictions and automatically analysing it to calculate ownership.

Search

The first step is to search the registry to find the entity. The search response will confirm whether the entity is active and provide a unique identifier for that company in codeField . The codeField can then be used to unwrap an ownership structure alongside the jurisdiction ISO of where that entity is based.

[ Search guide ]

About the registration authority returned from search

In some jurisdictions, the search will return additional fields for registration authority:

registrationAuthorityField and registrationAuthorityCodeField

If the registration authority is specified in the search response, pass the value of the Registration Authority Code as a parameter to order a UBO Report. Passing the registrationAuthorityField helps to find and order shareholder profiles for the company of interest.

If search does not return a registration authority field, it is not necessary to provide a registration authority in a UBO request.

Request a report

To order a UBO report from Kyckr using Registry data, the following variables are needed:

[ Request ownership tree API reference ]

Example create request for a UBO ownership tree report

curl --location 'https://rest.kyckr.com/core/uboverify/create/GB/09657876?uboThreshold=25&maxCreditCost=50&maxLayers=5' \
--header 'Authorization: {{apiKey}}'

Response

{
    "ownershipTreeField": {
        "statusField": "SUCCESS",
        "orderIdField": "2614793"
    },
    "responseCodeField": "201"
}

In the response, there will be a unique order id in the orderIdField.

Download the UBO ownership tree report

Once the call to create the ownership tree is made, the report can be retrieved by polling the request ownership tree endpoint with the order id. As this service is processing multiple entities (potentially across multiple registries), the time to make a complete report is dependent on the complexity of the ownership structure.

[ Retrieve ownership tree API reference ]

Example poll request to download an UBO ownership tree report

curl --location 'https://rest.kyckr.com/core/uboverify/list/2614793'
--header 'Authorization: {{apiKey}}'

Pending response

While the report is being prepared, the status will return as "statusField": "IN_PROGRESS".

Example pending response

{
    "ownershipTreeField": {
        "idField": "1337531",
        "nodesField": [],
        "ultimateBeneficialOwnersField": [],
        "statusField": "IN_PROGRESS",
        "uboThresholdField": 25.0,
        "maxCreditCostField": 25,
        "dateCreatedField": "2024-01-17T13:55:57.9340317Z",
        "totalCreditsSpentField": 0,
        "unwrapFeeField": 0,
        "countryISOField": "GB",
        "companyCodeField": "11590614",
        "continuationKeysUsedField": []
    },
    "responseCodeField": "200"
}

What information is returned by UBO Verify?

• List of UBOs: Structured data format from a given root company.
• Shareholder Information: Clear details to build a full ownership structure.
• Node ID: A unique ID of the shareholder, traceable throughout the nodes.
• Type: The type of shareholder (PERSON, COMPANY, or OTHER).
• Edge Percentage: The percentage ownership of the entity shareholder.
• Roll-up Percentage: The calculated percentage owned of the root company.
• Enhanced Profiles: A URL link for each company in the ownership structure.
• Company Code: The company number.
• Registration Authority: The registry from which the information is retrieved.
• Accompanying PDF Report: A downloadable report available via a URL link.

Reasons for non continuation

It is not always possible to find the UBO using registry data. For example, a shareholding company may exist under the exact same name in two different countries or the next level of ownership is in a country that doesn't have director and shareholder information available at the registry.

The following reasons for non continuation will be returned to make it clear why the UBO couldn't be discovered and to help inform the next action taken. Any layers of ownership already discovered will also be returned.

• Multiple matches with the same name in the same jurisdiction (includes a list of up to 10 candidates that have been discovered)
• Multiple matches with the same name in multiple jurisdictions (includes a list of up to 10 candidates that have been discovered)
• Possible Trust/Trustee
• Enhanced profile failed
• Company name matches were lower than the matching threshold
• Shareholder data not sufficient to perform next recursion
• Insufficient max credit cost
• Registry not available
• Insufficient credits
• Jurisdiction not supported (confirms the jurisdiction ISO and name)

Known reasons for non continuation

Continuation keys

A continuation key is used to continue unwrapping an ownership structure that has stopped due to a Reason for Non Continuation.

For example, if the UBO search algorithm finds two companies with the same name in different countries, the reason for non-continuation would be: "Multiple matches with the same name in multiple jurisdictions."

Example reason for non continuation response

"reasonForNonContinuationField": {
    "detailsField": "Multiple matches with the same name in multiple jurisdictions",
    "typeField": "COMPANY_NOT_FOUND",
    "candidatesField": [
        {
            "addressField": "Lutterstr.",
            "companyIdField": "HRB 30017",
            "companyNameField": "Dr. August Oetker Finanzierungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH",
            "countryIsoField": "DE",
            "registrationAuthorityField": "Bielefeld",
            "continuationKeyField": "a66610c8-0cce-4343-a1b4-ace05362b5c8"
        },
        {
            "addressField": "Lutterstrasse 14, Bielefeld, D-33617",
            "companyIdField": "0630898292",
            "companyNameField": "Dr. August Oetker Finanzierungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH",
            "countryIsoField": "BE",
            "continuationKeyField": "4291146e-17ef-4152-ae3f-059a37324897"
        }
    ... rest of response ...

As per the above example, there is a continuation key for each match, allowing an end user to manually select the correct company. Only one candidate from the candidatesField can be selected.

How to continue a UBO discovery using a continuation key

Use the original UBO create request and add the continuation key as a parameter. If there are more than one reasons for non continuation, there may be multiple continuation keys.

Example request with continuation key

curl --location 'https://rest.kyckr.com/core/uboverify/create/GB/04293376?continuationKeys=a66610c8-0cce-4343-a1b4-ace05362b5c8'
--header 'Authorization: {{apiKey}}'

Jointly held ownership

In jurisdictions such as Australia and New Zealand, shareholding can be shared. To highlight jointly owned shares there is a flag, linked ID and breakdown of shareholding in the nodes EDGE to display this.

Example jointly held shares

"edgesField": [
    {
        "nodeIdField": "7255f0c6-e911-4161-8afc-a49065fe6e7a",
        "typeField": "SHAREHOLDER",
        "percentageField": 100.00,
        "isCircularField": false,
        "shareholdingsField": [
            {
                "isJointlyHeldField": true,
                "jointHoldingGroupIdField": "64cb8fb8-0d07-4546-a92d-b200cd60a91c",
                "percentageField": 17.13
            },
            {
                "isJointlyHeldField": true,
                "jointHoldingGroupIdField": "e79ac474-bf07-473d-856d-78090c995dc1",
                "percentageField": 82.85
            },
            {
                "isJointlyHeldField": false,
                "percentageField": 0.02
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "nodeIdField": "2a4083cb-bc50-4fd5-b65e-04d3c1801bef",
        "typeField": "SHAREHOLDER",
        "percentageField": 99.98,
        "isCircularField": false,
        "shareholdingsField": [
            {
                "isJointlyHeldField": true,
                "jointHoldingGroupIdField": "64cb8fb8-0d07-4546-a92d-b200cd60a91c",
                "percentageField": 17.13
            },
            {
                "isJointlyHeldField": true,
                "jointHoldingGroupIdField": "e79ac474-bf07-473d-856d-78090c995dc1",
                "percentageField": 82.85
            }
    ... rest of response ...

Cached Enhanced Profiles

Any Enhanced Profiles that have been ordered are reused by the Kyckr UBO Search algorithm for up to 24 hours.

• When requesting a UBO ownership tree for a company, if there is a recently purchased Enhanced Profile, it will be reused.
• If the UBO ownership tree is re-requested, previously purchased Enhanced Profiles (within the last 24 hours) will be reused, avoiding duplicate purchases. This commonly occurs when rerunning the request with additional credits.

Example: Reuse of existing Enhanced Profile

An Enhanced Profile has been purchased for company A, but the shareholders for that company are not individuals. In this case, when purchasing a UBO Verify Ownership Tree report, the original Enhanced Profile for company A is reused, so long as it has been purchased within a 24 hour window.

Example: Reuse of cached data in a 24 hour window

A company's ownership tree is requested with maxCreditCost set to 6, and two of the companies in the tree (A, B) have had their ownership structure unwrapped. When the algorithm tries to unwrap (C) it has to stop with the reasonForNonContinuation being INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS.

To complete the ownership tree with more credits, a second call to request ownership tree is placed.

During the second call, the ownership tree is evaluated again. Profiles for (A and B) have already been purchased, so they are reused. Only the enhanced profile for company (C) will be purchased on the second run as all the data is relatively fresh.

Example: Refreshing after 24 hour window has elapsed

Consider the case above, where only companies (A and B) have been unwrapped, and more credits are required to complete the ownership tree report.

If the second call to request ownership tree occurs after 24 hours, the underlying enhanced profile data for (A, B and C) are refreshed to ensure reporting accuracy.

Response Codes

CREATE

LIST