Cybersecurity & Compliance

Best Beneficial Ownership (UBO) Data Providers in 2026

12 beneficial ownership (UBO) data providers compared on ownership tracing, evidence, screening, monitoring, coverage and published prices.

A beneficial ownership data provider sells information about who ultimately owns or controls a company: the natural persons at the top of a chain of shareholdings, often called ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), together with the intermediate holding companies, the percentages held at each layer and the filings that support each link. Buyers are banks and payment firms meeting customer due diligence rules, corporates screening suppliers and joint-venture partners, sanctions teams applying ownership-based restrictions, investigators and journalists.

Ownership data is unevenly published. The United Kingdom has run a public register of people with significant control since 2016, defining such a person as, usually, anyone holding more than 25 percent of the shares or voting rights. In the European Union, the Court of Justice ruled on 22 November 2022 that the rule giving the general public access to beneficial-ownership registers in all cases was invalid, and in the United States FinCEN has exempted all domestic companies from federal beneficial-ownership reporting since March 2025. Providers fill these gaps by combining registers, shareholder filings and their own entity resolution, with very different levels of evidence and price transparency.

This list ranks 12 providers that sell UBO and corporate ownership data or look-ups, using a published 10-point model of documented capabilities. Know-your-business platforms whose main job is the onboarding workflow are covered in the separate list of best KYB providers.

Contents
  1. What is a beneficial ownership data provider
  2. History and market
  3. Key features to compare
  4. Pricing models
  5. How to choose
  6. Methodology
  7. The list
  8. Comparison table
  9. Alternatives by use case
  10. Recent developments
  11. Frequently asked questions
  12. See also

What is a beneficial ownership data provider

A beneficial ownership data provider answers one question about a legal entity: which natural persons ultimately own or control it, and how. Answering it means reading shareholder registers, annual returns, statutory beneficial-ownership declarations and, for listed companies, major-holding notifications, then joining those records across borders, because a company in one country is frequently owned by a holding company in another. The output is a tree or graph showing each layer, the direct stake at each step and, ideally, the calculated indirect stake of each person at the top.

Legal ownership, beneficial ownership and control

Legal ownership is whoever is recorded as a shareholder. Beneficial ownership is whoever ultimately benefits from or controls those shares, which may be a person behind a nominee, a trust or a chain of companies. Control can exist without a large shareholding: the UK test counts the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board and significant influence or control, alongside the 25 percent share and voting thresholds. Good providers record which of these routes applies to each person rather than presenting a single list of names.

Declared versus derived ownership

Some providers deliver the declarations companies file with an official beneficial-ownership register. Others derive owners by tracing shareholder chains and multiplying percentages. Declared data is authoritative but can be missing, late or self-reported; derived data covers more companies but depends on the provider's matching of entities across sources. Several vendors on this list sell both and label which is which.

Adjacent categories

Ownership data overlaps with several other software categories. KYB providers run the full business-onboarding workflow, of which ownership is one step, and KYC providers verify the identity of the individuals once they are named. AML software screens transactions after onboarding. B2B data providers sell company records for sales prospecting, usually without ownership chains. Business credit report providers include group structures and ultimate holding companies in their reports but rarely trace ownership to individuals. Company monitoring tools watch for changes in ownership once a structure is known.

History and market

Commercial ownership databases grew out of company-information publishing. Bureau van Dijk built its Orbis database of companies and corporate ownership links over several decades; Moody's completed its acquisition of Bureau van Dijk on 10 August 2017, and Orbis is now sold under the Moody's name, with over 2 billion ownership links. Credit bureaus such as Dun & Bradstreet and Creditsafe added ultimate-parent and beneficial-owner fields to records first built for trade credit. Dun & Bradstreet itself changed hands when Clearlake Capital completed its take-private acquisition on 26 August 2025, delisting the company from the New York Stock Exchange.

Public registers changed the market after 2015. The UK people-with-significant-control regime dates from 2016 regulations, and the EU's fifth anti-money laundering directive required publicly available registers for companies, trusts and other legal arrangements. That public access was cut back when the Court of Justice, in joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, found that unrestricted public access interfered disproportionately with privacy and data-protection rights. Since then, access to many EU registers depends on demonstrating a legitimate interest, which has increased the value of providers that hold eligibility to query them or that derive ownership from shareholder filings instead.

A second wave of vendors built ownership graphs for sanctions and trade risk. Sayari, which describes a world model of more than 11.7 billion records across more than 250 jurisdictions, reported a US$228 million investment from TPG in January 2024. Kharon, founded in 2016 by former US Treasury officials, focuses on ownership and control links that trigger sanctions exposure. Newer services sell ownership reports with published prices and AI-agent access, a model represented here by Global Database and Zavia. No independent market-size estimate was used for this list.

Key features to compare

Depth of ownership tracing

A provider should walk a chain through intermediate companies until it reaches natural persons or a listed or state owner. Stated depth varies: Sayari says one query can traverse 10 or more degrees of ownership, while other vendors do not quantify it. Cross-border tracing matters most, because single-country registers stop at the border.

Percentages and indirect calculation

Regulatory thresholds are percentage tests, so a useful record shows the direct stake at each layer and the calculated indirect stake. Global Database states direct and total ownership at every layer; Zavia shows worked calculations such as 50 percent of 70 percent equalling 35 percent. Several enterprise providers allow filtering by a configurable threshold.

Evidence and provenance

Auditors and regulators ask where a finding came from. The strongest providers attach the registry, filing date and source document to each ownership link, or time-stamp retrieved register documents. Derived results without a source trail are harder to defend.

Handling of gaps

Many registers publish no shareholders for some company types, and declared UBO data can be missing. A provider should flag undisclosed holders and gaps rather than infer an owner; Global Database states that it flags them and Kyckr's UBO register product returns official declarations without scoring or inference.

Screening of owners

Once owners are named, compliance teams screen them against sanctions and politically exposed person (PEP) lists. Some providers include screening in the same result; others leave it to a separate tool.

Monitoring of ownership changes

Ownership decays: shares are transferred and declarations updated. Alerts on ownership changes let firms refresh due diligence when something changes rather than on a fixed calendar.

Delivery and coverage

Options include a web interface, a REST API, bulk files and, increasingly, a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for AI assistants. Stated country counts are not directly comparable, because some vendors count any jurisdiction with a record and others only those with live connections.

Pricing models

Beneficial ownership data is sold mostly by annual contract. Of the 12 providers on this list, two publish a price for ownership or verification reports. Zavia lists a US$30 company report on pay-as-you-go and annual Essential, Business and Scale plans at US$2,029.80, US$5,089.80 and US$10,189.80 a year that reduce the report price to US$25, US$20 and US$10; monitoring is included only in the annual plans. Global Database states that reports start at £20 per verification, with enterprise agreements for API, bulk and monitoring use.

The other providers quote individually. Kyckr bills per API call with no minimum but does not publish rates. Moody's, Dun & Bradstreet, LSEG, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Sayari, Encompass and Kharon sell through demos and contracts. Creditsafe describes upfront pricing with no limit on users for KYC Protect but does not list figures. Bulk licences of whole ownership databases are a separate, usually larger, commitment.

How to choose

Banks and large corporates that need ownership links for hundreds of millions of entities in their own systems tend to license Moody's Orbis or Dun & Bradstreet data, often through a screening platform: LSEG's UBO Check combines Dun & Bradstreet or Sayari ownership data with World-Check screening, and LexisNexis Risk Solutions' report is powered by Dun & Bradstreet data. Sanctions and trade-compliance teams applying ownership-based rules such as the OFAC 50 percent rule look at Kharon and Sayari. Banks automating corporate KYC case work use Encompass, which assembles ownership from registries and premium providers into a client profile.

Teams that need official register documents and declared UBO data, such as corporate service providers, look to Kyckr, Topograph or Moody's kompany. Analysts, smaller compliance teams and law firms that need occasional ownership reports with evidence and a published price can use Global Database or Zavia. UK and European firms that also set credit limits on the same counterparties often use Creditsafe. Whatever the choice, a test set that includes a dissolved company, a company owned through a trust and a multi-country structure shows more than a feature list.

Methodology

Twelve providers were scored on nine criteria, each checked on the vendor's own website, product documentation or press releases in November 2026. Criterion 1 scored 2 points: (1) documented tracing of ownership through intermediate entities to ultimate owners. Eight criteria scored 1 point each: (2) ownership percentages or indirect-stake calculation stated; (3) a source document, filing or citation attached to findings; (4) sanctions or PEP screening of identified owners in the same product; (5) monitoring or alerts on ownership changes; (6) API access; (7) bulk or batch data delivery; (8) a published price for ownership or verification reports; (9) stated coverage of 200 or more countries or jurisdictions. The maximum is 10 points.

Ties were broken first by the stated number of countries or jurisdictions (a quantified figure ranks ahead of an unquantified one), then by the stated number of entities, then alphabetically. A capability not described on public pages scored zero even if it may exist under contract. No hands-on testing was performed and no ratings or reviews were used. Price affected the score only as a yes-or-no criterion, so no currency conversion was needed for ranking. OpenCorporates was considered but excluded, because its public pages describe company and officer data and API plans but no ownership or beneficial-ownership data.

The list

1

Global Database

Best for: Evidence-linked UBO tracing with screening, monitoring and a published entry price

Global Database is a company-intelligence provider that sells registry-sourced company, financial, KYB and ownership data. It states coverage of more than 600 million companies from more than 400 official registries in over 200 countries and territories, with registries synced on their publication schedules, daily in most major markets.

Its UBO Discovery and Ownership Graph product traces ownership layer by layer from registry filings to the natural person at the top of the chain, at whatever threshold the customer's policy sets; the page notes that AML regimes commonly use 25 percent and that many institutions use 10 percent or lower. Direct and indirect stakes are calculated separately, and each relationship carries the registry it came from, the filing date and a link to the source document. Gaps and undisclosed holders are flagged rather than filled. Directors, shareholders and UBOs are screened against OFAC, EU, UN and UK HMT consolidated lists and PEP registers in one pass, and screening re-runs when lists or filings change. A separate Corporate Linkage product maps group structures and parent-subsidiary trees.

Access is through a web platform, a REST API, bulk full-file and delta feeds, CRM integrations, an MCP integration and a natural-language agent called Regis. The UBO page itself lists no price; the KYB verification page states that reports start at £20 per verification. Field depth depends on what each register publishes, and the provider does not offer identity-document checks on the individuals it names.

Key features

  • Layer-by-layer tracing to natural persons
  • Direct and indirect percentages at each layer
  • Registry, filing date and document link per relationship
  • OFAC, EU, UN and HMT screening of owners
  • Gaps and undisclosed holders flagged
  • Web, API, bulk, CRM and MCP access

Pricing

Verification reports start at £20 each; enterprise volume agreements cover API, bulk and portfolio monitoring use; a free trial and demo are offered. The UBO Discovery page directs API and bulk buyers to sales.

Stated coverage
600M+ companies; 400+ registries; 200+ countries
Thresholds
Customer-defined
Pricing
From £20 per verification
Score
10 / 10

Strengths

  • Each ownership link cites its source filing
  • Indirect stakes calculated per layer
  • Owner screening and re-screening included
  • Published entry price and free trial

Limitations

  • No identity-document checks on owners
  • UBO page itself carries no price
  • Depth limited by what each register discloses
2

Moody's (Orbis and kompany)

Best for: Large institutions licensing global ownership links at scale

Moody's sells two products relevant to beneficial ownership. Orbis, formerly the flagship of Bureau van Dijk, which Moody's acquired on 10 August 2017, covers more than 650 million companies and entities, more than 99 percent of them private, with data from more than 145 providers. It records over 2 billion ownership links, including more than 193 million active and 1.8 billion historic links, and its corporate trees show beneficial owners.

kompany, acquired in 2022, provides access to commercial registers and financial authorities in more than 200 countries and jurisdictions, with original documents such as register extracts, annual accounts and articles of association delivered as time-stamped records. Its tools support analysis of indirect ownership, control and circular ownership, and can be combined with Moody's sanctions and adverse-media coverage. Orbis offers data change and news alerts for monitoring.

Delivery options include the web interface, APIs, bulk feeds, cloud delivery and Office add-ins. Moody's publishes no prices and does not define a UBO threshold on the Orbis page; buyers set thresholds in their own workflows. The product suits banks, corporates and advisers that need ownership links at very large scale and are prepared for an enterprise contract.

Key features

  • 650M+ companies and entities
  • 2B+ ownership links incl. historic
  • Corporate trees showing beneficial owners
  • Register documents from 200+ jurisdictions
  • Indirect and circular ownership analysis
  • Change and news alerts
  • Web, API, bulk and cloud delivery

Pricing

Quote-based; both product pages offer a demo request only.

Ownership and history

Orbis was a Bureau van Dijk product; Moody's completed the Bureau van Dijk acquisition on 10 August 2017.

Parent
Moody's Corporation
Stated coverage
650M+ entities; 2B+ ownership links
Register access
200+ countries and jurisdictions (kompany)
Pricing
Quote-based
Score
9 / 10

Strengths

  • Largest stated ownership-link data set on this list
  • Historic as well as current links
  • Official register documents available
  • Many delivery channels including bulk

Limitations

  • No published pricing
  • UBO thresholds not stated on the product page
  • Two products with separate interfaces
  • Enterprise orientation
3

Zavia

Best for: Occasional or mid-volume UBO reports with published prices

Zavia is a company-ownership intelligence service operated by ZaviaGlobal Data Intelligence Limited, registered in England and Wales under company number 09410808. It identifies the ultimate beneficial owners of a company, shows their ownership percentages and explains the evidence behind each result, including worked indirect calculations such as 50 percent multiplied by 70 percent giving 35 percent.

Its products are UBO discovery, shareholders with direct stakes, group structures and monitoring of ownership changes. It states coverage of more than 600 million company records from over 400 official registries in more than 200 countries and territories, and names registry sources including Companies House, ASIC, ACRA, Corporations Canada, the New Zealand Companies Office, Ireland's Companies Registration Office, the Brønnøysund Registers, CIPC, KVK and Estonia's e-Business Register. Access is through a web platform, an API feed, MCP and bulk delivery.

Zavia publishes its prices. A free tier shows basic register details with one preview a day without an account or three with one; ownership, directors and group structures require a paid report at US$30 on pay-as-you-go, or US$25, US$20 or US$10 on annual plans that also include monitoring and change alerts. Its pages do not describe sanctions or PEP screening, so owners must be screened elsewhere.

Key features

  • UBO discovery with ownership percentages
  • Worked indirect-stake calculations
  • Evidence behind each result
  • Group structures and shareholders
  • Ownership-change monitoring on annual plans
  • Web, API, MCP and bulk delivery
  • Free basic register search

Pricing

Free: basic register details only. Pay-as-you-go: US$30 per company report. Essential: US$2,029.80 a year (US$25 per report; US$199 a month on monthly billing). Business: US$5,089.80 a year (US$20 per report). Scale: US$10,189.80 a year (US$10 per report). Monitoring and change alerts are included in Essential, Business and Scale only; subscription credit expires at the end of the paid period.

Operator
ZaviaGlobal Data Intelligence Limited (England and Wales, 09410808)
Stated coverage
600M+ records; 400+ registries; 200+ countries
Pricing
US$30 per report pay-as-you-go
Score
9 / 10

Strengths

  • Published per-report prices
  • Shows how indirect percentages are calculated
  • Free basic search
  • API, MCP and bulk access

Limitations

  • No sanctions or PEP screening described
  • Monitoring only on annual plans
  • Unused subscription credit expires
4

Sayari

Best for: Combined UBO, sanctions and trade-risk analysis

Sayari sells risk-intelligence software built on what it calls a world model of corporate, trade and legal records. Its beneficial-ownership page describes integrating corporate registry filings, ownership disclosure filings, court records and trade data from more than 250 jurisdictions into one ownership graph covering more than 450 million corporate entities; its API page cites 11.7 billion records, more than 500 million companies and more than 3 billion ownership links. The company reported a US$228 million investment from TPG in January 2024.

For UBO work, Sayari traverses chains through holding companies, trusts and nominee structures to a natural person, with 10 or more degrees of ownership in a single query, and screens the resulting owners against PEP, sanctions and adverse-media sources. Its Signal product monitors a portfolio for ownership changes and new PEP or sanctions exposure at the UBO level, and the API offers a monitoring subscription that sends webhook alerts when an entity's ownership structure changes. A batch endpoint accepts up to 10,000 entities per request for resolution, traversal and screening.

Sayari does not publish prices, and figures differ between its own pages (450 million versus 500 million entities). Its pages do not describe ownership-percentage calculation for each owner. It suits enterprises and government agencies that combine KYC with sanctions, export-control and forced-labour screening.

Key features

  • 250+ jurisdictions of primary-source records
  • Traverses 10+ ownership degrees per query
  • Owner screening against PEP, sanctions, adverse media
  • Signal portfolio monitoring
  • Webhook alerts via API
  • Batch screening up to 10,000 entities

Pricing

Quote-based; demo request only.

Ownership and history

Reported a US$228 million investment from TPG in January 2024, per a press headline on its home page.

Stated coverage
250+ jurisdictions; 450M+ entities (BO page)
Ownership links
3B+ (API page)
Pricing
Quote-based
Score
7 / 10

Strengths

  • Very broad jurisdiction coverage
  • Owners screened in the same query
  • Trade and court records alongside registers
  • API webhooks for ownership changes

Limitations

  • No published pricing
  • Inconsistent entity counts across pages
  • Per-owner percentages not described
  • Broad risk platform may exceed simple UBO needs
5

LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Best for: LexisNexis screening customers adding ownership to existing workflows

LexisNexis Risk Solutions sells a Beneficial Ownership decisioning tool that uses Dun & Bradstreet's global commercial-entity control and ownership data and produces a UBO report, organisational firmographics and an audit-ready PDF or HTML file. Its platform documentation lists the source as Dun & Bradstreet Ultimate Beneficial Ownership, covering more than 220 countries with daily updates, and lists ownership percentage and persons of significant control among the report fields.

The data is delivered through LexisNexis Risk Management Solutions and related platforms, and access depends on the customer's subscription. In the RiskNarrative orchestration platform, B2B onboarding checks cover ultimate beneficial owners, shareholders, credit and sanctions, Business Check screens the organisation against PEP and sanctions lists, ongoing monitoring watches clients for changes, and integration is through a REST API.

For buyers already licensing LexisNexis screening, adding ownership in the same workflow is the main attraction. The underlying ownership data is Dun & Bradstreet's, so the coverage is broadly the same as buying from Dun & Bradstreet directly. Pricing is not published, and the beneficial ownership page gives no detail on ownership depth or thresholds.

Key features

  • UBO reports from Dun & Bradstreet data
  • Ownership percentages and PSC fields
  • 220+ countries, updated daily
  • Audit-ready PDF or HTML output
  • PEP and sanctions checks in RiskNarrative
  • REST API integration

Pricing

Quote-based; the product page offers a demo booking.

Data source
Dun & Bradstreet UBO data
Stated coverage
220+ countries
Update frequency
Daily
Pricing
Quote-based
Score
7 / 10

Strengths

  • Ownership and screening in one vendor relationship
  • Audit-ready report files
  • Daily data updates
  • Fits existing LexisNexis deployments

Limitations

  • Ownership data is resold, not originated
  • Depth and thresholds not documented
  • No published pricing
  • Access varies by subscription
6

Creditsafe

Best for: Credit-report users adding UBO profiles and screening

Creditsafe is a business credit-information company whose database also carries ownership fields. Its data-licensing page lists ultimate beneficial owners, global and domestic ultimate owners and corporate structures among the data elements, describes a database of almost 420 million companies drawn from more than 200 sources, and offers licensing in bulk or through an API.

Its compliance product, KYC Protect, builds profiles of the directors, shareholders and UBOs of a business from Creditsafe reports and screens them across eight risk categories: sanctions, enforcement, PEPs, adverse media, state-owned enterprises, profiles of interest, and, for the UK only, disqualified directors and the insolvency register. The API supports ongoing monitoring of profiles with alerts for changes such as new sanctions, adverse media or PEP status, and the product cites 430 million company reports across more than 200 countries and territories.

Creditsafe's pages do not describe how beneficial owners are derived, whether percentages are calculated through intermediate layers, or which sources support each finding, and bulk delivery is offered for 12 named countries rather than globally. KYC Protect is described as having upfront pricing with no user limits, but no figures are published. It suits firms that already buy Creditsafe credit reports and want ownership and screening on the same counterparties.

Key features

  • UBO, director and shareholder profiles
  • Global and domestic ultimate owners
  • Eight-category screening incl. sanctions and PEP
  • Monitoring alerts on screening changes
  • Bulk licensing and API
  • 430M company reports in 200+ countries

Pricing

Quote-based; KYC Protect is described as upfront pricing with no hidden charges and no user limits, without published figures.

Stated coverage
430M company reports; 200+ countries
Bulk countries
12
Pricing
Quote-based
Score
7 / 10

Strengths

  • Ownership, credit and screening from one supplier
  • UK-specific disqualified-director and insolvency checks
  • No user limits on KYC Protect
  • Bulk and API licensing

Limitations

  • UBO derivation method not described
  • No per-finding source evidence described
  • Bulk files for 12 countries only
  • No published prices
7

Dun & Bradstreet

Best for: Enterprises screening large customer and supplier portfolios

Dun & Bradstreet is a commercial-data company whose entities are keyed to the D-U-N-S Number. It became privately owned when Clearlake Capital completed its acquisition on 26 August 2025, paying US$9.15 a share in cash.

Its beneficial-ownership data covers a global set of more than 500 million entities across what it calls hundreds of countries, is updated daily and can be filtered by the ownership percentage a jurisdiction requires. It is delivered through D&B Risk Analytics or D&B Onboard, through the D&B Direct for Compliance API or by batch integration, and supports always-on sanctions screening. A separate UBO Monitoring product sends automatic alerts when owners are added to or removed from the structures of customers and suppliers, traced from a starting entity up to the UBO through every node, with 12 months of owner history. The same data underlies ownership products sold by LexisNexis Risk Solutions and, as one option, LSEG.

On 18 June 2026 D&B added agentic AI features to Risk Analytics and an MCP server for AI assistants. It publishes no prices, and its own beneficial-ownership page does not quantify country coverage or describe source documents for each link.

Key features

  • 500M+ entities with ownership data
  • Configurable ownership-percentage filters
  • UBO Monitoring with add/remove alerts
  • Risk Analytics, Onboard, API and batch
  • Always-on sanctions screening
  • MCP server (June 2026)

Pricing

Quote-based; no prices published.

Ownership and history

Taken private by Clearlake Capital on 26 August 2025 at US$9.15 per share and delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

Owner
Clearlake Capital (since 26 August 2025)
Stated coverage
500M+ entities
Identifier
D-U-N-S Number
Pricing
Quote-based
Score
7 / 10

Strengths

  • Very large entity set with daily updates
  • Dedicated UBO change monitoring
  • Several delivery routes including batch
  • Data widely embedded in other platforms

Limitations

  • No published pricing
  • Country coverage not quantified on its own page
  • Per-link source documents not described
  • Enterprise contract required
8

Encompass

Best for: Banks automating corporate KYC case files

Encompass Corporation sells EC360, which it calls a corporate digital identity platform for banks: software that collects public and private data about a corporate client into a structured profile for KYC, customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence. Its about page dates the company to 2011 and names Wayne Johnson as chief executive and co-founder.

The UBO verification module pulls data from more than 175 public registries, corporate records and premium providers, connects records across jurisdictions using hierarchy rules, identifies direct and indirect owners with their shareholding percentages, and draws ownership and control diagrams. Each step is recorded, source-attributed and time-stamped, with access to original documents. PEP, sanctions and adverse-media screening is part of the platform, and its perpetual-KYC function refreshes profiles when beneficial ownership, jurisdiction risk or sanctions exposure changes. A KYC API and an EC360 MCP server are offered.

Encompass is workflow software rather than a data vendor: it relies on the registries and premium providers a bank subscribes to, does not name them publicly, and states no country or entity coverage figures. It does not use biometric checks for UBO discovery but can work alongside identity-verification tools. Prices are not published.

Key features

  • 175+ registries and premium sources
  • Direct and indirect owners with percentages
  • Ownership and control diagrams
  • Source-attributed, time-stamped audit trail
  • PEP, sanctions and adverse-media screening
  • Event-driven perpetual KYC

Pricing

Quote-based; the site offers an ROI calculator and demo.

Founded
2011 (per about page)
Stated sources
175+
Pricing
Quote-based
Score
7 / 10

Strengths

  • Strong audit trail with source attribution
  • Combines ownership, screening and case workflow
  • Perpetual-KYC refresh on ownership change
  • MCP server for AI tools

Limitations

  • Depends on the bank's own data subscriptions
  • No coverage figures published
  • Founding date inconsistent on its own site
  • No published pricing
9

LSEG World-Check (UBO Check)

Best for: World-Check One users adding ownership to screening cases

LSEG, the London Stock Exchange Group, sells UBO Check as part of its World-Check One screening platform. The product combines beneficial ownership data from Dun & Bradstreet or Sayari with LSEG's World-Check risk intelligence, which comprises more than 5.5 million risk records.

LSEG states that the ownership data covers companies in more than 220 countries and dependent territories and cites more than 430 million ownership connections, with daily updates and history from 2018. Users can visualise relationships, ownership shares and paths to a target entity, create linked cases, add notes, delegate tasks and mark cases for review or refresh, and can export ownership structures and case details. It is used through the World-Check One desktop or API, with PDF and text outputs.

UBO Check is a screening-workflow feature rather than a standalone data product: its value is that owners found in the structure can be screened against World-Check in the same case. The page does not describe automatic alerts on ownership changes, bulk data delivery or source documents for each link, and prices are available only on request.

Key features

  • Dun & Bradstreet or Sayari ownership data
  • 430M+ ownership connections
  • 220+ countries and territories
  • Ownership share and path visualisation
  • Screening against 5.5M+ World-Check records
  • Desktop and API access

Pricing

Quote-based; packages available on request.

Parent
London Stock Exchange Group
Stated coverage
220+ countries; 430M+ ownership connections
Pricing
Quote-based
Score
6 / 10

Strengths

  • Owners screened against World-Check in one case
  • Choice of two ownership data sources
  • Case management built in
  • Exportable structures

Limitations

  • Ownership-change alerts not described
  • No bulk delivery
  • No published pricing
  • Requires World-Check One
10

Kyckr

Best for: Teams needing official register documents and declared UBO data

Kyckr was founded in Waterford, Ireland, in 2007 as Global Business Register, rebranded and moved its headquarters to Australia in 2016–2017, and was acquired by the Australian investment firm Realwise in 2022. It sells access to official company registers through a REST API and web portal.

Kyckr states that it connects to more than 300 company registers in more than 100 countries, covering about 200 million companies. Its ownership discovery traces ultimate beneficial owners across borders using shareholder data from official government sources, and its UBO register product retrieves official declarations live from national beneficial-ownership registers, date-stamped at the point of request and carrying the source register and jurisdiction, with no scoring or inference; Kyckr handles eligibility for obliged entities with a legitimate interest, using the customer's own credentials where a register demands it. Ongoing monitoring tracks new and removed directors and shareholders, capital changes and registration changes, with event-driven notifications through the API. Kyckr data is integrated with LexisNexis, Strise, Alloy, S&P Global, Dotfile and Spektr.

Billing is usage-based per call with no minimums, but rates are not published. Kyckr does not describe sanctions screening, and live retrieval depends on the availability of each register. It suits compliance teams and platforms that want the official record rather than a derived answer.

Key features

  • 300+ registers in 100+ countries
  • Cross-border UBO tracing from official sources
  • Official UBO register declarations
  • Provenance and time-stamps
  • Director and shareholder change monitoring
  • REST API and web portal

Pricing

Usage-based per call with no minimums; rates not published.

Ownership and history

Founded 2007 as Global Business Register; rebranded Kyckr 2016–2017; acquired by Realwise in 2022.

Integrations

LexisNexis, Strise, Alloy, S&P Global, Dotfile and Spektr.

Founded
2007 (as Global Business Register)
Owner
Realwise (since 2022)
Stated coverage
300+ registers; 100+ countries; ~200M companies
Pricing
Per call, rates unpublished
Score
5 / 10

Strengths

  • Official register data retrieved live
  • Declared UBO data kept separate from inferred
  • No usage minimums
  • Embedded in several compliance platforms

Limitations

  • No sanctions screening described
  • Percentages through layers not described
  • Rates not published
  • Coverage below 200 countries
11

Topograph

Best for: European fintechs needing register documents and UBO fields via API

Topograph is operated by Topograph SAS, registered in Paris (SIREN 932884117). It retrieves company information from public registers in real time for compliance, KYB, onboarding and underwriting teams at regulated financial institutions and fintechs.

The service offers entity search in more than 40 countries, standardised company profiles that include directors, shareholders and ultimate beneficial owners, and retrieval of official documents such as articles of incorporation and financial statements. Its home page lists live connections to registers in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Nordic countries, Ireland, Luxembourg, Estonia, Romania, the Czech Republic and Singapore; its coverage page lists 15 countries and seven US states. Companies can be monitored for changes, with webhooks sent when data shifts, and access is through an API with published documentation.

Topograph's pages do not describe how UBOs are derived where a register publishes none, percentage calculations, or sanctions screening, and the two coverage lists differ. No prices are published. It suits European fintechs that want official documents and register data in one API.

Key features

  • Real-time public-register retrieval
  • Profiles with directors, shareholders and UBOs
  • Official document retrieval
  • Change monitoring with webhooks
  • 40+ countries for entity search
  • Public API documentation

Pricing

Not published; demo and API-key sign-up offered.

Operator
Topograph SAS, Paris
Stated coverage
40+ countries (search)
Pricing
Not published
Score
5 / 10

Strengths

  • Official documents alongside structured data
  • Webhook monitoring
  • Real-time rather than cached records
  • Developer documentation is public

Limitations

  • Coverage lists inconsistent
  • UBO derivation not described
  • No screening
  • No published pricing
12

Kharon

Best for: Sanctions teams applying ownership-based restrictions

Kharon was founded in 2016 by former senior officials of the US Treasury's terrorism and financial intelligence office and is based in Denver, Colorado. It sells risk analytics for sanctions, financial crime, supply chain, export control and investment risk through ClearView, an API and data products.

ClearView is used to examine multi-layered ownership structures and trace unlisted blocked entities under the OFAC 50 percent rule, and to surface ownership, control and other relationships, including for issuers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Every fact and relationship is cited to sources that Kharon's analysts have verified, and Dynamic Exposure Scores weight each relationship by type, direction and distance. A Monitor feature lets users save and track individuals and entities, and the Kharon API exposes the data to internal systems.

Kharon's ownership data is built around sanctions and export-control exposure rather than general beneficial-ownership identification for every company, and its pages state no company counts or country coverage. Prices are not published. It suits banks, insurers, asset managers and exporters that need to know whether an entity is owned or controlled by a restricted party.

Key features

  • OFAC 50 percent rule ownership tracing
  • Multi-layer ownership and control mapping
  • Source citation for every relationship
  • Dynamic Exposure Scores
  • Monitor list for entities and individuals
  • API access

Pricing

Quote-based; demo request only.

Founded
2016
Headquarters
Denver, Colorado, US
Pricing
Quote-based
Score
5 / 10

Strengths

  • Analyst-verified, cited relationships
  • Specialised in sanctions ownership rules
  • Covers control as well as ownership
  • API for integration

Limitations

  • Not a general UBO database
  • No coverage figures published
  • Change alerts not described
  • No published pricing

Comparison table

RankProviderScoreTracing to ownersPercentagesSource evidenceOwner screeningChange monitoringPublished priceStated coverage
1Global Database10YesYesYesYesYesFrom £20 per verification200+ countries
2Moody's (Orbis and kompany)9YesIndirect analysisTime-stamped documentsYesYesQuote200+ jurisdictions
3Zavia9YesYesYesNoAnnual plansUS$30 per report200+ countries
4Sayari7YesNot describedYesYesYesQuote250+ jurisdictions
5LexisNexis Risk Solutions7YesYesNot describedYesYesQuote220+ countries
6Creditsafe7YesNot describedNot describedYesYesQuote200+ countries
7Dun & Bradstreet7YesThreshold filterNot describedYesYesQuoteNot quantified
8Encompass7YesYesYesYesYesQuoteNot quantified
9LSEG World-Check (UBO Check)6YesYesNot describedYesNoQuote220+ countries
10Kyckr5YesNot describedYesNoYesPer call (unpublished)100+ countries
11Topograph5YesNot describedDocumentsNoYesNot published40+ countries
12Kharon5Yes50% ruleYesYesWatch listQuoteNot quantified

Scores follow the methodology above. "Not described" means the capability does not appear on the vendor pages reviewed, not that it is absent under contract.

Alternatives by use case

  • Global ownership links in bulk for internal systems: Moody's Orbis, Dun & Bradstreet, Creditsafe licensing.
  • Ownership plus sanctions screening in one case: LSEG World-Check (UBO Check), LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Sayari, Global Database.
  • Sanctions ownership rules (OFAC 50 percent): Kharon, Sayari.
  • Official register documents and declared UBO data: Kyckr, Topograph, Moody's kompany.
  • Corporate KYC case automation in banks: Encompass.
  • Single reports with published prices: Zavia, Global Database.

Free public sources remain useful for single checks: the UK register of people with significant control is public, and OpenCorporates offers company and officer data with published API plans, though not ownership chains. Firms that need the whole onboarding workflow should compare KYB providers, and those screening transactions should look at AML software.

Recent developments

  • 26 March 2025: FinCEN published an interim final rule removing beneficial-ownership reporting for US companies and US persons.
  • 26 August 2025: Clearlake Capital completed its acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet, which was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
  • 18 November 2025: identity verification became mandatory at Companies House for directors and people with significant control.
  • 18 June 2026: Dun & Bradstreet launched agentic AI capabilities in Risk Analytics and an MCP server for AI assistants.
  • 11 August 2026: FinCEN issued a final rule making the domestic exemptions permanent, effective 14 August 2026.
  • 2027: the EU AML Regulation is scheduled to apply.

Frequently asked questions

What is an ultimate beneficial owner (UBO)?

An ultimate beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a company, directly or through other entities such as holding companies, nominees or trusts. Tests usually combine a shareholding or voting threshold with control rights. In the UK, a person with significant control is usually anyone holding more than 25 percent of shares or voting rights, or able to appoint or remove most of the directors.

Where can I find out who owns a company?

Start with the official register of the country where the company is incorporated. The UK publishes shareholders and people with significant control free of charge; many EU registers now restrict beneficial-ownership data to people with a legitimate interest. For cross-border structures, commercial providers trace chains through several registers and calculate indirect stakes, with prices ranging from published per-report fees to enterprise contracts.

Are beneficial ownership registers public?

It depends on the country. The UK register of people with significant control is public. In the EU, the Court of Justice ruled on 22 November 2022 that giving the general public access in all cases was invalid, and several registers suspended or restricted access. In the United States, FinCEN exempted domestic companies from federal reporting in 2025; ownership information is now collected mainly by banks under the customer due diligence rule.

Do US companies still report beneficial owners to FinCEN?

No. FinCEN's interim final rule published on 26 March 2025 removed reporting for US companies and US persons, and a final rule effective 14 August 2026 made the exemptions permanent. Only foreign-formed entities registered to do business in a US state remain reporting companies. Banks still collect ownership information from business customers under the separate customer due diligence rule.

What is the difference between declared and derived UBO data?

Declared data is what a company filed with an official beneficial-ownership register. Derived data is calculated by tracing shareholder records through intermediate companies and multiplying the percentages. Declared data carries legal weight but may be missing or self-reported; derived data covers more companies but depends on accurate entity matching. Providers such as Kyckr keep official declarations separate from inferred ownership.

How much does beneficial ownership data cost?

Most providers quote individually. Among those on this list, Zavia charges US$30 per company report on pay-as-you-go, falling to US$10 on its largest annual plan, and Global Database states verification reports from £20. Kyckr bills per API call without publishing rates. Enterprise licences from Moody's, Dun & Bradstreet, LSEG and LexisNexis are sold by contract.

What is the OFAC 50 percent rule?

Under the OFAC 50 percent rule, an entity owned 50 percent or more, directly or indirectly and in the aggregate, by one or more blocked persons is itself treated as blocked, even if it is not named on a sanctions list. Applying it requires ownership data across several layers, which is why sanctions-focused providers such as Kharon and Sayari build ownership graphs.

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