Question 1

What is KYB (Know Your Business) and how does it differ from KYC?

Accepted Answer

KYC (Know Your Customer) is identity verification for individuals: it confirms a real person is who they claim to be using document capture and biometrics. KYB (Know Your Business) is corporate identity verification for legal entities: it confirms the business exists, is in good standing, and reveals who actually controls it through UBO mapping and registry checks. Regulators across AMLD6, FATF, and most national AML frameworks require both layers before onboarding a business: the entity check proves the company is legitimate; the KYC checks on its directors, UBOs, and signatories prove the humans behind it are who they say they are.

Question 2

What is an Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) and why does AML compliance require UBO verification?

Accepted Answer

A UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner) is any natural person who owns 25% or more of a company's shares or voting rights, or who otherwise exercises effective control over it, regardless of how many holding companies, trusts, or nominee structures sit between them and the registered entity. AML regulations including AMLD6, FATF Recommendations, and national implementation acts require UBO identification because layered corporate structures are a primary vehicle for money laundering, sanctions evasion, and fraud. Verifying UBOs closes the gap that a simple registry check cannot, confirming the real humans at the top of the ownership chain, not just the legal shell.

Question 3

Does Hypersign verify the business entity and all its directors and UBOs in a single KYB workflow?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the entire process runs in one orchestrated flow. Once Hypersign completes the corporate registry lookup and maps the beneficial ownership structure, it automatically triggers individual KYC checks (document capture, biometric liveness, AML screening) for every identified UBO, director, and signatory. All checks are linked to the same KYB case, tracked in the Case Management Dashboard, and produce a single audit-ready compliance verdict. No re-contacting the business for each person, no separate integrations to manage.

Question 4

What corporate documents does the KYB verification process collect and validate?

Accepted Answer

Hypersign collects certificate of incorporation, articles of association or equivalent constitutional documents, proof of registered address, and financial statements where required by your compliance policy. For each key person identified through UBO mapping, government-issued identity documents are collected and cross-checked via OCR extraction, MRZ parsing, and tamper detection. Documents from 189+ countries and territories are supported. For complex ownership structures, supporting evidence such as shareholder registers and trust deeds can also be requested through the configurable document collection flow.

Question 5

How is the KYB compliance verdict delivered to my system?

Accepted Answer

Results are available in real time through the Case Management Dashboard as each verification step completes: registry check, UBO mapping, AML screening, and stakeholder KYC each update independently as they finish. For system integration, Hypersign pushes the final compliance verdict via webhook the moment a decision is reached, with a structured JSON payload carrying case ID, entity details, and verdict status. No polling required. Every decision is accompanied by a complete, timestamped audit trail that is exportable for regulator review.

Question 6

Is Hypersign compliant for my industry?

Accepted Answer

Hypersign is built compliance-ready for the regulations that govern identity infrastructure across regulated industries. On the data privacy side, the platform operates under GDPR and UK GDPR with a controller/processor split and a published Data Processing Agreement, and supports India's DPDP Act with purpose-limited consent architecture. For AML and financial crime compliance, Hypersign screens in real time against 1,300+ sanctions, PEP, and adverse-media sources, satisfying AMLD6 and the EU AML Single Rulebook requirements. The platform is eIDAS 2.0 aligned (EU Digital Identity Wallet ready with reusable credential support), MiCA-ready for crypto on-ramps, exchanges, and custodians, and DORA-aligned for EU financial-services operational resilience. US biometric data is handled in accordance with BIPA (Illinois), CUBI (Texas), Washington HB 1493, and CCPA/CPRA. Age-gating and child-safety flows support UK Online Safety Act obligations. FATF Travel Rule data requirements (IVMS-101 interoperable) are supported for crypto asset transfers. Full certifications, compliance memos, and Data Processing Agreements are available on the Security & Compliance page.

Question 7

What is the linked-KYC pattern and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

When the business admin submits the key-people form, Hypersign automatically spawns a child user-verification session for every UBO and director that requires KYC. Each child session is tracked within the parent KYB case. The parent case does not move to Approved until every required child session resolves. If one director is In Review, the parent case stays In Review. No manual aggregation needed. Corporate UBOs can spawn a nested KYB sub-session, applying the same process recursively to the holding company.

Question 8

What happens if a UBO is a corporate entity, not a person?

Accepted Answer

If a beneficial owner at or above the ownership threshold is a legal entity (a holding company, trust, or fund) rather than a natural person, Hypersign can spawn a nested KYB sub-session for that entity automatically. The nested session applies the same registry lookup, officer mapping, document collection, and AML screening to the corporate UBO. The result is rolled up into the parent case's verdict. This allows Hypersign to resolve layered ownership structures, not just single-layer beneficial owners.

Question 9

How fast does KYB complete for my business customers?

Accepted Answer

The end-to-end KYB flow for a business admin (confirming registry data, adding owners and officers, uploading documents, completing KYC) typically takes under 30 minutes when the business admin has their documents at hand. Registry lookups complete in seconds. Individual KYC sessions for each UBO or director take under 2 minutes including document capture and biometric check. The backend returns each step's result in under two seconds at p99.

Question 10

What documents does Hypersign collect as part of KYB?

Accepted Answer

Supporting documents are configurable per workflow. Standard collection includes certificate of incorporation, articles of association or equivalent constitutional documents, proof of registered address, and financial statements and shareholder registers where required by your compliance policy. Documents are uploaded inside the hosted flow by the business admin. Hypersign extracts fields via OCR and cross-checks them against the registry record. Any inconsistency is flagged for analyst review.

Question 11

What is the difference between a UBO and an officer for KYB purposes?

Accepted Answer

A UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner) is a natural person who owns 25% or more of the entity's shares or voting rights, or who exercises effective control, regardless of corporate structure layers above them. AMLD6, FATF, and most national AML regulations require UBO identification as a core KYB step. An officer is a person in a governance role director, chairman, secretary, signatory who may or may not be a UBO. Officers require their own AML screening and, depending on your compliance policy, their own KYC. Hypersign maps both categories using 15 canonical role tags, and each role is individually configurable for whether it triggers a linked KYC session.

Business verification for faster KYB.

Six steps from link to compliance verdict.

Every KYB check. One orchestrated flow.

Business Registry Lookup

UBO & Beneficial Ownership

Officers & Governance Roles

Linked KYC

Supporting Documents

AML & Sanctions Screening

Case Management & Audit Trail

Three Integration Paths

API

Widget

Magic Links

189+ jurisdictions. From EU to LatAm.

Common questions about business verification.

Ready to go beyond KYC?

From the Blog

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