KYB Complete — United Kingdom

Comprehensive verification of a UK company. Full compliance check including registry verification, sanctions screening, PEP screening, adverse media search, digital presence analysis, and a plain-language risk narrative.

14 steps x402 eligible Includes an AI-written summary kyb-complete-uk

What it runs

  1. UK Company Data

    Source: Companies House (UK Government)

  2. EU VAT Validation

    Source: VIES (EU VAT Information Exchange System, European Commission)

  3. LEI Lookup

    Source: GLEIF (Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation)

  4. LEI Parent Lookup

    Source: GLEIF Level 2 (Who Owns Whom)

  5. Sanctions Check

    Source: Dilisense consolidated (OFAC SDN, EU FSF, UN SC, UK Sanctions List, CH SECO, BIS, World Bank, EBRD, ADB + 125 national sanctions/debarment lists; full attribution at https://dilisense.com/en/sources/sanction-sources)

  6. PEP Check

    Source: Dilisense consolidated PEP database (230+ territories, EU C/2023/724-aligned, RCAs included; full attribution at https://dilisense.com/en/sources/politically-exposed-persons-list)

  7. Adverse Media Check

    Source: Dilisense Adverse Media (235k+ news sources, FATF-categorized) primary; Serper.dev (Google search) fallback

  8. Domain Reputation

    Source: Threat intelligence feeds (multi-source scoring)

  9. WHOIS Lookup

    Source: WHOIS protocol (ICANN-accredited registrar databases)

  10. SSL Certificate Check

    Source: TLS handshake (X.509 certificate from target server)

  11. DNS Lookup

    Source: DNS protocol (authoritative nameservers)

  12. Email Validation

    Source: Algorithmic (syntax) + DNS protocol (MX record verification)

  13. Insolvency Check

    Source: Companies House (UK)

  14. Risk Summary Writer

    Source: Claude Sonnet (Anthropic API)

    Written by an AI model from the other steps’ results, for a person to review. It does not make the decision.

The answer returns every step’s result, so your agent can show or check each one.

Inputs

FieldTypeRequiredWhat it is
domainstringNoCompany website domain (e.g., example.com)
vat_numberstringNoEU VAT number with country prefix (e.g. DE811128135). Auto-derived from registry data when possible.
contact_namestringNoName of contact person for PEP screening
contact_emailstringNoContact email for validation
company_numberstringYesUK Companies House number

How to call it

# Needs an API key. The whole check is charged once, at the listed price.
curl -X POST https://api.strale.io/v1/solutions/kyb-complete-uk/execute \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STRALE_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "inputs": {
      "domain": "example.com",
      "vat_number": "SE556059030801",
      "contact_name": "John Doe",
      "contact_email": "[email protected]",
      "company_number": "00445790"
    },
    "max_price_cents": 250
  }'

The bundle’s published example input.

Limitations

  • Data from Companies House API — LLPs and Scottish LPs included, but sole traders and partnerships are not registered

    From step: UK Company Data

    What to do instead: For sole traders, check HMRC's contractor verification or use the business name with google-search

  • VIES can be unavailable or throttle requests under unpublished per-member-state limits. Transient faults are retried, and cached results, including older fallback results, can be returned during outages.

    From step: EU VAT Validation

    What to do instead: Lookups within 48 hours can use cached results; if VIES is unavailable and no cached result exists, retry later.

  • Results can be cached for 48 hours, and national registry changes can take a further 24 hours to appear in VIES. Check the national tax authority directly for same-day registration or deregistration confirmation.

    From step: EU VAT Validation

    What to do instead: For real-time same-day verification, contact the national tax authority directly.

  • Swiss UID validation returns valid or invalid only, without a company name or address. This tool does not perform the separate enrichment lookup, whose public service is limited to 20 requests per minute.

    From step: EU VAT Validation

    What to do instead: For Swiss company name + address, call the swiss-company-data capability.

  • GB VAT numbers return a credentials-pending error when the HMRC connection is not configured.

    From step: EU VAT Validation

    What to do instead: Use vat-format-validate for GB format checks; it does not confirm VAT registration.

  • Covers entities with LEI registration via GLEIF — only ~2.5 million entities worldwide have LEIs, primarily financial institutions

    From step: LEI Lookup

    What to do instead: If no LEI is found, search by company name and jurisdiction; consider that smaller entities may not have an LEI

  • GLEIF L2 only contains relationship data for entities registered in the GLEIF system. Approximately 2.6M entities globally have LEIs, primarily large or regulated entities. SMEs without LEIs return no L2 data — pair with country-registry beneficial ownership lookups for full SME coverage.

    From step: LEI Parent Lookup

    What to do instead: For SMEs without an LEI, use country-specific UBO sources (e.g. Companies House PSC for UK, OpenOwnership BODS for UK/DK/SK).

  • Many entities report a structured "reporting exception" instead of naming a parent (NATURAL_PERSONS, NON_CONSOLIDATING, NO_KNOWN_PERSON, LEGAL_OBSTACLES, DISCLOSURE_DETRIMENTAL, BINDING_LEGAL_COMMITMENTS). The exception is structured data and is surfaced verbatim in direct_parent_exception / ultimate_parent_exception, but it does not name an ultimate beneficiary.

    From step: LEI Parent Lookup

  • Entities self-report parent relationships in their annual LEI renewal. Stale data is possible for restructurings between renewal cycles. The lastUpdateDate on the underlying LEI record indicates currency.

    From step: LEI Parent Lookup

  • Sanctions lists updated daily from OFAC, EU, and UN sources — newly sanctioned entities may take up to 24 hours to appear

    From step: Sanctions Check

    What to do instead: For same-day compliance, subscribe to OFAC's RSS feed and cross-reference against today's additions

  • Name matching uses fuzzy logic — common names may produce false positives. Always verify flagged results

    From step: Sanctions Check

    What to do instead: Filter results by match confidence score and verify flagged entities against the primary sanctions list PDF

  • Coverage depends on OpenSanctions dataset — may not include all national PEP lists

    From step: PEP Check

  • Name matching is fuzzy — common names may produce false positives. Birth date strongly recommended for disambiguation.

    From step: PEP Check

    What to do instead: Provide birth_date parameter for disambiguation

  • PEP coverage varies by country — major economies and EU members have strong coverage, smaller nations may have gaps

    From step: PEP Check

    What to do instead: For countries with limited coverage, supplement with local registry checks or use the LLM fallback as a secondary signal

  • Name matching uses fuzzy logic — common names may produce false positives. Birth date strongly recommended for disambiguation

    From step: PEP Check

    What to do instead: Always provide birth_date when available to reduce false positives. Verify flagged results against official government records

  • PEP lists updated multiple times per day — recently appointed officials may take up to 48 hours to appear

    From step: PEP Check

    What to do instead: For time-sensitive checks on recently appointed officials, cross-reference with news sources

  • AI-classified results — may miss subtle risk signals or produce false positives

    From step: Adverse Media Check

  • Limited to publicly indexed web content — paywalled news sources not covered

    From step: Adverse Media Check

  • English-language bias — non-English media coverage may be underrepresented

    From step: Adverse Media Check

  • Recency depends on search index freshness (typically 24-48h delay)

    From step: Adverse Media Check

  • AI-categorized results — may produce false positives for common names or names that appear in unrelated news contexts

    From step: Adverse Media Check

    What to do instead: Review top articles manually to confirm relevance. Use entity_type parameter to improve precision

  • Screens 235,000+ sources but paywalled content may not be fully indexed. Non-English language coverage varies by region

    From step: Adverse Media Check

    What to do instead: For high-stakes screening, supplement with manual searches in local-language news sources

  • Articles typically appear in near real-time but some sources may have a 24-48 hour indexing delay

    From step: Adverse Media Check

    What to do instead: For breaking news events, supplement with direct web search

  • Reputation scores aggregate multiple blocklists — a single listing may not indicate actual malicious activity

    From step: Domain Reputation

    What to do instead: Check which specific blocklist flagged the domain in the response details and verify the listing reason before blocking

  • Blocklist data refreshed daily — recently resolved issues may still show negative reputation for 24-48 hours

    From step: Domain Reputation

    What to do instead: If a domain was recently cleaned, re-check after 48 hours and use the trend direction to assess improvement

  • Some registrars rate-limit WHOIS queries — bulk lookups may see slower response times

    From step: WHOIS Lookup

    What to do instead: Batch lookups with 1-2 second delays between requests, or use the RDAP protocol endpoint when available

  • GDPR-redacted registrations (common for EU domains) show limited registrant information

    From step: WHOIS Lookup

    What to do instead: Use the abuse contact email from the WHOIS response to request registrant details through the registrar's disclosure process

  • Checks the certificate presented on port 443 only — does not verify non-standard TLS configurations

    From step: SSL Certificate Check

    What to do instead: For services on non-standard ports, use ssl-certificate-chain with the specific hostname:port combination

  • Results reflect current DNS propagation — recent changes may take up to 48 hours to appear

    From step: DNS Lookup

    What to do instead: Query the authoritative nameserver directly (returned in the NS records) to see changes before full propagation

  • Disposable email detection covers major providers but new throwaway domains may not be flagged

    From step: Email Validation

    What to do instead: Check the domain’s age when investigating suspicious traffic.

  • No mailbox is contacted. A made-up or bouncing address can return valid if its syntax is correct, its domain has mail servers, and it is not flagged as disposable. Catch-all domains are one example; mailbox existence and delivery are never checked.

    From step: Email Validation

    What to do instead: Require confirmation through a verification link before relying on a mailbox.

  • Insolvency checks currently only available for UK companies via Companies House

    From step: Insolvency Check

    What to do instead: For other jurisdictions, use the relevant country's company registry data capability

  • UK insolvency checks require COMPANIES_HOUSE_API_KEY environment variable

    From step: Insolvency Check

  • Risk narratives are generated by AI and may oversimplify complex scenarios. The narrative should be reviewed by a qualified professional for high-stakes decisions.

    From step: Risk Summary Writer

  • The AI is instructed to follow specific wording rules (e.g., never say "safe to pay") but adherence is not 100% guaranteed. Automated wording checks are recommended.

    From step: Risk Summary Writer

  • Narrative quality depends on the completeness of input check_results. Missing or incomplete check data will produce less useful narratives.

    From step: Risk Summary Writer