KYB and business registry checks
Updated May 2026 · 6 min read
KYB — Know Your Business — is the business equivalent of KYC. Instead of one person, you are verifying a company and the people behind it. A business cannot show up and present a face, so KYB has an extra layer: confirm the entity is real and registered, then confirm the individuals who own and control it.
This guide explains what KYB proves, what a registry check does, and why the people behind a business matter as much as the business itself. It is general guidance, not legal advice — confirm current requirements with the relevant registry and the Bank of Sierra Leone.
What KYB is trying to prove
KYB usually comes down to three questions:
- Does this business exist and is it registered? Confirmed against the company or business registry.
- Who owns and controls it? The owners, directors, and where it applies, the beneficial owners — the real people who ultimately benefit or make decisions.
- Are those people verified? Each one runs through identity checks much like a normal KYC.
A certificate photo on its own does not answer any of these. It can be forged, expired, or belong to a different entity, which is why KYB leans on the registry rather than the document image.
What a business registry check does
A registry check confirms the business is recorded and that its details — registered name, registration number, and status — match what was submitted. That is the business-level equivalent of an NCRA check on a person: it confirms the entity is real and the details are genuine, instead of trusting a scanned certificate.
Coverage and available fields vary by registry and by country, and access can depend on agreements and connectivity. Confirm what a registry check returns and any access requirements before relying on it in policy, and decide what your team does when the registry is unavailable.
The people behind the business
Verifying the company is only half the job. The greater risk often sits with the people who own or control it. KYB normally checks:
- Owners and shareholders — who holds the business.
- Directors — who is authorised to act for it.
- Beneficial owners — the real individuals who ultimately benefit, even where ownership runs through other entities.
Each of these people is typically run through identity verification of their own — document, registry, and face match — and, where your policy requires it, screening. A registered company controlled by an unverified or undisclosed individual is exactly the gap KYB is meant to close.
Common KYB pitfalls
A few things trip teams up:
- Stopping at the certificate. Confirming the business exists but never verifying the people behind it.
- Missing beneficial owners. Checking the named director but not the person who actually controls the business.
- No refresh. Ownership and directors change; a one-time check goes stale.
- Scattered evidence. The certificate in one place, the owners’ IDs in another, with no single record tying them to the business.
Where MiProof fits
MiProof can run the available business registry check and verify each owner or director through the same identity checks used for individuals, then keep it all under one business case. The result is a single record that links the entity to the people behind it, with each check and its reason recorded. Your team decides the outcome; MiProof keeps the evidence together so a KYB decision can be explained later.
Common questions
Is KYB just KYC for a company?
It includes KYC on the people behind the business, but it adds a step KYC does not have: confirming the entity itself is real and registered through the business registry.
What is a beneficial owner?
The real individual who ultimately owns or controls a business, even when ownership runs through other companies. KYB tries to identify and verify that person, not just the named director.
Do we need to re-check a business over time?
Usually yes. Owners, directors, and status can change, so a one-time check can go stale. How often to refresh is a policy decision for your compliance team.
Want to see these checks on your own documents? Try a live demo or book a free process review and we will map them to your KYC tiers.