Business Owners Research Check

The Business Owners Research check identifies individuals associated with business ownership through online research and cross-references them with self-attested ownership data. This check helps verify ownership structure and identify ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs).

Overview

The check examines:

Online mentions of business owners and leadership
LinkedIn profiles and professional networks
Corporate registry data
News articles and press releases
Company websites and about pages
Social media profiles

Running the Check

API Endpoint

POST https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/startKYBAgentJob

Request Parameters

Important: You must use your own agent key, not a default or public agent key. Your agent key can be found in the Parcha dashboard under your agent’s settings, or in the “Test API Integration” dialog.

agent_key

string

required

Your KYB agent key from the Parcha dashboard. This is unique to your organization and agent configuration.

check_id

string

required

Use "kyb.business_owners_check" for business owners research.

payload

object

required

The business information for verification.

Show Payload Properties

string

required

A unique identifier for this check case.

self_attested_data

object

required

business_name

string

required

The legal name of the business to verify.

website

string

The official website URL of the business.

associated_individuals

array

Array of self-attested owners to verify.

Show Individual Properties

first_name

string

required

Owner’s first name.

last_name

string

required

Owner’s last name.

is_business_owner

boolean

required

Must be true for owners.

business_ownership_percentage

number

Ownership percentage (0-100).

title

string

Job title or role in the company.

Example Request

curl -X POST 'https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/startKYBAgentJob' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
  "agent_key": "your-kyb-agent-key",
  "check_id": "kyb.business_owners_check",
  "payload": {
    "id": "owners-check-001",
    "self_attested_data": {
      "business_name": "TechCorp Inc",
      "website": "https://techcorp.example",
      "associated_individuals": [
        {
          "first_name": "Jane",
          "last_name": "Smith",
          "is_business_owner": true,
          "business_ownership_percentage": 51,
          "title": "CEO & Founder"
        },
        {
          "first_name": "John",
          "last_name": "Doe",
          "is_business_owner": true,
          "business_ownership_percentage": 49,
          "title": "CTO & Co-Founder"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}'

import requests

api_key = 'YOUR_API_KEY'
url = 'https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/startKYBAgentJob'

headers = {
    'Authorization': f'Bearer {api_key}',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

data = {
    'agent_key': 'your-kyb-agent-key',  # Replace with your actual agent key
    'check_id': 'kyb.business_owners_check',
    'payload': {
        'id': 'owners-check-001',
        'self_attested_data': {
            'business_name': 'TechCorp Inc',
            'website': 'https://techcorp.example',
            'associated_individuals': [
                {
                    'first_name': 'Jane',
                    'last_name': 'Smith',
                    'is_business_owner': True,
                    'business_ownership_percentage': 51,
                    'title': 'CEO & Founder'
                },
                {
                    'first_name': 'John',
                    'last_name': 'Doe',
                    'is_business_owner': True,
                    'business_ownership_percentage': 49,
                    'title': 'CTO & Co-Founder'
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}

response = requests.post(url, json=data, headers=headers)
print(response.json())

import axios from 'axios';

const apiKey = 'YOUR_API_KEY';
const url = 'https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/startKYBAgentJob';

const data = {
  agent_key: 'your-kyb-agent-key',  // Replace with your actual agent key
  check_id: 'kyb.business_owners_check',
  payload: {
    id: 'owners-check-001',
    self_attested_data: {
      business_name: 'TechCorp Inc',
      website: 'https://techcorp.example',
      associated_individuals: [
        {
          first_name: 'Jane',
          last_name: 'Smith',
          is_business_owner: true,
          business_ownership_percentage: 51,
          title: 'CEO & Founder'
        },
        {
          first_name: 'John',
          last_name: 'Doe',
          is_business_owner: true,
          business_ownership_percentage: 49,
          title: 'CTO & Co-Founder'
        }
      ]
    }
  }
};

axios.post(url, data, {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  }
})
.then(response => console.log(response.data))
.catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));

Initial Response

{
  "id": "job-abc123",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "created_at": "2024-02-15T10:30:00Z",
  "updated_at": "2024-02-15T10:30:00Z",
  "agent_id": "your-agent-key",
  "input_payload": {
    // Original request payload
  }
}

Retrieving Check Results

Once the job is complete, retrieve the results using the job ID with the getJobByID endpoint. Make sure to include the include_check_results=true parameter to get the full check results.

GET https://api.parcha.ai/api/v1/getJobByID?job_id=job-abc123&include_check_results=true

Check Process

The business owners research check follows these steps:

Online Research
- Searches LinkedIn for company leadership
- Analyzes company website team pages
- Reviews business directories and registries
- Examines news articles and press releases
Owner Identification
- Identifies individuals in leadership roles
- Extracts ownership and title information
- Builds ownership structure from public data
Verification
- Cross-references found owners with self-attested data
- Validates names, titles, and ownership percentages
- Identifies discrepancies or missing owners
Risk Assessment
- Flags undisclosed owners with significant stakes
- Identifies ownership structure concerns
- Evaluates transparency of ownership information

Check Results

Response Structure

{
  type: "BusinessOwnersCheckResult";
  passed: boolean;
  identified_owners: Array<IdentifiedOwner>;
  self_attested_owners: Array<SelfAttestedOwner>;
  match_results: Array<OwnerMatch>;
  discrepancies?: Array<Discrepancy>;
}

type IdentifiedOwner = {
  name: string;
  title?: string;
  ownership_percentage?: number;
  source: string;
  source_url?: string;
  confidence_score: number;
}

type OwnerMatch = {
  self_attested_owner: string;
  identified_owner?: string;
  match_status: "verified" | "partial_match" | "not_found" | "mismatch";
  confidence_score?: number;
}

type Discrepancy = {
  type: string;
  severity: "low" | "medium" | "high";
  description: string;
}

Example Results

{
  "type": "BusinessOwnersCheckResult",
  "passed": true,
  "identified_owners": [
    {
      "name": "Jane Smith",
      "title": "CEO & Founder",
      "ownership_percentage": 51,
      "source": "LinkedIn",
      "source_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/janesmith",
      "confidence_score": 95
    },
    {
      "name": "John Doe",
      "title": "CTO & Co-Founder",
      "ownership_percentage": 49,
      "source": "Company Website",
      "source_url": "https://techcorp.example/about",
      "confidence_score": 92
    }
  ],
  "match_results": [
    {
      "self_attested_owner": "Jane Smith",
      "identified_owner": "Jane Smith",
      "match_status": "verified",
      "confidence_score": 95
    },
    {
      "self_attested_owner": "John Doe",
      "identified_owner": "John Doe",
      "match_status": "verified",
      "confidence_score": 92
    }
  ],
  "discrepancies": []
}

{
  "type": "BusinessOwnersCheckResult",
  "passed": true,
  "identified_owners": [
    {
      "name": "Jane Smith",
      "title": "CEO",
      "source": "LinkedIn",
      "confidence_score": 88
    }
  ],
  "match_results": [
    {
      "self_attested_owner": "Jane Smith",
      "identified_owner": "Jane Smith",
      "match_status": "verified",
      "confidence_score": 88
    },
    {
      "self_attested_owner": "John Doe",
      "match_status": "not_found"
    }
  ],
  "discrepancies": [
    {
      "type": "owner_not_verified",
      "severity": "medium",
      "description": "Self-attested owner John Doe (49% ownership) could not be verified online"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "type": "BusinessOwnersCheckResult",
  "passed": false,
  "identified_owners": [
    {
      "name": "Jane Smith",
      "title": "CEO",
      "ownership_percentage": 40,
      "source": "OpenCorporates",
      "confidence_score": 92
    },
    {
      "name": "Michael Brown",
      "title": "Chairman",
      "ownership_percentage": 60,
      "source": "OpenCorporates",
      "confidence_score": 90
    }
  ],
  "match_results": [
    {
      "self_attested_owner": "Jane Smith",
      "identified_owner": "Jane Smith",
      "match_status": "verified",
      "confidence_score": 92
    }
  ],
  "discrepancies": [
    {
      "type": "undisclosed_owner",
      "severity": "high",
      "description": "Major owner Michael Brown (60% ownership) not disclosed in application"
    },
    {
      "type": "ownership_mismatch",
      "severity": "high",
      "description": "Jane Smith's ownership differs: stated 100%, found 40%"
    }
  ]
}

Risk Factors

The check may flag concerns if:

Self-attested owners cannot be verified online
Additional owners found who were not disclosed
Ownership percentages don’t match between sources
Complex or opaque ownership structures
Frequent changes in ownership
No ownership information publicly available
Owners appear on sanctions or PEP lists

Configuration Options

The check can be configured with:

enable_linkedin_search: Search LinkedIn for owners
enable_open_search: Use open web search for ownership data
enable_ubo_search: Search for ultimate beneficial owners
enable_opencorporates: Include OpenCorporates registry data
enable_smart_crawling: Crawl company websites for team pages
use_web_presence_data: Use web presence check data for context

Best Practices

Request Complete Information: Ask for all owners with 25%+ stakes
Cross-Verify: Use multiple sources to confirm ownership
Document Sources: Track where ownership information comes from
Regular Updates: Re-verify ownership periodically
Combine Checks: Use alongside ownership document verification

Business Ownership Document Verification - Verify ownership documents
Basic Business Profile Check - Verify business profile
Web Presence Check - Research online presence
Sanctions Screening - Screen owners against sanctions lists

Get Started

Concepts

Use Cases

Know Your Business (KYB)

Know Your Customer (KYC)

Overview

Running the Check

API Endpoint

Request Parameters

Example Request

Initial Response

Retrieving Check Results

Check Process

Check Results

Response Structure

Example Results

Risk Factors

Configuration Options

Best Practices

​Overview

​Running the Check

​API Endpoint

​Request Parameters

​Example Request

​Initial Response

​Retrieving Check Results

​Check Process

​Check Results

​Response Structure

​Example Results

​Risk Factors

​Configuration Options

​Best Practices

​Related Checks

Overview

Running the Check

API Endpoint

Request Parameters

Example Request

Initial Response

Retrieving Check Results

Check Process

Check Results

Response Structure

Example Results

Risk Factors

Configuration Options

Best Practices

Related Checks