Introduction: Why Compliance Automation Starts with APIs
Compliance today is no longer about checklists or paperwork — it’s about data, automation, and speed.
Modern organizations are expected to verify, onboard, and monitor thousands of businesses across multiple countries instantly, without compromising accuracy or regulatory standards.
That’s where APIs come in.
APIs now power the backbone of every advanced KYB (Know Your Business) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) system. They connect directly to verified data sources — company registries, credit bureaus, and sanctions lists — delivering trusted information in real time.
For compliance engineers, APIs make it possible to build fully automated verification and monitoring workflows.
For product and risk teams, they ensure compliance happens silently in the background — keeping customer experiences smooth and regulators satisfied.
In this article, we’ll look at five essential API endpoints that every compliance-focused team should know.
You’ll see how each one helps you:
- Verify a company’s legal identity and registration
- Identify ownership and UBO structures
- Access financial and credit data for risk evaluation
- Monitor changes that trigger re-verification
Together, these endpoints form the foundation of a modern, automated compliance stack — built on real-time, registry-verified data rather than static reports or assumptions.
1. Company Verification API – Confirm a Business in Seconds
Before any onboarding or transaction begins, the first question every compliance system must answer is simple:
“Does this company actually exist — and is it legally active?”
That’s where the Company Verification API comes in.
It connects directly to official registries in over 150 countries, verifying a company’s legal name, registration number, status, and jurisdiction in real time.
What It Does
- Validates legal identity from a domain, company name, or registration number
- Returns standardized data fields (name, address, status, incorporation date)
- Confirms registry source and timestamp for full audit traceability
Why It Matters
Manual KYB checks are slow and inconsistent.
By using an API to automate verification, you can instantly confirm if a counterparty is registered and trading — reducing fraud risk and accelerating onboarding workflows.
Example Request
Example Response
Use Case
A bank verifies a new SME customer by calling this endpoint directly from its onboarding form.
If the registry status returns “Active,” the customer is approved for the next KYB step automatically — no manual document review required.
2. Ownership API – Identify UBOs and Control Structures
Knowing who truly owns or controls a company is one of the toughest and most critical parts of KYB and AML compliance.
Shell entities, layered ownership structures, and complex cross-border shareholdings often hide the real decision-makers behind a business.
The Ownership API solves this by connecting directly to official registry data and shareholder disclosures. It automatically maps directors, shareholders, and ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), giving you a transparent picture of control — across multiple jurisdictions.
What It Does
- Retrieves lists of directors, shareholders, and key executives
- Identifies percentage ownership and control thresholds
- Maps the full corporate tree (subsidiaries, parents, and UBOs)
- Flags politically exposed persons (PEPs) and sanctioned entities
Why It Matters
Under AMLD6 and FATF guidelines, institutions must verify the natural persons who ultimately own or control a company.
Without automation, this process is slow and error-prone — especially for multi-layered corporate structures.
The Ownership API transforms that workflow by providing:
- Instant transparency for onboarding and periodic reviews
- Traceability of ownership links through verified registry data
- Automatic red flags for compliance teams when control changes occur
Example Request
Example Response
Use Case
A financial institution integrates the Ownership API into its KYB flow.
When onboarding a corporate client, the system automatically identifies all shareholders and UBOs above the 25% threshold.
If any UBO is listed in a PEP or sanctions database, the system automatically escalates the case for manual review — ensuring AML compliance while minimizing human workload.
3. Financials API – Assess Risk with Real Financial Data
A company’s registration and ownership tell you who they are — but its financials reveal how stable they are.
For compliance, credit, and risk teams, financial statements are the backbone of evaluating a business’s health and long-term viability.
The Financials API gives direct access to standardized, registry-sourced financial data for millions of companies worldwide. It extracts and normalizes balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow data — in some countries spanning up to 20 years of filings — digitized through AI and OCR.
What It Does
- Returns detailed financial statements (revenue, profit, assets, liabilities, equity)
- Provides historical trends and year-over-year comparisons
- Normalizes data into a consistent structure across all countries
- Supports integration with internal risk and credit models
Why It Matters
Financial risk assessment is often fragmented — different formats, different accounting standards, missing data.
By using the Financials API, you can instantly access comparable, verified data sourced directly from local company filings.
This enables:
- Faster credit decisioning and risk modeling
- Real-time updates when new accounts are filed
- Compliance with internal audit and Basel III/AML requirements
Example Request
Example Request
Use Case
A payments provider uses the Financials API during vendor onboarding.
When a new merchant applies, the API automatically retrieves their latest filed accounts, calculates revenue and liability ratios, and scores the company’s financial health.
If turnover is below a defined threshold, the system triggers enhanced due diligence — without manual review .
4. Monitoring API – Get Alerts When Company Data Changes
Compliance doesn’t end after onboarding.
Once a business relationship is established, you still need to ensure that company information remains valid — that the entity is active, management hasn’t changed, and new red-flags haven’t emerged.
The Monitoring API automates this continuous due-diligence process.
Instead of manually re-checking companies every few months, it tracks official registry and filing updates in real time and pushes alerts directly to your system whenever key events occur.
What It Does
- Monitors for changes in registration status (e.g., active → dissolved)
- Detects new director or shareholder appointments
- Flags updated financial filings, addresses, or company names
- Sends push notifications or webhooks when any change is detected
Why It Matters
Regulators now expect ongoing monitoring , not just point-in-time checks.
For large portfolios, doing this manually is nearly impossible.
The Monitoring API keeps your compliance team continuously informed while ensuring your CRM and risk systems always reflect the latest registry truth.
It enables:
- Continuous KYB — automated re-verification based on live data
- Faster risk response — trigger enhanced due-diligence only when changes occur
- Audit readiness — every alert is timestamped and source-linked for evidence
Example Setup
Example Webhook Notification
Use Case
A payments provider maintains a live watchlist of all approved merchants.
If the Monitoring API detects that a merchant’s legal status changes to “Inactive” or a new director is appointed, the system automatically freezes payouts and alerts compliance for review.
This replaces periodic manual reviews with continuous, event-driven compliance — ensuring no material change goes unnoticed.
5. Credit Report API – Understand Financial Health at a Glance
Not every business partner, supplier, or client comes with a full financial statement ready for analysis.
That’s why many compliance and risk teams rely on credit data — a quick, standardized snapshot of a company’s financial stability and repayment capacity.
The Credit Report API provides instant access to credit scores, credit limits, and key financial risk indicators sourced from trusted local providers and verified registries. It turns complex financial assessments into a single, machine-readable summary that fits directly into your compliance and risk workflows.
What It Does
- Returns an overall credit score and recommended credit limit
- Flags high-risk or insolvent entities
- Provides risk commentary and rating class (e.g., “Low,” “Moderate,” “High”)
- Integrates seamlessly with the Financials and Monitoring APIs for deeper context
Why It Matters
Credit scoring is one of the fastest ways to detect early signs of risk.
It enables teams to:
- Automate supplier or partner risk segmentation
- Reduce exposure to financially unstable companies
- Streamline underwriting and due-diligence decisions
By combining credit intelligence with registry verification, your team can make faster, evidence-backed decisions that stand up to regulatory scrutiny.
Example Request
Example Response
Use Case
A B2B marketplace uses the Credit Report API during vendor registration.
Before approving a new seller, the system automatically retrieves their credit score and recommended limit.
Vendors below a predefined risk threshold are approved instantly, while higher-risk entities are flagged for enhanced due diligence.
The result: faster onboarding, fewer defaults, and compliance with internal and external credit-risk policies.
6. Putting It All Together: Build an Automated KYB Workflow
Each API on its own delivers a critical part of the KYB process — but the real power comes from combining them into a single, automated pipeline.
By chaining these endpoints, compliance and product teams can build a fully automated onboarding and monitoring system that verifies, scores, and tracks every company in real time.
Here’s how it works in practice:
Step 1: Verify the Business
Start with the Company Verification API to confirm the company’s legal existence, registration number, and trading status.
If the entity is registered and active, it automatically moves to the next step.
Step 2: Identify Ownership
Next, call the Ownership API to retrieve directors, shareholders, and ultimate beneficial owners.
Use this data to screen individuals against sanctions and PEP lists before approval.
Step 3: Assess Financial Stability
Once identity and control are verified, use the Financials API to pull recent filings and financial ratios.
If detailed statements aren’t available, the Credit Report API can still provide an instant credit score and risk summary.
Step 4: Monitor for Change
After onboarding, activate the Monitoring API to keep watch over any future changes — like new directors, address updates, or a shift in company status.
Your system can trigger automated alerts or workflows whenever a new event occurs.
Sample Workflow Diagram
Example Automation Flow
- User signs up → domain submitted
- API auto-fills legal entity details and verifies registry status
- UBOs identified and screened automatically
- Financial health or credit rating checked
- Risk score generated → approval or manual review
- Company added to monitoring list for ongoing compliance
Why It Works
- Registry-sourced : All data is verified at the source, ensuring accuracy and auditability.
- Automated : Reduces manual reviews and speeds up onboarding by up to 90%.
- Scalable : Works across 150+ countries with standardized outputs.
- Compliant : Supports AMLD6, FATF, and GDPR standards.
Outcome
With these APIs working together, your team moves from reactive checks to real-time, event-driven compliance .
Every company in your portfolio stays verified, monitored, and risk-assessed — automatically.
Conclusion: From Manual Reviews to Automated Trust
Compliance no longer has to slow down business.
With registry-sourced APIs, verification and monitoring become instant, reliable, and fully automated.
The five endpoints covered in this article — Company Verification, Ownership, Financials, Monitoring, and Credit Reports — form the foundation of a complete, scalable KYB solution.
Together, they transform complex manual checks into a single continuous process that’s accurate, auditable, and globally consistent.
For compliance engineers, these APIs remove integration friction.
For product and risk teams, they reduce onboarding delays and operational costs.
And for your organization, they build a transparent, trusted data backbone that meets the highest regulatory standards — across all markets.
Next step:
Explore the developer documentation at api.globaldatabase.com/docs/v2 and start verifying your first company in seconds.
FAQ: Compliance APIs Explained
1. What is a KYB API?
A KYB (Know Your Business) API connects directly to official registries and trusted sources to verify companies automatically, replacing manual document collection.
2. What’s the difference between KYC and KYB?
KYC focuses on verifying individuals, while KYB verifies companies, their structure, and their ownership.
3. How accurate is registry-sourced data?
Registry data comes directly from government sources, ensuring legal accuracy and timestamped verification.
4. Can these APIs integrate into my existing CRM or onboarding system?
Yes. Global Database APIs work with Salesforce, HubSpot, Creatio, and any platform that supports REST or webhook integrations.
5. How often should businesses be reverified?
Best practice is continuous monitoring — automated re-verification triggered whenever registry data changes.
6. Do these APIs support global coverage?
Yes. Global Database covers 150+ countries , including all major business registries in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.
7. What’s the response time per request?
Typical response time is under 2 seconds , even for multi-field lookups.
8. Are UBOs and shareholders included?
Yes. The Ownership API retrieves directors, shareholders, and beneficial owners where data is available in local registries.
9. How is the data updated?
The database is refreshed daily through direct registry feeds and verified filings.
10. Can I test the APIs for free?
Yes — you can start with a free sandbox or API key to explore endpoints and verify live examples.
