Do you really know who is behind the company you are about to sign with?

KYB (Know Your Business) is the process of identifying, validating, qualifying and monitoring companies before and during the business relationship: corporate customers, suppliers, partners, marketplace sellers and counterparties in general. While KYC asks "is this person who they claim to be?", KYB asks something more complex: "does this company really exist, is it in good standing, who actually controls it and what risks does it carry?". In practice, a complete KYB includes the KYC of the people who control the company.

The question is more complex because companies have layers that people do not: registration and tax status, an activity code that is consistent (or not) with the real operation, an ownership structure with partners who may be front men, a beneficial owner hidden behind holdings, ties to other companies, lawsuits, sanctions and reputation. A complete KYB crosses six layers — existence and standing, activity, ownership structure, beneficial owner, risk and compliance, and continuous monitoring — from the company shell down to the individual who actually controls the business.

In Brazil, KYB rests on a robust regulatory base. Central Bank Circular 3,978/2020 requires, for corporate clients of regulated institutions, the identification and verification of the beneficial owner and an understanding of the control structure, with continuous diligence. AML/CFT law treats the shell company as the classic money-laundering vehicle. The Anti-Corruption Law imposes strict liability for the acts of third parties, making supplier and partner due diligence the main mitigant. Procurement law requires integrity checks (CEIS, CNEP) in public supply chains, and federal-registry rules mandate the declaration of the beneficial owner, creating the public base that KYB cross-references and verifies.

Identifying a shell company means cross-referencing signals it cannot hide all at once: recent incorporation with inconsistent capital, a non-existent address or one shared by dozens of companies, front-man partners present in multiple companies, an activity code inconsistent with the operation, no track record and anomalous ties within the economic group. Automating KYB turns that investigation into a single flow — registration and tax validation, ownership, beneficial owner, sanctions, PEP, lawsuits and adverse media — that produces the onboarding dossier in minutes and, afterward, keeps the record alive: the photo ages, the film does not. The result is knowing who is on the other side of the contract, with fast onboarding for the legitimate, an automatic barrier for shells and front men, and documented evidence for auditors and regulators.