Company Verification

Verify a company end-to-end with registry checks, director screening, and UBO screening. This guide covers submitting company data, retrieving results, and interpreting the compliance report.

What Company Verification checks

When you submit a company for verification, Zenoo orchestrates four check types:

Company Registry Verification. Legal name, registration number, incorporation status, registered address, directors, and shareholders from official registries.
Company Screening (WorldCheck). PEP, sanctions, and adverse media screening on the company entity itself.
Director Screening (WorldCheck). Individual screening for each director you provide or that the registry returns.
UBO Screening (WorldCheck). Individual screening for each beneficial owner.

Data tiers

You can submit three levels of data. More data produces better matching and richer risk scoring.

Providing Standard tier or above is recommended for production. Minimum tier works for testing but produces less accurate risk scoring.

Tier 1: Minimum

The bare minimum to run a registry check and company screening.

{
  "company_name": "Acme Holdings Ltd",
  "registration_number": "12345678",
  "country": "GB"
}

Tier 2: Standard (recommended)

Adds directors, UBOs, and company details. This is the recommended minimum for production.

{
  "company_name": "Acme Holdings Ltd",
  "registration_number": "12345678",
  "country": "GB",
  "company_type": "Private Limited Company (Ltd)",
  "incorporation_date": "2015-03-15",
  "industry": "Financial Services",
  "address_line_1": "123 High Street",
  "city": "London",
  "postcode": "EC1A 1BB",
  "directors": [
    {
      "first_name": "Jane",
      "last_name": "Smith",
      "date_of_birth": "1980-05-20",
      "nationality": "GB",
      "role": "Director"
    }
  ],
  "ubos": [
    {
      "first_name": "John",
      "last_name": "Doe",
      "date_of_birth": "1975-11-10",
      "nationality": "GB",
      "ownership_percentage": 75,
      "role": "UBO"
    }
  ]
}

Tier 3: Full

Adds external reference for idempotency, financial data, and entity identifiers.

{
  "company_name": "Acme Holdings Ltd",
  "registration_number": "12345678",
  "country": "GB",
  "company_type": "Private Limited Company (Ltd)",
  "incorporation_date": "2015-03-15",
  "industry": "Financial Services",
  "address_line_1": "123 High Street",
  "city": "London",
  "postcode": "EC1A 1BB",
  "external_reference": "YOUR-REF-2026-0042",
  "annual_revenue": 5000000,
  "employee_count": 45,
  "sic_codes": ["64110", "64205"],
  "status": "Active",
  "entity_id": "ent-abc-123",
  "directors": [
    {
      "first_name": "Jane",
      "last_name": "Smith",
      "date_of_birth": "1980-05-20",
      "nationality": "GB",
      "role": "Director",
      "entity_id": "ent-dir-456"
    }
  ],
  "ubos": [
    {
      "first_name": "John",
      "last_name": "Doe",
      "date_of_birth": "1975-11-10",
      "nationality": "GB",
      "ownership_percentage": 75,
      "role": "UBO",
      "entity_id": "ent-ubo-789"
    }
  ]
}

Field reference

Field	Type	Required	Description
`company_name`	string	Yes	Legal name of the company
`registration_number`	string	Yes	Official registration or incorporation number
`country`	string	Yes	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (e.g. `GB`, `US`, `DE`)
`company_type`	string	No	Legal entity type (e.g. `Private Limited Company (Ltd)`)
`incorporation_date`	string	No	Date of incorporation in `YYYY-MM-DD` format
`industry`	string	No	Industry classification or description
`address_line_1`	string	No	Registered office street address
`city`	string	No	Registered office city
`postcode`	string	No	Registered office postal code
`external_reference`	string	No	Your internal reference ID. Enables idempotency.
`annual_revenue`	number	No	Annual revenue in base currency units
`employee_count`	number	No	Number of employees
`sic_codes`	string[]	No	Standard Industrial Classification codes
`status`	string	No	Company status (e.g. `Active`, `Dissolved`)
`entity_id`	string	No	Your internal entity identifier
`directors`	object[]	No	Array of director objects (see below)
`ubos`	object[]	No	Array of beneficial owner objects (see below)

Director and UBO fields:

Field	Type	Required	Description
`first_name`	string	Yes	First name
`last_name`	string	Yes	Last name
`date_of_birth`	string	No	Date of birth in `YYYY-MM-DD` format. Strongly recommended for screening accuracy.
`nationality`	string	No	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code
`role`	string	No	Role in the company (e.g. `Director`, `UBO`, `Secretary`)
`ownership_percentage`	number	No	Beneficial ownership percentage (UBOs only)
`entity_id`	string	No	Your internal entity identifier

Submit company data

Sync mode (recommended for server-to-server)

Results are returned directly in the response body. Add the X-SYNC-TIMEOUT header to set the maximum wait time in milliseconds.

curl -X POST \
  "https://instance.prod.onboardapp.io/api/gateway/execute/{project_hash}/api" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-KEY: your-api-key" \
  -H "X-SYNC-TIMEOUT: 60000" \
  -d '{
    "company_name": "Acme Holdings Ltd",
    "registration_number": "12345678",
    "country": "GB",
    "company_type": "Private Limited Company (Ltd)",
    "incorporation_date": "2015-03-15",
    "industry": "Financial Services",
    "address_line_1": "123 High Street",
    "city": "London",
    "postcode": "EC1A 1BB",
    "external_reference": "YOUR-REF-2026-0042",
    "directors": [
      {
        "first_name": "Jane",
        "last_name": "Smith",
        "date_of_birth": "1980-05-20",
        "nationality": "GB",
        "role": "Director"
      }
    ],
    "ubos": [
      {
        "first_name": "John",
        "last_name": "Doe",
        "date_of_birth": "1975-11-10",
        "nationality": "GB",
        "ownership_percentage": 75,
        "role": "UBO"
      }
    ]
  }'

Async mode

If you prefer non-blocking execution, call the /init endpoint without the X-SYNC-TIMEOUT header.

curl -X POST \
  "https://instance.prod.onboardapp.io/api/gateway/execute/{project_hash}/init" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-KEY: your-api-key" \
  -d '{
    "company_name": "Acme Holdings Ltd",
    "registration_number": "12345678",
    "country": "GB",
    "external_reference": "YOUR-REF-2026-0042",
    "directors": [
      {
        "first_name": "Jane",
        "last_name": "Smith",
        "date_of_birth": "1980-05-20",
        "nationality": "GB",
        "role": "Director"
      }
    ],
    "ubos": [
      {
        "first_name": "John",
        "last_name": "Doe",
        "date_of_birth": "1975-11-10",
        "nationality": "GB",
        "ownership_percentage": 75,
        "role": "UBO"
      }
    ]
  }'

Response:

{
  "tokens": {
    "pull": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.pull-token...",
    "start": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.start-token..."
  }
}

Store the pull token immediately. It is the only way to retrieve results. If you lose it, you must reinitiate the verification.

Retrieve results

Sync mode

Results are returned directly in the response body. Skip to the next step.

Async mode: poll for results

curl -X GET \
  "https://instance.prod.onboardapp.io/api/gateway/sharable-payload/{pull_token}"

Status	Meaning
`200` with JSON body	Results are ready
`204` No Content	Still processing, retry after a delay
`404`	Invalid or expired token

Polling strategy:

First 2 minutes: poll every 10 seconds
After 2 minutes: poll every 30 seconds
Typical completion time: 30 seconds to 5 minutes

Async mode: webhook notification

Configure a webhook endpoint to receive a verification.completed event when processing finishes. See Webhooks Guide for setup instructions.You can use both strategies together: webhooks for real-time notification, polling as a fallback.

Interpret the compliance report

A complete Company Verification response contains six sections: company details, screening results, beneficial owners, directors, risk assessment, and checks summary.

{
  "case_reference": "AML-2026-0042",
  "external_reference": "YOUR-REF-2026-0042",
  "processing_status": "complete",
  "overall_verdict": "Refer",
  "risk_tier": "Medium",
  "completed_at": "2026-01-15T14:32:00Z",

  "company": {
    "legal_name": "Acme Holdings Limited",
    "registration_number": "12345678",
    "jurisdiction": "GB",
    "company_status": "Active",
    "company_type": "Private Limited Company",
    "incorporation_date": "2015-03-15",
    "registered_address": "123 High Street, London, EC1A 1BB",
    "verification_status": "Verified",
    "verified_at": "2026-01-15T14:30:15Z"
  },

  "screening": {
    "pep_status": "No Hit",
    "sanctions_status": "No Hit",
    "adverse_media_status": "Hit",
    "adverse_media_count": 2,
    "screening_provider": "WorldCheck",
    "screening_completed_at": "2026-01-15T14:30:20Z"
  },

  "beneficial_owners": [
    {
      "name": "John Doe",
      "date_of_birth": "1975-11-10",
      "nationality": "GB",
      "ownership_percentage": 75,
      "pep_status": "No Hit",
      "sanctions_status": "No Hit",
      "adverse_media_status": "No Hit",
      "identity_verified": false
    }
  ],

  "directors": [
    {
      "name": "Jane Smith",
      "date_of_birth": "1980-05-20",
      "role": "Director",
      "pep_status": "No Hit",
      "sanctions_status": "No Hit",
      "adverse_media_status": "No Hit"
    }
  ],

  "risk_assessment": {
    "overall_score": 45,
    "tier": "Medium",
    "factors": [
      {
        "factor": "Adverse Media",
        "severity": "Medium",
        "detail": "2 adverse media articles found for company"
      }
    ]
  },

  "checks_summary": {
    "total": 5,
    "passed": 4,
    "referred": 1,
    "failed": 0,
    "checks": [
      {
        "type": "Company Registration",
        "status": "Pass",
        "provider": "Registry"
      },
      {
        "type": "Company Screening",
        "status": "Refer",
        "provider": "WorldCheck",
        "matches": 2
      },
      {
        "type": "Director Screening (Jane Smith)",
        "status": "Pass",
        "provider": "WorldCheck"
      },
      {
        "type": "UBO Screening (John Doe)",
        "status": "Pass",
        "provider": "WorldCheck"
      },
      {
        "type": "Directors Verification",
        "status": "Pass",
        "provider": "Registry"
      }
    ]
  },

  "compliance_metadata": {
    "cdd_completed": true,
    "cdd_completed_at": "2026-01-15T14:32:00Z",
    "edd_required": false,
    "reviewed_by": "system"
  }
}

Key fields to check:

overall_verdict. The top-level recommendation: Pass, Refer, or Fail.
risk_tier. Risk classification: Low, Medium, or High.
screening.*_status. Whether any screening category returned a match.
checks_summary.checks[]. Status of each individual check.

Store the case_reference in your database. You will need it for support queries, audit trails, and linking future updates.

Decision logic

Use the overall_verdict and risk_tier together to drive your onboarding workflow.

Verdict	Risk Tier	Recommended Action
`Pass`	Low	Auto-approve. Proceed with onboarding.
`Pass`	Medium	Auto-approve with enhanced monitoring.
`Refer`	Medium	Route to compliance analyst for manual review.
`Refer`	High	Route to senior compliance officer. Consider EDD.
`Fail`	Any	Reject. Escalate to compliance team.

If sanctions_status is "Hit" on any entity (company, director, or UBO), halt onboarding immediately and escalate. Processing sanctioned entities may violate legal obligations in your jurisdiction.

How checks are orchestrated

When you submit a company for verification, the check framework automatically creates, executes, and tracks every verification requirement. Here is the orchestration flow: For Company Verification, all four check types (registry, company screening, director screening, UBO screening) are API-based and auto-execute immediately after case creation. You do not need to trigger them manually. Checks that return Refer or Fail automatically generate alerts in the case management system. Alerts for sanctions hits are always marked Critical priority.

Verdict mapping

The full Company Verification verdict mapping combines overall_verdict and risk_tier to determine the appropriate action across all scenarios:

Verdict	Risk Tier	Recommended Action
Pass	Low	Auto-approve. Proceed with onboarding.
Pass	Medium	Auto-approve with enhanced monitoring. Schedule periodic re-screening.
Refer	Low	Quick manual review. Likely a minor data issue.
Refer	Medium	Manual review required. Assign to a compliance analyst.
Refer	High	Senior compliance review. Consider enhanced due diligence (EDD).
Fail	Low	Investigate the specific failure. May be a data quality issue.
Fail	Medium	Reject or request corrected information.
Fail	High	Reject. Escalate to compliance team for review.

Auto-approve criteria

You can safely auto-approve a Company Verification when ALL of the following are true:

overall_verdict is "Pass".
risk_tier is "Low".
sanctions_status is "No Hit" on ALL entities (company, directors, UBOs).
pep_status is "No Hit" on ALL entities.
adverse_media_status is "No Hit".

decision-handler.js

function canAutoApprove(result) {
  if (result.overall_verdict !== "Pass") return false;
  if (result.risk_tier !== "Low") return false;

  // Check all screening statuses
  const screening = result.screening || {};
  if (screening.pep_status !== "No Hit") return false;
  if (screening.sanctions_status !== "No Hit") return false;
  if (screening.adverse_media_status !== "No Hit") return false;

  // Check directors and UBOs
  const entities = [
    ...(result.directors || []),
    ...(result.beneficial_owners || [])
  ];
  for (const entity of entities) {
    if (entity.pep_status !== "No Hit") return false;
    if (entity.sanctions_status !== "No Hit") return false;
  }

  return true;
}

Any other combination should go to manual review. Do not attempt to auto-approve verifications that do not meet every criterion above.

Idempotency

Always include external_reference in production requests to prevent duplicate verifications. If you submit the same reference twice, Zenoo returns the existing case tokens without creating a duplicate.

{
  "company_name": "Acme Holdings Ltd",
  "registration_number": "12345678",
  "country": "GB",
  "external_reference": "YOUR-REF-2026-0042"
}

Country codes

Use ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes for all country fields. Common codes:

Country	Code
United Kingdom	`GB` (not `UK`)
United States	`US`
Ireland	`IE`
Germany	`DE`
France	`FR`
Netherlands	`NL`
Switzerland	`CH`

The country field determines which registry Zenoo queries and which screening jurisdiction applies.

Using UK instead of GB will return an error. Always use the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 standard code GB for United Kingdom.

Next steps

Person Verification. Verify directors and UBOs individually with document and biometric checks.
Screening. Run standalone screening for ongoing monitoring.
Sync vs Async. Choose the right execution model for your integration.

Getting Started

Use-Case Guides

Platform Concepts

Domain Concepts

Data Model

Company Verification

Company Verification

What Company Verification checks

Data tiers

Field reference

Sync mode (recommended for server-to-server)

Async mode

Sync mode

Async mode: poll for results

Async mode: webhook notification

How checks are orchestrated

Verdict mapping

Auto-approve criteria

Idempotency

Country codes

Next steps

Getting Started

Use-Case Guides

Platform Concepts

Domain Concepts

Data Model

​Company Verification

​What Company Verification checks

​Data tiers

​Field reference

​Sync mode (recommended for server-to-server)

​Async mode

​Sync mode

​Async mode: poll for results

​Async mode: webhook notification

​How checks are orchestrated

​Verdict mapping

​Auto-approve criteria

​Idempotency

​Country codes

​Next steps

Company Verification

What Company Verification checks

Data tiers

Field reference

Sync mode (recommended for server-to-server)

Async mode

Sync mode

Async mode: poll for results

Async mode: webhook notification

How checks are orchestrated

Verdict mapping

Auto-approve criteria

Idempotency

Country codes

Next steps