Company Registry API
A company registry API retrieves official company data directly from government and statutory company registers: a company’s name, registration number, legal status, registered address, officers, and the underlying filings. The Know Your Customer Limited company registry API connects live to the official registries in 147 jurisdictions, covers 100% of legally registered entities in each connected jurisdiction, and returns the original registry documents themselves, not just parsed fields.
What is a company registry API?
A company registry API is an interface that programmatically queries official company registers (such as Companies House in the UK or ACRA in Singapore) and returns structured corporate data. A company registry is the authoritative public record of legally registered businesses in a jurisdiction, maintained by a government body or statutory registrar.
Company registry APIs differ in one critical way: whether they read the register live at request time or serve cached or aggregated data collected earlier. Live-from-source data reflects the register as it stands now; aggregated data can be stale and is one step removed from the authoritative source.
What does “live registry data” mean and why does it matter?
Live registry data means the company record is fetched from the official register at the moment of verification, not retrieved from a copy that was harvested days, weeks, or months earlier. It matters because company facts change: a company can be struck off, change directors, file new accounts, or be dissolved between the time a dataset was last refreshed and the moment you verify. For onboarding and compliance, you need the state of the register now, with an auditable link back to the source. The Know Your Customer company registry API reads the official register at verification time, so the data is current and defensible.
What company data can I retrieve?
When you create a company case, the API returns structured entity data read straight from the register:
- Legal name and any registered trading names
- Registration number
- Legal status (active, dissolved, struck off, in liquidation, and so on)
- Registered and business addresses
- Officers (directors, secretaries) and their roles
- The controlling entities and individuals, and the recursive ownership org-chart
You search with POST /v2/Companies/search (by name or registration number, optionally narrowed by country) and create the case with POST /v2/Companies, supplying the registration number in externalCode wherever available for an exact registry match.
Can I retrieve the original registry documents via API?
Yes. The API returns the fresh underlying registry documents pulled directly from the source: registry extracts, certificates of incorporation, annual returns, and other filings, fetched live at verification time. This is a defensible differentiator: many registry-data APIs return parsed fields only, with no source document. Having the original document gives your audit file the primary evidence, not just a vendor’s interpretation of it. Documents are attached to the company case and retrievable by the link returned on each document.
How do I look up a company registration number via API?
To verify or look up a company by its registration number, search with POST /v2/Companies/search using the registration number, optionally narrowing by country with the ISO 3166-2 codeiso31662 field. If several companies share a similar name, the registration number is the reliable discriminator. Once you have the exact record, create a case with POST /v2/Companies and pass the registration number in externalCode for an exact registry match. The full sequence is in the Guide.
How is this different from open or aggregated company data?
| Attribute | Know Your Customer | Open/aggregated company-data API |
|---|---|---|
| Data freshness | Live from the register at request time | Periodically harvested, can be stale |
| Source documents | Original registry documents returned | Usually data only |
| Coverage | 147 jurisdictions, 100% of registered entities per jurisdiction | Varies; often bulk datasets with gaps |
| Verification vs lookup | Verification with screening and UBO | Often lookup or bulk data only |
| Ongoing monitoring | Built in | Typically not included |
Open and bulk datasets are excellent for research and discovery; this API is built for verification, where freshness, the source document, and an auditable trail are the point.
Which registries are connected?
The API connects to the official company registries in 147 jurisdictions, with deep APAC coverage (including Hong Kong’s Companies Registry, Singapore’s ACRA, and China’s registries) and global breadth (including the UK’s Companies House, offshore centres such as the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, and registries across Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East). See the coverage hub for per-jurisdiction detail on what is available, which documents are returned, and typical latency.
Frequently asked questions
Is the company data live or cached? Live. The register is read at verification time, not served from a periodically harvested copy.
Can I get the certificate of incorporation or annual return? Yes. The original registry documents are returned, including registry extracts, certificates of incorporation, and annual returns where the registry provides them.
How do I verify a registration number? Search by the number with POST /v2/Companies/search, then create a case passing it in externalCode.
How many registries are connected? Official registries across 147 jurisdictions, covering 100% of legally registered entities in each connected jurisdiction.
Does coverage include offshore jurisdictions? Yes, including the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. See the coverage hub.