Asia • ISO HK
Verify Hong Kong companies via API
Know Your Customer Limited verifies Hong Kong companies live from the ICRIS Companies Registry Cyber Search Centre and IRD Inland Revenue Department Hong Kong, returning company data, controlling parties, shareholders and beneficial owners, and registry documents, with AML screening and ongoing monitoring. Free sandbox available.
What the API returns for Hong Kong
When you create a KYB case for a Hong Kong company, Know Your Customer Limited retrieves data live from the ICRIS Companies Registry Cyber Search Centre and IRD Inland Revenue Department Hong Kong. A single integration returns the company record, the controlling parties and individuals, the shareholders and beneficial owners, and the registry documents, with AML screening on the entity and its associated individuals built into the same case.
Hong Kong data and document availability
What the API makes available for Hong Kong companies:
| Category | Available |
|---|---|
| Company data | Entity Name, Entity Type, Entity Status, Registration Number, Address, Dissolution Date, Important Note, Incorporation Date, Other Names, Previous names, Register of Charges, Remarks, Share capital, Total shares, Winding Up Mode, Former Company Number, Origin Jurisdiction of Incorporation, Business Nature, Creation Date, Business/Branch Name in Chinese, Business/Branch Name in English, Date of Expiry |
| Controlling entities & individuals | Name, Role, Nationality (if individual), National Country ID (if individual), Other Names, Passport Country, Passport Number, Appointed On, Important Note |
| Shareholders & beneficial owners | Name, Role, Address, Share count, Appointed On, ID Card Number, Other Names |
| Documents | Retrieved by default: HK CR Company Particulars, Certificate of Incorporation / Certificate of Incorporation issued in the place of incorporation, Certificate of Change of Name, NSC1 Allotment, Memorandum & Articles of Association, Annual Return (FNAR1) or FNNC1 (Incorporation Form), Electronic Extract of Information on the Business Register, Duplicate of a valid business/branch registration certificate Available on demand: FND2A – Notice of Change of Company Secretary and Director (Appointment/Cessation), FND2B – Notice of Change in Particulars of Company Secretary and Director, FND4 – Notice of Resignation of Company Secretary and Director, FND5 Notice of Change of Reserve Director (Nomination/Cessation), FND7 Notice of Change in Particulars of Reserve Director, FND8 Notice of Resignation of Reserve Director, FNR1 – Notice of Change of Address of Registered Office, FNR2 – Notice of Location of Registers and Company Records, FNAA1 – Notice of Alteration of Company's Articles, Altered Articles of Association, Special resolution, FNNC1G – Incorporation Form (Company Not Limited by Shares), FNN3 – Annual Return of Registered Non-Hong Kong Company, FNN1 – Application for Registration as Registered Non-Hong Kong Company, Certificate of Registration of Change of Corporate Name of Non-Hong Kong Company, Instrument, FNM1 – Statement of Particulars of Charge, Certificate of Registration of Charge, FNM2 – Notification of Payment / Satisfaction of Debt, Release from Charge, etc., FM2 – Memorandum of Satisfaction or Release of Property from Charge, Certified extract of information on the Business Register, Certified copy of a valid business/branch registration certificate |
AML, sanctions, and PEP screening on the entity and its associated individuals, and ongoing live monitoring with change alerts, are available for Hong Kong as part of the same case.
How to verify a Hong Kong company via API
The following example shows the complete flow: authenticate, search the Hong Kong registry, create a KYB case, and retrieve company data and the ownership org-chart. All calls go to the sandbox base URL for testing.
The sandbox at https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev is free. Request access to get your client credentials.
# 1. Authenticate (OAuth2 client credentials)
curl -X POST https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/connect/token \
-d "grant_type=client_credentials" \
-d "client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID" \
-d "client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET" \
-d "scope=PublicApi"
# 2. Search the Hong Kong registry
curl -X POST https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/v2/Companies/search \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name":"Hang Seng Bank Limited","codeiso31662":"HK"}'
# 3. Create a KYB case
curl -X POST https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/v2/Companies \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"rawname":"Hang Seng Bank Limited","codeiso31662":"HK"}'
# 4. Retrieve company data and status
curl https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/v2/Companies/CASE_ID \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"
# 5. Get the beneficial ownership org-chart
curl https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/v2/Companies/CASE_ID/org-chart \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"
Replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID and YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET with your sandbox credentials, and CASE_ID with the caseCommonId returned in step 3.
Frequently asked questions about the Hong Kong KYB API
What company data can I verify in Hong Kong?
For a Hong Kong company, the API returns the company record read live from the ICRIS Companies Registry Cyber Search Centre and IRD Inland Revenue Department Hong Kong: the entity name, type, status, registration number, address, and registration date, along with the controlling parties, the shareholders and beneficial owners, and the available registry documents. See the table above for the full Hong Kong availability.
Does the API return beneficial ownership (UBO) data for Hong Kong companies?
The API resolves the controlling parties, shareholders, and beneficial owners for Hong Kong companies and exposes them as a recursive ownership org-chart (GET /v2/Companies/{caseCommonId}/org-chart), tracing control through holding companies to the individual beneficial owners. The depth available depends on what the ICRIS Companies Registry Cyber Search Centre and IRD Inland Revenue Department Hong Kong discloses. See the UBO API.
Can I retrieve official registry documents for Hong Kong companies?
Yes. The default document set for Hong Kong includes HK CR Company Particulars, Certificate of Incorporation / Certificate of Incorporation issued in the place of incorporation, Certificate of Change of Name, NSC1 Allotment, Memorandum & Articles of Association, Annual Return (FNAR1) or FNNC1 (Incorporation Form), Electronic Extract of Information on the Business Register, Duplicate of a valid business/branch registration certificate, retrieved by default, with additional documents available on demand (FND2A – Notice of Change of Company Secretary and Director (Appointment/Cessation), FND2B – Notice of Change in Particulars of Company Secretary and Director, FND4 – Notice of Resignation of Company Secretary and Director, FND5 Notice of Change of Reserve Director (Nomination/Cessation), FND7 Notice of Change in Particulars of Reserve Director, FND8 Notice of Resignation of Reserve Director, and more). List and download them with the documents endpoint (GET /v2/Companies/{caseCommonId}/documents).
Is there a free sandbox for testing Hong Kong company verification?
Yes. The Know Your Customer sandbox at https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev is a free, high-fidelity test environment. Request free sandbox access to start testing.
The Know Your Customer Limited API covers 147 jurisdictions worldwide, including Hong Kong. One integration, one set of credentials, one response schema across all markets. Browse all covered jurisdictions.
Related coverage: Australia • China • India • Indonesia • Malaysia • Philippines.
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