Europe • ISO GB
Verify United Kingdom companies via API
Know Your Customer Limited verifies United Kingdom companies live from the Companies House, 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 United Kingdom
When you create a KYB case for a United Kingdom company, Know Your Customer Limited retrieves data live from the Companies House. 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.
United Kingdom data and document availability
What the API makes available for United Kingdom companies:
| Category | Available |
|---|---|
| Company data | Entity Name, Entity Type, Entity Status, Registration Number, Address, Creation Date, Activity Type |
| Controlling entities & individuals | Name, Role, Nationality (if individual), Address, Birth Date (if individual), Appointed on, Occupations |
| Shareholders & beneficial owners | Name, Share count, Role, Address (if available) |
| Documents | Retrieved by default: New Incorporation, CS01, Annual Return, Form SH01 Return of Allotment of Shares, Form SH03 Notify a purchase of own shares, Form SH06 Notify a cancellation of shares, Accounts, Certificate of Change of Name Available on demand: CH01 – Director's details changed, CH03 – Secretary's details changed, AP01 – Appointment, AP03 – Appointment, TM01 – Termination of appointment, TM02 – Termination of appointment, Memorandum and Articles of Association, SH08 – Change of share class name or designation, AD01 – Registered office address changed, MR04 – Satisfaction of charge, MR01 – Registration of charge, AA01 – Previous accounting period extended, Resolutions, PSC01 – Notice of Individual PSC, PSC07 – Notice of ceasing to be a PSC, PSC04 – Change of individual PSC details |
AML, sanctions, and PEP screening on the entity and its associated individuals, and ongoing live monitoring with change alerts, are available for United Kingdom as part of the same case.
How to verify a United Kingdom company via API
The following example shows the complete flow: authenticate, search the United Kingdom 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 United Kingdom registry
curl -X POST https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/v2/Companies/search \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name":"HSBC Holdings plc","codeiso31662":"GB"}'
# 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":"HSBC Holdings plc","codeiso31662":"GB"}'
# 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 United Kingdom KYB API
What company data can I verify in United Kingdom?
For a United Kingdom company, the API returns the company record read live from the Companies House: 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 United Kingdom availability.
Does the API return beneficial ownership (UBO) data for United Kingdom companies?
The API resolves the controlling parties, shareholders, and beneficial owners for United Kingdom 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 Companies House discloses. See the UBO API.
Can I retrieve official registry documents for United Kingdom companies?
Yes. The default document set for United Kingdom includes New Incorporation, CS01, Annual Return, Form SH01 Return of Allotment of Shares, Form SH03 Notify a purchase of own shares, Form SH06 Notify a cancellation of shares, Accounts, Certificate of Change of Name, retrieved by default, with additional documents available on demand (CH01 – Director's details changed, CH03 – Secretary's details changed, AP01 – Appointment, AP03 – Appointment, TM01 – Termination of appointment, TM02 – Termination of appointment, and more). List and download them with the documents endpoint (GET /v2/Companies/{caseCommonId}/documents).
Is there a free sandbox for testing United Kingdom 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 United Kingdom. One integration, one set of credentials, one response schema across all markets. Browse all covered jurisdictions.
Related coverage: Aaland Islands • Albania • Austria • Belarus • Belgium • Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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