Reference file · 13 answers
Counterparty verification and due diligence FAQ
Direct answers on counterparty verification, sanctions screening, cost, coverage, turnaround and the legal limits of what these reports can be used for.
Scope and coverage
01 / 7- What is counterparty verification?
- Counterparty verification is the process of establishing who a company or person really is before you enter a commercial relationship. It combines legal identity and registry checks with ownership research, global sanctions screening, politically exposed person checks, adverse media research and a documented source log. Scrutinex turns those checks into a plain-English report for the decision in front of you.
- What is a due diligence report?
- A due diligence report is a written assessment of a counterparty prepared before you commit to a transaction. It verifies that the company or person exists as claimed, establishes who controls them, screens them against sanctions and politically exposed person lists, checks for offshore and litigation exposure, and states what the findings mean for your decision. A Scrutinex report also lists every source consulted and the date it was checked.
- How do I verify a business partner in another country?
- Start with three data points: the legal name, the jurisdiction of registration and the registration number. With those you can check the corporate registry directly. Then screen the entity and its named officers against the OFAC, UN Security Council and EU sanctions lists, check the ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database for offshore links, and search local-language media. Scrutinex performs all of these in one Entity Report if you would rather not assemble them yourself.
- What is a KYB check?
- KYB stands for Know Your Business. It is the entity equivalent of KYC: confirming a company's legal existence and registration status, identifying its directors and beneficial owners, and screening those parties against sanctions and PEP lists. KYB platforms are usually sold to regulated firms onboarding many customers. If you need to verify one counterparty once, a single company verification report covers the same ground without a subscription.
- Which sanctions lists do you screen against?
- Every report screens against the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals list and OFAC consolidated non-SDN lists (United States), the UN Security Council Consolidated List, and the EU Consolidated List of persons, groups and entities subject to financial sanctions. We screen all three on every report because designations differ between them: a party absent from one list is regularly present on another.
- Is a due diligence report useful for a government contract or an MOU?
- Yes, and the record that you performed diligence matters as much as the finding. For public-sector work we verify the counterparty entity, screen named officials against PEP and sanctions lists, and note the authority-to-sign question explicitly. A PEP match in government work is an indicator to assess, not automatically a red flag, and the report says which one it is.
- Do you cover countries outside the United States and Europe?
- Yes. Scrutinex is built for global work, including jurisdictions where registry data is thin or not digitised. Where a record does not exist or is not public, the report says so explicitly and names the source we checked and the date. We would rather record a documented gap than imply coverage we do not have.
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Pricing and process
02 / 4- How much does a due diligence report cost?
- Scrutinex reports cost between $99 and $469. An Entity Report is $99 for Standard or $289 for Full review. An Individual Report is $119 for Standard or $329 for Full review. A Combined Report covering both a person and a company, with a cross-reference between them, is $169 Standard or $469 Full. Standard reports pay immediately at checkout, by secure Stripe payment, and are refunded in full within one business day if we cannot cover the jurisdiction. Full reports are confirmed by email before payment. There is no contract, no subscription and no minimum order.
- How long does a report take?
- Standard reports are delivered in 2 business days and Full analyst-reviewed reports in 5 business days. Jurisdictions with paper-only or fee-gated registries can take longer, and we tell you before starting rather than after.
- What information do you need from me to start?
- The subject's full legal name plus at least one hard identifier. For a company that means a registration number and the jurisdiction of incorporation. For a person it means a date of birth or a nationality. Without an identifier, sanctions screening returns name matches rather than a verified subject, so we require one before submission. You also tell us the purpose of the report so the recommendations address your actual decision.
- What if you find nothing?
- A clean report is a result. It tells you the entity is registered and active, that its officers are identifiable, and that no sanctions, PEP, offshore or adverse media exposure was found in the sources listed, as at the dates shown. That is a documented basis for proceeding, and it is worth having in the file if the arrangement is ever reviewed.
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Use and confidentiality
03 / 2- Can I use this report to screen a job candidate or a tenant?
- No. Scrutinex reports are commercial due diligence products, not consumer reports under the US Fair Credit Reporting Act or equivalent legislation elsewhere. They contain no criminal records and no credit data, and Scrutinex is not a consumer reporting agency. They may not be used for employment, tenancy, credit or insurance decisions. We ask your purpose at intake and decline orders in those categories.
- Will the subject know I ordered a report?
- No. Orders are confidential. We do not contact the subject of a report and we do not disclose that a report has been ordered. The one exception is reference verification on a Full Individual Report, where we call referees you have supplied, which necessarily involves contacting those named individuals.
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Order a report
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