KYB (know your business)
Also called know your business, business verification.
Checking a business customer: that it legally exists, who owns and controls it, and how risky it is.
Last updated
What it is.
KYB is KYC for companies. It confirms the company is registered, checks its details, and identifies the people behind it. In the US, FinCEN's rule in 31 CFR 1010.230 requires covered financial institutions to identify and verify the beneficial owners of legal entity customers: each person who owns 25% or more of the equity, and one person with significant control, such as a chief executive or chief financial officer.
Each of those people then goes through KYC, sanctions screening and PEP checks.
Why it matters
Shell companies are a common way to hide who is really behind money. For B2B fintech products, such as business accounts, payment acceptance and payouts, KYB is what onboarding looks like, and it is often slower and more manual than consumer KYC.
In a product build
A KYB flow needs screens for ownership structures, document upload, registry lookups and a reviewer view, which is usually more complex than consumer KYC.
Common mistakes.
- 01
Stopping at the company name and never identifying the people behind it.
- 02
Missing indirect owners who hold their stake through another company.
- 03
Never re-checking when ownership changes.
Read the official text.
Primary sources this definition is based on.
- 31 CFR 1010.230, Beneficial ownership requirements (eCFR)checked 2026-10-25
Work it out with a tool.
Related terms.
- KYC (know your customer)The checks a regulated business runs to confirm a customer is who they say they are and to judge the risk they pose.
- AML (anti-money laundering)The laws, checks and controls that stop criminals from moving or hiding illegal money through financial services.
- Sanctions screeningChecking customers, counterparties and payments against government sanctions lists before letting money move.
- PEP (politically exposed person)Someone who holds or held a prominent public role, or a family member or close associate of one, treated as higher risk for corruption.
