KYB by Entity Type and Jurisdiction

🛂 Every business we verify answers the same core questions, but the documents that satisfy them, and the follow-ups you'll get, depend on where you're registered and what kind of entity you are.

This guide is the companion to Complete Business Verification (KYB). That article walks you through the process everyone goes through. This one is about what's different for you: which version of each document fits your entity type, the follow-up questions that tend to come up, and how long verification has typically taken for businesses like yours.

Verification has typically taken 8–11 calendar days from submission to approval. How quickly you reply to our follow-up requests is the single biggest factor.

This guide covers four common entity types:

• UAE limited company

• Cayman company

• Swiss AG

• Swiss foundation.

If yours isn't listed, use the closest match as your guide and contact support about anything that doesn't fit.

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How long it takes

⏱️ Verification has typically taken 8–11 calendar days from submission to approval.

These are observed ranges from the businesses we've verified so far rather than a fixed commitment: the more layers there are between your company and the people who ultimately own it, the longer it tends to take.

What sets the pace is how quickly you reply to our follow-up requests. The businesses verified fastest answered each request the same day they received it.

Here's how it has gone for the entity types we've verified so far:

Entity type	Jurisdiction	Typical time to approval	What we asked for
Limited company	🇰🇾 Cayman Islands	~11 days	• Operating address confirmation • source of funds • ownership chart • licensed-partner clarification
Limited company (holding-company owners)	🇦🇪 UAE	~9 days	• Business description in place of a website • ownership chain through holding companies • proof of address
Corporation (AG)	🇨🇭 Switzerland	~8 days	• Ownership chart of the parent • operating address confirmation • source of funds
Foundation (Stiftung, nonprofit)	🇨🇭 Switzerland	~8 days	• Written explanation in place of the shareholders question • date of birth • a proof of address dated within 90 days

A directly-owned company is typically approved in about a week. A company held through two holding companies, or one with no shareholders at all, usually takes a few days longer.

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Requests for Information (RFIs)

After you submit, we review everything you've sent. If something is missing or unclear, we come back with a Request for Information (RFI): a request for one more document, or a quick clarification.

Getting one is completely normal. Every business we've verified so far received at least one.

RFIs are sent by email, to the address you signed up with. If you're expecting one, check your spam or junk folder as well, then reply on the same email thread with the document or clarification requested.

• These emails are sent from [e-mail]

Which RFIs you receive depends on your entity type and where you're registered. A foundation gets asked about shareholders it doesn't have. A Cayman company gets asked about its registered-agent address. A company owned through holding companies gets asked to prove the chain.

These are the ones we see most often:

Common RFI	Why it happens	What to include
"Your operating address looks like a registered agent or virtual address"	The address matches a known agent/virtual-office list	Send a lease or utility bill for your real office, or tell us up front that you're remote and give a control person's residential proof
"Provide a signed ownership structure chart"	One of your owners is a company	Attach the chart with your first submission
"Provide documentation evidencing ownership of the holding entities"	Your ownership runs through one or more holding companies	Send each holding company's register or articles, plus a UBO declaration
"Provide a document confirming shareholders and percentages"	Your entity has no share capital (foundations, nonprofits)	Send your commercial register extract with a short written explanation
"Provide a recent proof of address"	Your document is older than 90 days	Get a fresh copy before you submit
"Provide source-of-funds evidence"	Your description alone wasn't enough	Keep audited financials, a statement or a tax return to hand
"Confirm your website / business description"	You didn't give us a website	Tick "no website" and write a specific, plain-language description of what you do
"Confirm your licensed partners"	Your terms mention regulated partners	Be ready to name them and attach the agreement

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The documents, explained

• 📄 Formation document → what proves your company legally exists

  This is the document filed with your company registry when your entity was created. It needs to show your legal entity name and registration number.

  Depending on where you're registered, yours may be called:

  • 🇦🇪 UAE

    • Certificate of incorporation (plus trade licence, where issued)

  • 🇰🇾 Cayman

    • Certificate of incorporation

  • 🇨🇭 Switzerland (AG/GmbH)

    • Certificate/Articles of incorporation

  • 🇨🇭 Switzerland (Stiftung)

    • Deed of incorporation, notarized.

      • Foundations do not receive a "certificate", so submit the deed wherever a certificate is requested.

• 🧾 Ownership evidence → who owns the company

  A document from an official source, or signed by one of your officers, showing your shareholders and their percentages.

  • Register of members / shareholder register — if you're a limited company or an AG, this is the one we'll expect.

  • Commercial register extract — for Swiss entities. If you're a foundation, this replaces the shareholder register entirely, since you have no share capital or cap table.

  • Cap table — fine if you don't have a formal register.

  • Memorandum / Articles of Association — use this to show the sole shareholder of a holding company.

• 🗺️ Ownership structure chart → how ownership flows up to real people

  A signed, dated chart showing every intermediary and ultimate owner with their percentages, all the way up to the individuals at the top.

  If your company is owned by another company — a holding company, a parent, or any group structure — you will almost certainly be asked for this. Sending it with your first submission usually saves you an entire round of follow-ups.

  If a holding company sits in your chain, add a UBO declaration as well: a signed statement confirming that a named person is the ultimate beneficial owner of a named entity.

• 👤 UBOs, control persons and signers → the people behind the business

  • UBO (ultimate beneficial owner) — anyone who owns or controls 25% or more of your business. You only need to list people at or above that threshold, and their percentages don't have to add up to 100%. Use whole numbers.

  • Control person — someone with significant responsibility to manage or direct your business: your CEO, a director, a managing officer. You need at least one.

  • Signer — someone authorized to approve transactions. You need at least one here too.

  For each of them, have ready: full legal name, title, date of birth, residential address, photo ID, and tax ID where applicable.

💡 If your UBOs aren't officers of the entity — common if you're a subsidiary or owned by a foundation — you'll need to nominate a separate control person and signer who is.

• 🏢 Proof of address → where the business actually operates

  A lease agreement or utility bill in your entity's name, dated within the last 90 days.

  Common reasons we follow up:

  • You've given a registered agent, PO box or virtual office address — these addresses prompt a follow-up request.

  • The lease is in a parent or sister company's name — we can't accept it for the entity you're verifying.

  • The document is older than 90 days — we'll request a more recent copy.

  If you're fully remote with no physical office, we can normally accept proof of residential address for one of your control persons. Just tell us that's the case rather than submitting a registered-agent address.

• 💰 Source of funds → where the money comes from

  You'll pick a primary source (for example, sales of goods and services, or investment income), describe it in a sentence, and give your estimated annual revenue plus the volume you expect to send and receive each month.

  If we ask for a supporting document, send one of these:

  • Audited financial statements

  • Recent bank or brokerage account statement

  • Tax return

  Make sure it's recent — the 90-day rule applies here too.

• ✅ Evidence of good standing

  Anything that shows your entity is active and authorized to operate: a certificate of good standing, a recent registry extract, a recent official filing, or, if you're a subsidiary, a signed parent funding commitment.

• 🇪🇺 EEA required information

  If this applies to you, we'll ask: "Are you registered with any foreign tax authorities outside of your incorporation country?" Answer yes or no, and have the registration details to hand if the answer is yes.

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What's different, by jurisdiction and entity type

Find the column that matches your entity and read down it. Everything else on this page is the explanation behind these cells.

Requirement	🇦🇪 UAE → limited company	🇰🇾 Cayman → limited liability company	🇨🇭 Switzerland → AG/GmbH	🇨🇭 Switzerland → foundation (Stiftung)
Formation document	Certificate of incorporation (+ trade licence)	Certificate of incorporation	Certificate/Articles of incorporation	Deed of incorporation (notarized; often bilingual DE/EN)
Ownership evidence	Register of members for each holding company + UBO declaration	Register of members	Shareholder register	Commercial register extract (no shareholder register or cap table exists)
Ownership structure chart	Required; ownership runs through holding companies	Required; signed and dated	Required whenever a parent entity owns the company	Not applicable; just be ready to tell us why in writing
Beneficial owners	The individuals behind each holding company	Direct individual owners	UBOs of the parent; add a separate control person/signer if UBOs aren't officers	Foundation council members are treated as the UBO equivalent
Proof of address	Signed lease for the physical office	Lease or utility bill; if it's a registered-agent address we'll ask you to confirm the operating address	Lease in the entity's own name, or commercial register extract	Lease agreement for the operating address
Source of funds	Description + statement if requested	Account statement requested	Audited financials, brokerage statement or tax return	Audit report
EEA question	Not asked	Not asked	Not asked	Asked
Typical time to approval	~9 days	~11 days	~8 days	~8 days

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Example: an entity with no shareholders

🧩 Foundations, associations, nonprofits and similar entities have no share capital and no owners, so the questions about shareholders and ownership percentages simply don't apply to you.

Here's what to submit instead:

1. Send your registry extract instead of a shareholder register. Wherever ownership evidence is requested, upload your commercial or foundation register extract. It's the official record of who controls your entity.

2. List your council, board or trustees as the controlling persons. They take the place of beneficial owners. Give each one's full legal name, title, date of birth and residential address.

3. Nominate at least one control person and one signer from that group, someone who can act for the entity and approve transactions.

4. Add one line of explanation. Something like: "Our entity is a foundation. It has no shareholders, share capital or ownership percentages. The foundation council listed above holds control."

5. Skip the ownership structure chart unless another company sits above you. Just say so in writing rather than leaving the field blank.

That one line of explanation is normally all we need to close the question, no extra documents required.