Executive Summary
Identifying the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO), the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity, is the cornerstone of modern Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Business (KYB) compliance programs. As financial crimes and regulatory scrutiny intensify, finding solutions that offer accurate, audit-ready, and global UBO data is critical for financial institutions, regulated entities, and large enterprises. This comparison highlights top UBO data vendors, focusing on compliance-grade intelligence rather than general sales prospecting tools, to help you reduce risk, accelerate onboarding, and maintain full regulatory compliance.
Market & Regional Context
UBO legislation is increasingly standardized by bodies like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which sets global standards for UBO identification. Still, interpretation and enforcement vary significantly by jurisdiction, requiring providers to pull from hundreds of official corporate and beneficial ownership registers worldwide.
Key Contextual Points for 2025:
- Audit Readiness: Regulators are now fining institutions for having weak AML systems, even without proven money laundering cases. This makes provenance metadata essential, which allows compliance teams to trace every UBO record back to an official filing.
- Thresholds: The common standard for defining a UBO is an individual who holds 25% of ownership or control. However, providers must also identify control through other mechanisms, such as veto power or board seats.
- Global Reach: As of 2025, 149 countries have implemented UBO verification requirements, demanding truly global coverage to navigate international corporate structures.
Evaluation Methodology
We curated this list by prioritizing providers specializing in Regulatory Technology (RegTech) and deep risk intelligence. Our selection specifically avoided general B2B sales intelligence platforms to focus on compliance depth. We weighted vendors based on the following factors:
- Data Provenance & Auditability: The explicit ability to show the source lineage of the UBO data.
- Depth of Corporate Linkage: Capabilities for untangling complex, multi-layered, and cross-border ownership structures.
- Data Delivery Model: Flexibility between real-time transactional APIs and large-scale, cost-effective bulk enrichment.
Comparison Table: Best UBO Database Providers
Provider |
Coverage |
Format |
Update Cadence |
Integrations |
Pricing |
Best for |
Limitations |
Source(s) |
InfobelPRO |
375M+ companies, 220+ countries |
Bulk export, API, SaaS |
Continuous, registry-linked |
CRM, SaaS, Compliance Platforms |
Flexible, Volume-Based Licensing |
Bulk UBO enrichment for enterprises and compliance teams needing scale |
Requires integration effort; less self-serve than prospecting tools |
Official Registries, 100+ public sources |
Moody's Orbis |
580M+ entities, 200+ jurisdictions |
API, Web Portal |
Ongoing, Registry-linked |
Risk Suites, APIs |
Enterprise License ($20K+ annually) |
Banks, Audit Firms, and global corporate compliance needing deepest company intelligence |
High cost; platform-heavy for non-enterprise users |
Official Filings, Corporate Disclosures |
Kyckr |
300+ live registries, 120+ countries |
Real-time API, Web Portal |
Instant, Registry-based |
Compliance APIs |
Pay-per-use, Volume Tiers |
Fintechs and RegTech builders requiring real-time, on-demand registry data |
Focus is on data delivery, not internal case management |
Government Registries |
Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) |
190+ countries |
API, SaaS, ERP Integrations |
Mixed (daily to less frequent) |
ERP, CRMs, Risk Systems |
Premium Subscription ($25K+ annually) |
Large enterprises and regulated institutions leveraging the D-U-N-S® Number system |
High cost; full source transparency is not always provided |
Proprietary + Registries |
Trulioo |
100+ countries |
API, Platform |
Real-time |
Fintech, SaaS |
Pay-per-transaction |
Onboarding and digital-first businesses needing combined KYC/KYB in one flow |
Coverage depth of official European registries is limited |
Partner Data, Registries |
Global Database |
300M+ companies |
API, Platform |
Continuous |
CRM, Analytics |
Flexible Licensing |
Firms needing flexible licensing and real-time registry data for AML/KYB onboarding |
May require custom buildout compared to all-in-one platforms |
Government Registries |
InfobelPRO's Distinction in the UBO Market
InfobelPRO Distinction: Unlike SaaS-style tools that emphasize per-record exports or contact-level data for sales teams, InfobelPRO focuses on bulk data licensing and API integration for database enrichment. This is the most cost-effective model for compliance teams needing to continuously screen or enrich all their existing client records at scale. This strategy helps organizations accelerate KYC/AML compliance, reduce onboarding time from weeks to days, and lower operational costs.
Vendor Deep Dive (Top 5)
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InfobelPRO
InfobelPRO is one of the most established KYB data providers, delivering verified business intelligence with coverage of over 375 million companies across 220+ countries. It provides a full ownership chain, with transparent provenance metadata for every data point, which is crucial for audit readiness. It is best suited for enterprises, SaaS platforms, and compliance teams that need to integrate and use data at scale. -
Moody's Orbis (Bureau van Dijk)
Orbis is widely regarded as the gold standard for enterprise KYB, specializing in deep company hierarchies and standardized financials. It aggregates official registry data from over 200 jurisdictions, making it a critical resource for risk modeling and UBO analysis for banks and auditors. Its strength lies in its highly structured and comparable data.
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Kyckr
Kyckr’s core value is instant, live access to over 300 official company registers in 120+ countries. This real-time, registry-based data is ideal for rapid client onboarding where up-to-the-second ownership verification is mandatory. Its API-first, pay-per-use model makes it highly appealing to FinTechs and RegTech solution builders who need verified, auditable data on demand.
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Dun & Bradstreet (D&B)
D&B is a trusted, established name in corporate data, offering extensive global company coverage. Its KYB solutions integrate credit risk and corporate hierarchy data, making it a natural fit for large enterprises already using their D-U-N-S® Number system for risk management and supply chain workflows.
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Trulioo
Trulioo is best known for its global identity verification platform, specializing in real-time verification for digital-first businesses. It is strong for combined Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) processes, allowing companies to validate both individuals and entities in one smooth workflow.
Use Case Guidance
Choosing the right UBO provider is directly related to your compliance needs:
- Sanctions Screening & Fraud Detection: UBO data is vital for incorporating ownership ties into sanctions screening, as shell companies are often used for evasion. UBO analysis can also prevent procurement fraud by detecting shared ownership across different vendors.
- Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD): For high-risk clients, UBO data flags ownership ties to high-risk jurisdictions or Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), supporting additional review before onboarding.
- Scale and Cost: For mass data cleanup or CRM enrichment, providers like InfobelPRO offer the scalability and bulk delivery models that keep per-record costs low.
- Speed: For digital client onboarding, Kyckr's instant registry-access model can significantly reduce the typical onboarding time of 26 days to approximately one week.
FAQ Section
- Is the UBO always a natural person?
Yes, the Ultimate Beneficial Owner is always defined as the natural person (a human being) who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity. This individual may be hidden behind layers of trusts, shell companies, or nominee shareholders. - How can UBO data help me pass a regulatory audit?
UBO data helps you pass an audit by proving you followed compliance procedures and used independent and reliable sources. Providers who offer attribute-level lineage (provenance metadata) for every UBO record speed up the audit process by proving the data source to the regulator. - What is the difference between KYC and KYB?
KYC (Know Your Customer) focuses on verifying individuals, such as a customer or director. KYB (Know Your Business) validates the entire business entity, which includes the critical step of verifying the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO).
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