United Kingdom

Overview

Field	Value
Region	Europe
ISO 3166-1	GB / GBR
Registry	Companies House
Last updated	2026-05-06

Identifiers

Collect two identifiers from each business customer in United Kingdom and submit them as strings on the application body.

API field	Local name	Issuer
`businessInfo.taxId`	Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)	HMRC
`businessInfo.businessEntityId`	Company Registration Number (CRN)	Companies House

Tax ID: 10-digit number; auto-assigned on CT registration; appears on HMRC correspondence. VAT Registration Number (GB + 9 digits; XI prefix for NI–EU trade) is supplementary — collect separately if VAT-registered. Registration number: 8 characters. England & Wales: 8-digit unprefixed (e.g. 01234567). Jurisdiction prefixes: SC (Scotland Ltd), NI (Northern Ireland Ltd), OC (E&W LLP), SO (Scottish LLP), LP (E&W LP), SL (Scottish LP).

Sector regulators

FCA · PRA/Bank of England · HMRC · Ofcom · PSR

Legal structures

Local name	Abbreviation	Description
Public Limited Company	PLC	Share-capital company whose shares may be offered to the public; minimum allotted capital £50,000; subject to FCA Listing Rules if listed on a recognised exchange. Equivalent to a US C-Corp.
Private Company Limited by Shares	Ltd	The dominant SME vehicle with separate legal personality; members’ liability capped at unpaid share amounts; shares are not freely tradable to the public. Equivalent to a US LLC.
Limited Liability Partnership	LLP	Incorporated partnership with separate legal personality and members’ limited liability; governed by an LLP agreement; taxed as a partnership. Equivalent to a US LLP.
Limited Partnership	LP	At least one general partner with unlimited liability and at least one limited partner whose liability is capped at their contribution; registered at Companies House. Equivalent to a US LP.
General Partnership	GP	Two or more persons carrying on business in common with a view to profit; no separate legal personality in England & Wales; all partners bear unlimited liability; registered with HMRC. Equivalent to a US General Partnership.
Sole Trader	—	A single individual trading on their own account; no separate legal entity; registered with HMRC for Self Assessment; unlimited personal liability. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship.
Private Company Limited by Guarantee	Ltd by guarantee	Incorporated company with no share capital; members’ liability limited to a guaranteed amount (typically £1); used by charities, clubs, and associations. Closest US equivalent: Nonprofit Corporation.
Community Interest Company	CIC	Limited company (by shares or guarantee) with an asset lock, requiring profits and assets to benefit the community; registered at Companies House. Closest US equivalent: Public Benefit Corporation.
Charitable Incorporated Organisation	CIO	Incorporated charity registered solely with the Charity Commission (England & Wales) or OSCR (Scotland), not with Companies House; members’ liability limited; no share capital. Closest US equivalent: Nonprofit Corporation (501(c)(3)).
Private Unlimited Company	Unltd	Incorporated company with share capital but no limit on members’ liability; rarely used; main advantage is exemption from filing accounts publicly. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp (with unlimited shareholder liability).
Registered Society (Co-operative or Community Benefit)	—	Incorporated body registered with the FCA under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014; operated for members’ mutual benefit (co-op) or the wider community (bencom); not registered at Companies House. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative.
Overseas Company (UK Establishment)	—	A foreign-incorporated entity that has registered a UK establishment (branch or place of business) with Companies House under the Overseas Companies Regulations 2009; not a separate UK legal entity. Closest US equivalent: Branch/Rep Office.

How documents combine

For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.

Evidence area	Documents needed
Legal Registration	All required: Certificate of Incorporation + Confirmation Statement
Constitutive Documents	Articles of Association
Tax Registration	UTR notification letter
Ownership Records	Confirmation Statement
Governance Records	Companies House Officers Register
Signing Authority	Any one of: Board minute · Written Resolution · Deed-form Power of Attorney
Address	Any one of: Lease Agreement · Utility Bill · Bank Statement

Documents to collect

The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.

Document	Proves
Certificate of Incorporation	Legal Registration
Confirmation Statement (CS01)	Legal Registration, Ownership Records
Articles of Association (+ vestigial Memorandum of Association)	Constitutive Documents
UTR notification letter (HMRC)	Tax Registration
Companies House Officers Register (via Confirmation Statement / Find & Update portal)	Governance Records
Board minute	Signing Authority
Written Resolution (private companies)	Signing Authority
Deed-form Power of Attorney	Signing Authority
Lease Agreement	Address
Utility Bill (≤90 days old)	Address
Bank Statement (≤90 days old)	Address
Sector-Specific License	FCA authorisation, PRA authorisation, HMRC MLR registration, Ofcom licence, ICO registration

Not applicable in United Kingdom: Operating Permit, Good Standing. Skip these areas — no local artifact exists.

Collection notes

Legal Registration: Certificate proves existence and CRN; latest CS01 confirms current officers, PSC entries, and share capital.
Constitutive Documents: The Memorandum of Association was reduced to a subscriber list by the Companies Act 2006; the substantive constitution is in the Articles alone.
Tax Registration: 10-digit UTR; issued by HMRC on CT registration. Collect VAT Certificate (VAT 4) separately if VAT-registered.
Sector-Specific License: Collect whichever apply; FCA Financial Services Register is publicly searchable at register.fca.org.uk.
Ownership Records: The Confirmation Statement (CS01) filed with Companies House includes the current share capital structure and member/shareholder details. Latest CS01 available via Companies House public search.
Governance Records: Lists directors, company secretary (if any); publicly searchable via Companies House.
Signing Authority: Written resolution valid for private companies. Deed execution requires 2 authorised signatories or 1 director + witness.
Address: Conduit accepts a lease (no time limit), utility bill, or bank statement dated within 90 days as proof of address. The same document satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.

Person roles

When you submit a person on the application body, set their role to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.

Local role	Canonical API role	Description
Director	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Appointed officer with day-to-day authority; min. 1 natural person required (CA 2006 s.155).
Designated Member (LLP)	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	At least 2 required per LLPA 2000; responsible for LLP’s statutory filings with Companies House.
General Partner (LP)	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Manages partnership; bears unlimited liability.
Authorised Signatory	`LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE`	Empowered by board resolution or POA to bind the company (CA 2006 s.44).

Additional fields

Country-specific fields you’ll need to collect during onboarding, beyond the document uploads.

Field	Applies to	Reason
`PSC nature-of-control narrative`	shareholder	CA 2006 s.790C + ECCTA 2023 (eff. 2025-11-18) require filings to state which of the five conditions the PSC satisfies.

Notes

PSC threshold is more than 25%, not ≥25%. A holder of exactly 25% does not qualify. The comparator is from CA 2006 Sch. 1A Part 1 — “more than 25 per cent of the voting rights / shares.” Filing bands (25–50%, 50–75%, 75%+) are separate from the qualifying threshold.
No general operating licence. The UK has no equivalent to a Patente, Alvará, or Trading Licence for ordinary commercial activities. Mark Operating Permit as N/A; collect sector-specific regulatory licences via Sector-Specific License.
ECCTA 2023 IDV is live but in transition. Individual directors and PSCs must verify identity with Companies House via GOV.UK One Login or an ACSP (mandatory from 2025-11-18). Existing directors/PSCs have until their next confirmation statement (transition window ends ~2026-11-18). Corporate directors and officers of corporate PSCs deferred to 2026–2027.
Companies House does not issue a Certificate of Good Standing. It issues a “summary statement” certifying continuous existence. Counterparties requesting a “Good Standing” certificate should be directed to this instrument; do not request a non-existent document.
PSR consolidation into FCA. The PSR is being abolished; functions transferring to FCA. Requires primary legislation; government will legislate “as soon as parliamentary time allows” (HMT consultation response, 2026-04-21). No transition date has been announced. For payments-sector customers, cross-check both PSR and FCA registers during transition.

Overview

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Asia-Pacific

Overview

Identifiers

Sector regulators

Legal structures

How documents combine

Documents to collect

Collection notes

Person roles

Additional fields

Notes

​Overview

​Identifiers

​Sector regulators

​Legal structures

​How documents combine

​Documents to collect

​Collection notes

​Person roles

​Additional fields

​Notes

Overview

Identifiers

Sector regulators

Legal structures

How documents combine

Documents to collect

Collection notes

Person roles

Additional fields

Notes