Full role taxonomy
Every key person can hold one or more of these roles:Governance / representation
| Role | Description |
|---|---|
director | Board member with governance responsibilities |
non_executive_director | Board member without day-to-day management duties |
chairman | Chair of the board |
secretary | Company secretary handling administrative and compliance duties |
representative | Legal or appointed representative of the company |
authorized_signatory | Person empowered to sign on behalf of the company |
trustee | Trustee of a structure holding company interests |
company_officer | General officer role |
founder | Founding member of the company |
legal_advisor | Retained legal counsel for the company |
other | Any role outside the standard taxonomy |
Ownership / beneficiary
| Role | Description |
|---|---|
ubo | Ultimate Beneficial Owner — individual who ultimately owns or controls the company |
shareholder | Registered shareholder (individual or corporate) |
beneficiary | Beneficiary of a trust or similar structure |
settlor | Settlor of a trust |
protector | Protector of a trust |
investor | Investor role (outside formal share ownership structures) |
Multi-role records
Each key person record includes a list of roles, each with its own ownership/voting percentages where relevant. This is how a director-plus-shareholder looks in the response:KYC linking
Every key person can be linked to an individual User Verification (KYC) session. The linking happens automatically when the role’s workflow settings require KYC — the system spawns the child KYC session, emails the person their verification link (if that option is enabled), and tracks status back on the party. See Ownership → How role settings drive verification for the full routing logic. For the B2C-safe KYC status values surfaced on each party (Approved, Declined, Pending), see the response schema.
AML screening
Every identified key person is automatically screened against global AML watchlists as part of the business verification process. PEP matches are especially relevant for governance roles — directors and signatories of regulated companies often surface on PEP lists. See Business AML screening.Requires-verification flag
Each party carries arequires_verification flag that tells you whether the workflow demands KYC for that person:
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
true | KYC must complete for this person before the session can approve. |
false | Person is identified and AML-screened but does not need individual KYC. |
- Directors and UBOs above the workflow’s threshold →
requires_verification: true. - Authorized signatories and secretaries → optional.
- Non-executive board members → optional.
Skipping a key person
If a person cannot be verified (deceased, unreachable, historical), they can be marked withis_skipped: true — either by the end user in the hosted flow (if the role’s settings allow skipping) or by an analyst from the console. Skipped parties are excluded from the verification gate but still surface in the response for audit.
Cross-referencing across sources
Data about each key person can come from three places, and the console shows all three side-by-side:- Registry records — what the official registry disclosed.
- User-submitted — what the business admin confirmed or added in the Key People flow.
- Uploaded documents — names extracted via OCR from articles of association, shareholder registers, or power-of-attorney documents.
Effect on the Business entity
Linking a key person to a User entity via KYC creates a lasting relationship on the Business entity. You can then:- See every business each person serves in a governance or ownership role.
- Propagate a User’s status changes (flagged, blocked) into businesses where they serve as a key person.
- Run ongoing AML monitoring on each linked person independent of any specific KYB session.
Next steps
Key people
The full Key People flow.
Ownership
UBO identification and ownership chains.
AML
Company and person AML screening.