What our US company report includes
Our US reports draw on sources including the relevant Secretary of State register, federal IRS EIN data, the SEC EDGAR system (for public companies), UCC filings, federal and state court records, and bankruptcy court (PACER) data; fees may apply for certain records. In the United States, company records are held at state level by each state's Secretary of State, with federal layers (SEC EDGAR, UCC filings, PACER court records) adding further data; there is no public IRS register of Employer Identification Numbers, so an EIN is captured only where the company has disclosed it (for example on SEC filings). Coverage of any individual source depends on what the subject company has filed and what is publicly accessible at the time of the search. Instant online reports return all available registry and public-record data; investigated reports add direct in-country enquiry.
Identity & registration
- ✓ State of incorporation and filing number
- ✓ Federal Employer ID Number (EIN, where disclosed)
- ✓ Entity type (C-Corp, S-Corp, LLC, LP, LLP, PC)
- ✓ Formation date, principal address, registered agent
People & ownership
- ✓ Officers, directors, managing members
- ✓ Parent / subsidiary / affiliate relationships (where available)
- ✓ Public-company ownership (SEC filings)
- ✓ FinCEN BOI status (where applicable) (case-specific)
Financial & trading
- ✓ SEC-filed financials (public companies)
- ✓ NAICS / SIC business classification
- ✓ Risk indicator and calculated credit limit
Risk & public records
- ✓ Federal and state court judgements
- ✓ Bankruptcy filings (Chapter 7, 11, 13)
- ✓ UCC filings (secured creditor exposure)
Note on US data: private US companies are not required to publish accounts. Detailed financials are available for SEC-registered (public) entities only. For private LLCs and corporations, an investigated report can include a request to the company for financial data and, where appropriate, for trade or bank references, supplementary information the company may consent to provide or may decline.
Why verify a US company?
The United States has the world's largest economy and the broadest set of public registry and court data on companies. Every limited entity is registered with a state Secretary of State; federal court records and bankruptcy filings are searchable through PACER; the SEC publishes detailed filings for every public company through EDGAR; UCC filings record secured creditor positions against business assets; and OFAC maintains the most-used sanctions list in international trade. For a developed market, the volume of structured public information is exceptional.
The complication is fragmentation. There is no national company register: incorporation is a state-level function and a US business may be incorporated in Delaware, headquartered in California, with operating subsidiaries in Texas, Florida and New York. To verify the entity properly you need to know which state's records hold the data, which other states the company is qualified to do business in, and how the operating reality maps onto that legal structure.
The second complication is financial opacity for private companies. Unlike most European or Asian jurisdictions, US private companies, including very large LLCs and S-Corps, are not required to publish accounts. For a privately held counterparty, an instant registry search will confirm legal existence, status and ownership structure, but it will not give you a P&L. For credit and procurement decisions on private entities, an investigated report is often the right tool: our agents research the available records and can ask the company directly for supplementary information (which may include financial data or trade and bank references) which the company may consent to provide or may decline.
Risk patterns that can be presented in US reports can include forfeited or administratively dissolved entities still actively soliciting business; UCC filings showing significant secured creditor exposure ahead of new trade credit; OFAC sanctions matches on related parties; Chapter 11 reorganisation history; and registered-agent-only addresses with no operating presence. Information may be accessed on a case-specific basis. Records are held on multiple disparate state, federal, and judicial databases, and fees may apply for access. Each of these is a meaningful signal for a buyer, lender or partner.