Definition
Know Your Business (KYB) is the process of verifying a corporate client — confirming the company exists, checking registry records, and identifying the natural persons who ultimately own or control it. It is the business-entity counterpart to KYC, and in Ireland it sits at the heart of customer due diligence on companies, partnerships and trusts.
What it is
Know Your Business (KYB) is the set of checks a firm runs when its client is an entity rather than an individual. Where KYC verifies a person's identity, KYB verifies the business: that the company genuinely exists, that its registered details match what the client claims, and — critically — who the natural persons behind it are. A typical KYB workflow covers company registry data, the ownership structure, the identification of beneficial owners, and screening of the entity and its controllers.
Why it matters for Irish firms
Irish designated persons — accountants, solicitors, estate agents, TCSPs and others regulated under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 — take on corporate clients constantly, and a corporate shell is a classic way to hide the individuals behind a transaction. In Ireland, KYB has a concrete statutory anchor: since April 2021, a designated person must obtain an extract from the Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO) before entering a new business relationship with a corporate client, and must report any discrepancy between the register and what its own due diligence finds. A KYB file that stops at the certificate of incorporation is not a complete file — it should trace the ownership chain to the individuals at the top and show the comparison against the register.
What changes under the AMLR
From 10 July 2027, Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR) becomes the directly applicable rulebook for customer due diligence across the EU. For KYB, the headline is harmonisation: a single EU-wide beneficial ownership test of 25% or more, direct or indirect, applied identically in every member state. The AMLR also lowers the occasional-transaction CDD threshold to 10,000 euro and formally recognises eIDAS-aligned electronic identification, pointing towards more digital, less paper-based verification. Firms whose KYB procedures still cite CJA 2010 thresholds and terminology will need a refresh before the application date.
Where CompliDesk fits
CompliDesk Ireland builds KYB into onboarding — entity checks, a guided RBO extract workflow and beneficial ownership mapping in one place — see the AMLR explainer for what changes on 10 July 2027.
General information, not legal advice. This definition provides general information about EU and Irish anti-money-laundering requirements. Regulatory detail is still evolving through 2026–27 — verify against primary sources (EUR-Lex, AMLA, and your sector’s Irish supervisor) and seek qualified advice before acting.