KYBIX launches business identity platform for banks

KYBIX has launched a Know Your Business platform for regulated financial institutions. The business is backed by Euroclear and Liminal.

The platform is intended to address the repeated collection and recertification of business information in financial services. Banks and other institutions must gather, verify and update data on corporate customers during onboarding and periodic reviews.

KYB, the compliance process used to verify companies and their ownership structures, has become more complex as institutions face tighter regulatory expectations, fragmented information sources and customers with multilayered corporate structures. As a result, firms must collect and maintain more data throughout the life of a client relationship.

KYBIX is entering that market with a model centred on reusable business identity information. Its platform combines public registry data, application programming interface feeds and information provided directly by businesses in a secure environment where data can be requested, approved, refreshed and shared across trusted relationships.

The group is a portfolio company of Euroclear and is backed by Liminal, the venture studio founded by Temasek. It is building on Euroclear's GlobalWatch platform and network as it looks to sell to financial institutions and multinational companies.

Manual burden

Much of the burden in KYB comes after a customer has already been onboarded. Firms must revisit records, request updated documents and repeat checks to ensure information remains accurate. This can create heavy operational workloads for compliance teams and duplicate effort for clients.

KYBIX says its platform is designed to reduce that repetition by keeping business profiles current and allowing verified information to be reused with permission. It also brings together information exchange, questionnaires, third-party connectivity and decision support in one system, while retaining human oversight.

The launch comes as financial institutions look for ways to manage compliance work with fewer manual steps. Repeated requests for the same company records have long been a source of friction between banks and corporate customers, particularly when multiple institutions collect similar information separately.

Chief Executive Officer Ingo Ernst said the existing system has struggled to keep pace with the demands placed on firms.

"KYB has remained too fragmented and manual for too long. Financial institutions are being asked to understand their customers in greater detail and keep that information current throughout the relationship, but the infrastructure supporting that work has not kept pace," Ernst said.

Ernst set out the company's longer-term goal for the platform.

"KYBIX is building a trusted global network for business identity information, combining AI-powered technology with the established network and financial infrastructure expertise of Euroclear. Our ambition is to make trusted business information easier to maintain and securely reuse, creating the foundations for a shift from periodic reviews towards perpetual KYB," Ernst said.

Backers and model

Euroclear's involvement gives the new venture support from an established financial market infrastructure provider with longstanding links to regulated institutions. Liminal brings venture-building support and access to technology networks in Asia.

The company is led by Ernst alongside Chief Operating Officer Isabel Feliciano-Wendleken, Chief Client Officer Marie-Charlotte Henseval, Chief Technology Officer Marc des Garets and Product Director Grant Greenwood. The team's background spans financial infrastructure, regulatory technology, identity systems and security-focused product development.

At launch, the initial focus is on digital business profiles that are richer and more up to date than conventional KYB files. Over time, KYBIX plans to extend the platform into monitoring and risk insight, with the aim of supporting what it describes as perpetual KYB, where company information remains current rather than being recollected at intervals.

That approach reflects a broader push in financial compliance towards continuous maintenance of customer information. For institutions, the appeal lies in reducing repeated checks and manual processing. For corporate clients, the attraction is the prospect of submitting information once and allowing it to be reused securely where appropriate.

Edwin De Pauw, Head of Compliance and Public Affairs at Euroclear, said the issue is widespread across the sector.

"KYBIX addresses a challenge felt across the industry: how to collect, verify and maintain business information more efficiently while meeting increasing regulatory expectations. Today, firms and their clients are often asked to provide the same information repeatedly through manual and fragmented processes. With KYBIX, we have an opportunity to simplify how institutions exchange and maintain KYB information, helping improve compliance outcomes while delivering a faster and more seamless client experience. Stronger compliance and greater efficiency can go hand in hand," De Pauw said.