When a vendor or buyer is a company, the onboarding process is slightly different.
Before adding the company to the transaction, you should first identify and add any individual shareholders or Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) who own 25% or more of the company. Each of these individuals must be AML checked, either in-platform or by sending them a Digital Onboarding invitation.
Once all relevant individuals have been verified, the company itself should be added to the transaction and AML checked using the available in-platform company verification route.
Note: Companies cannot be onboarded using Digital Onboarding or Online Biometric ID Verification. However, individual shareholders or PSCs can be verified digitally if appropriate.
Once the shareholders or PSCs have been added and verified, return to this guide to follow the steps for adding the company to the transaction.
You may find out Obtaining Company Information & Company Directors & Shareholders guides helpful.
Adding a Company to a Transaction
Once the relevant shareholders or Persons with Significant Control (PSCs) have been added and verified, you can add the company to the transaction.
- From your Dashboard, navigate to Property Audit and click the transaction address.
- From the Transaction Overview page, click Add New Client.
- Select the Client Type (Vendor or Buyer) and choose Company as the Legal Type.
Note: You will always see the warning:
"Please ensure you add an individual client before a company. A lead individual client is required to complete onboarding actions and receive notifications."
- Enter the company's registered address using the postcode search. If you can't find the address, click Or enter address manually, enter the address details, then continue.
- Enter the Legal Company Name, Company Registration Number, and Country of Registration.
- Select the company's Capacity. This refers to whether you are dealing directly with the company's directors or an authorised representative acting on its behalf.
- Click Save and Continue.
You'll then be taken to the next page, where you'll see the confirmation message "Client was successfully added."
- Scroll down the page.
- Tick the box to confirm that the client has consented to their information being added to movebutler.
- Select I will continue in platform.
- Click Continue.
Completing a Company Risk Assessment
From the Transaction Overview page, click Manage Client on the company.
Scroll down to the Company Risk Assessment section.You'll now need to complete the company's risk assessment by answering a series of Yes or No questions. In some cases, you may need to ask your client for the information required before answering.
Answer each question by selecting Yes or No, then click Save Responses.
Depending on your answers, you may be presented with additional risk assessment questions. If this happens, answer each question in the same way and click Save Responses again to continue.
Once you have saved your responses, the company will be assigned a risk level based on the information provided. The risk level will be Low, Medium, or High. You can find out more about how risk levels are calculated in our guide: Understanding the Risk Assessment & Risk Levels.
movebutler will then display the verification routes available for that risk level, allowing you to select the most appropriate method to complete the company's due diligence
Completing Company Due-Diligence
The verification route presented will depend on the company's risk level.
To complete the company's due diligence, you'll be asked to upload a document containing the required company information. Most of this information can be obtained from Companies House, although you may also need to obtain some details directly from the individual representing the company.
Once you have gathered the required information:
- Click Upload File and select the completed document.
- Once the document has been uploaded, click Due Diligence Completed.
The company's due diligence will then be marked as complete, and the client's status will update to Verified.
Important Notes
In the majority of cases, companies will be assessed as Medium Risk. A company will generally only be assessed as Low Risk where it is regulated under the Money Laundering Regulations, as these organisations are already subject to ongoing regulatory supervision.
When reviewing company ownership, you may come across Nominee Shareholders.
A Nominee Shareholder is someone whose name appears as the registered owner of shares on the company's register and at Companies House, but who is holding those shares on behalf of the true beneficial owner.
This differs from a regular shareholder, who owns and controls the shares in their own right. Because nominee arrangements can obscure the true ownership of a company, they are considered a high risk AML factor.
If you are dealing with a housing developer or association, please see Housing Developers and Associations