Overview

OpenCorporates is the largest open database of companies in the world, aggregating official corporate registry data from over 140 jurisdictions into a single searchable platform. With records on over 200 million companies and 300 million officer appointments, OpenCorporates provides a unified interface to discover corporate entities, their directors, and corporate structures across countries. Data is sourced directly from official government registries and updated regularly, making it the most comprehensive cross-jurisdictional corporate intelligence resource available.

For OSINT investigators, OpenCorporates is the go-to source for cross-jurisdictional corporate research. It enables analysts to trace corporate structures across borders, identify common directors between entities in different countries, and discover shell company networks that span multiple jurisdictions. The platform's officer search capability is particularly powerful for beneficial ownership investigations, where identifying the same individual serving as director of companies in multiple countries can reveal hidden corporate relationships and control structures.

The platform operates on the principle that corporate data should be openly accessible to promote transparency and accountability. While individual national registries may charge for access or present data in inconsistent formats, OpenCorporates normalizes this data into a consistent schema with standardized company types, officer roles, and status classifications. This normalization is essential for cross-jurisdictional analysis where comparing a Czech s.r.o. with a UK Limited or German GmbH requires understanding equivalent legal forms.

Data Sources and Coverage

OpenCorporates aggregates data from official government company registries across 140+ jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction's data is updated on a schedule determined by the registry's publication frequency and data access methods. Major jurisdictions (UK, US states, EU countries) are updated frequently, while smaller or more restrictive jurisdictions may have less frequent updates.

Data Type	Description	Coverage
Company Details	Name, registration number, jurisdiction, status, incorporation date	200M+ companies
Registered Address	Official registered address and business addresses	Where available
Officers/Directors	Names, roles, appointment and resignation dates	300M+ appointments
Company Type	Legal form (limited, LLC, AG, s.r.o., etc.)	Standardized taxonomy
Filing History	Annual returns, accounts, and other filed documents	Major jurisdictions
Corporate Links	Parent companies, subsidiaries, and branch offices	Where registered
Industry Codes	SIC/NACE classifications where available	Variable by jurisdiction
Previous Names	Historical company name changes	Where tracked by registry

Jurisdiction Coverage Highlights

Region	Key Jurisdictions	Coverage Depth
Europe	UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic	Deep -- officers, filings
North America	US (all 50 states), Canada	Deep -- officers, filings
Asia-Pacific	Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand	Good -- core data
Offshore	BVI, Cayman, Panama, Jersey, Guernsey	Variable -- limited data
Africa	South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria	Growing coverage
Latin America	Brazil, Mexico, Colombia	Growing coverage

Technical Architecture

The Prismatic Platform integrates OpenCorporates through a REST API adapter with intelligent caching and rate limit management. The integration follows a tiered query strategy: for Czech entities, the platform first queries authoritative Czech registries (ARES, Justice.cz) for maximum data depth, then uses OpenCorporates for international corporate links and cross-jurisdictional officer searches.

The adapter implements a reconciliation engine that matches internal entity records against the OpenCorporates database using registration numbers, company names, and jurisdiction codes. This reconciliation capability is essential for large-scale due diligence operations where thousands of internal counterparty records need to be verified against official registry data.

Officer data normalization handles the significant variation in how different jurisdictions record officer names, roles, and appointment details. The normalization pipeline standardizes name formats, translates role titles into a common taxonomy, and resolves date format inconsistencies to enable accurate cross-jurisdictional officer matching.

The caching layer uses a jurisdiction-aware TTL strategy, with data from frequently updated jurisdictions (UK Companies House, US SEC) refreshed more often than data from jurisdictions with less frequent registry updates. This balances API quota consumption against data freshness requirements.

API Integration

Prismatic Platform integrates OpenCorporates as the primary global corporate intelligence source for cross-jurisdictional investigations.

# Search for a company by name
{:ok, results} = OpenCorporates.search_companies("Prismatic",
  jurisdiction: "cz",
  status: "active"
)
# => %{
#   total: 3,
#   companies: [
#     %{name: "Prismatic s.r.o.",
#       company_number: "12345678",
#       jurisdiction: "cz",
#       status: "active",
#       incorporation_date: ~D[2020-01-15],
#       registered_address: "Vaclavske namesti 1, Praha 1",
#       company_type: "spolecnost s rucenim omezenym",
#       opencorporates_url: "https://opencorporates.com/companies/cz/12345678"}
#   ]
# }

# Search for officers across jurisdictions
{:ok, officers} = OpenCorporates.search_officers("Jan Novak",
  jurisdiction: nil  # Search all jurisdictions
)

# Get company details with officers
{:ok, company} = OpenCorporates.get_company("cz", "12345678")

# Find companies sharing officers
{:ok, related} = OpenCorporates.companies_by_officer(officer_id)

# Reconcile entity list against OpenCorporates
{:ok, matches} = OpenCorporates.reconcile([
  %{name: "Prismatic s.r.o.", jurisdiction: "cz"},
  %{name: "Prismatic UK Ltd", jurisdiction: "gb"}
])

# Get filing history
{:ok, filings} = OpenCorporates.filings("cz", "12345678")

# Cross-jurisdictional director search
{:ok, directorships} = OpenCorporates.director_network("Jan Novak",
  jurisdictions: ["cz", "gb", "de", "sk"]
)

Cross-Jurisdictional Due Diligence Pipeline

defmodule PrismaticPerimeter.Compliance.CrossBorderDueDiligence do
  @moduledoc """
  Performs cross-jurisdictional corporate due diligence by combining
  OpenCorporates global data with local registry intelligence.
  """

  def investigate_corporate_network(company_name, home_jurisdiction) do
    with {:ok, company} <- OpenCorporates.search_companies(company_name, jurisdiction: home_jurisdiction),
         {:ok, officers} <- get_all_officers(company),
         {:ok, related} <- find_related_companies(officers),
         {:ok, sanctions} <- screen_all_entities(company, officers, related) do
      {:ok, %{
        primary_entity: company,
        officers: officers,
        related_companies: related,
        jurisdictions_involved: extract_jurisdictions(related),
        sanctions_exposure: sanctions,
        network_risk: assess_network_risk(related, sanctions),
        investigated_at: DateTime.utc_now()
      }}
    end
  end
end

Use Cases

Cross-Jurisdictional Due Diligence

Verify company existence and status across 140+ jurisdictions from a single platform
Identify common directors serving across entities in multiple countries
Trace corporate structures and beneficial ownership chains through parent-subsidiary relationships
Detect shell company networks used for money laundering, sanctions evasion, or tax avoidance

Officer Intelligence

Discover all companies where a specific individual serves as director globally
Track appointment and resignation patterns to identify professional nominee directors
Cross-reference with PEP databases and sanctions lists for compliance screening
Map director networks to identify hidden control relationships

Corporate Verification

Validate entity existence and registration status for KYC/AML compliance
Reconcile internal counterparty databases against official registry records
Verify company type and legal form consistency across jurisdictions
Confirm registered addresses for anti-fraud screening

Competitive and Market Intelligence

Map competitor corporate structures including subsidiaries and branch offices
Track new company registrations in specific jurisdictions and sectors
Identify market entry patterns through branch office and subsidiary formation

Data Quality

OpenCorporates data quality is directly tied to the quality and timeliness of the source government registries. The platform adds value through normalization and cross-jurisdictional linking, but the underlying data authority comes from official registries.

Quality Dimension	Assessment	Notes
Source Authority	High -- official government registry data	140+ jurisdictions
Normalization	Excellent -- consistent schema across jurisdictions	Standardized entity types
Officer Data	Good -- 300M+ appointments with role standardization	Variable by jurisdiction
Currency	Variable -- depends on registry update frequency	Major jurisdictions weekly+
Offshore Coverage	Limited -- restricted data from secretive jurisdictions	BVI, Cayman less complete
Historical Data	Good -- company lifecycle events tracked	From registry digitization

API Access

Tier	Queries/Day	Features
Free	200	Basic company and officer search
API Standard	Higher	Full API, reconciliation
API Premium	Unlimited	Bulk data, advanced features
Enterprise	Custom	Data licensing, offline analysis

Authentication via API token. Free tier available with registration.

Platform Integration

Within the Prismatic Platform, OpenCorporates serves as the primary global corporate intelligence source for cross-jurisdictional investigations. The adapter integrates with the Czech registry ecosystem (ARES, Justice.cz, VR.cz) to provide a layered approach: deep local intelligence for Czech entities complemented by broad international coverage through OpenCorporates.

The integration supports corporate network visualization, mapping relationships between entities across jurisdictions based on shared officers, registered addresses, and corporate link data. This visualization capability is essential for complex due diligence investigations involving multi-jurisdictional corporate structures.

NABLA Compliance

OpenCorporates integration satisfies NABLA requirements through its direct sourcing from official government registries. The Provenance Mandatory axiom is met through attribution to specific registry sources with company numbers and jurisdiction codes. Signal Plurality is enforced by cross-referencing OpenCorporates data with local registry data (ARES for Czech entities, Companies House for UK entities) to validate consistency.

Source Independence is inherently strong since OpenCorporates aggregates from hundreds of independent government registries, providing natural multi-source validation when the same entity appears in multiple jurisdictions.

Performance

Metric	Target	Typical
Company search	< 1s	300-700ms
Officer search	< 1s	400-800ms
Company detail fetch	< 500ms	200-400ms
Reconciliation (100 entities)	< 60s	20-40s
Cross-jurisdictional officer search	< 2s	800ms-1.5s
Cache hit ratio	> 70%	75-85%

ARES - Czech business registry for domestic entity data
Companies House - UK company registry
SEC EDGAR - US corporate filings
Crunchbase - Business and startup intelligence
Justice.cz - Czech Commercial Register
OSINT Core - Core OSINT framework and adapter layer
Prismatic Perimeter - Corporate entity risk assessment

Connect & Contribute

Created by Tomáš Korcak (korczis) | Open Source under GHL

GitHub | GitLab | LinkedIn | Contact
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OpenCorporates

Capabilities

Try OpenCorporates

Overview

Data Sources and Coverage

Jurisdiction Coverage Highlights

Technical Architecture

API Integration

Cross-Jurisdictional Due Diligence Pipeline

Use Cases

Cross-Jurisdictional Due Diligence

Officer Intelligence

Corporate Verification

Competitive and Market Intelligence

Data Quality

API Access

Platform Integration

NABLA Compliance

Performance

Connect & Contribute

Intelligence Network

Related Content

Agent Ecosystem

Applications

Doctrine

OpenCorporates

Capabilities

Try OpenCorporates

Overview

Data Sources and Coverage

Jurisdiction Coverage Highlights

Technical Architecture

API Integration

Cross-Jurisdictional Due Diligence Pipeline

Use Cases

Cross-Jurisdictional Due Diligence

Officer Intelligence

Corporate Verification

Competitive and Market Intelligence

Data Quality

API Access

Platform Integration

NABLA Compliance

Performance

Related Resources

Connect & Contribute

Intelligence Network

Related Content

Agent Ecosystem

Applications

Doctrine