TABLE OF CONTENTS


How to unwrap a structure

This is available to users with a Compliance role: Compliance Admin, Compliance Office Admin, Compliance Officer Approver, or Compliance Office Member.

Our Know Your Business (KYB) integration reaches 100+ countries. For the list of live jurisdictions and estimated unwrap times per country, contact First AML Support at help@firstaml.com.

Each unwrap is billable, and the cost depends on the entity's jurisdiction. Contact help@firstaml.com for costings.


How it works


  • Create a case and enter the company's Legal Name and Jurisdiction as usual. Company Number is optional. Submit the case; you'll land on the Structure tab.

  • Click Start Unwrap to begin. First AML starts gathering the local registry's corporate data. This can take a while; you'll get an in-platform notification once it's available.



3. If we can't find an exact match for the company name in the selected jurisdiction, a search slide-out opens on the right showing close matches. Scroll through the list, select the correct entity, then click Confirm entity to trigger the unwrap



4. Once the registry information is ready, click your profile icon (bottom right) to open your notifications, then click the relevant notification to go back to the case. From there you can review the beneficial ownership details and the company extract.




         5.  If additional layers of shareholding entities are identified, you can keep unwrapping.  
             Click Start   Unwrap again to trigger the next layer.

             

     


      6. Depending on what the registry provides, we may not always be able to display the full shareholding structure in the Structure tab. When that happens, use the company extract to build out the structure manually.



Unwrapping your companies automatically

You can automate unwrapping to a set number of layers, so new cases automatically reveal their underlying shareholding layers without manual work. This is useful for identifying Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs), individuals or entities that own more than 25% of a structure, without having to unwrap manually.

Whether this happens automatically depends on whether a company registration number was entered when the case was submitted. With a number, the unwrap starts on its own. Without one, you start the first unwrap manually, and automations apply from that point onward.

See HERE for how to set this up.


How to Set It Up:

  1. Go to Automations in your platform settings.
  2. Create or edit a rule related to structure retrieval.
  3. Select the “Auto-unwrap layers” action.
  4. Choose how many layers you’d like the automation to go down (e.g. 2, 3, or more).
  5. Save and activate your rule.

This helps streamline onboarding and ensure key shareholding information is surfaced early.



How to troubleshoot common errors

  1. My unwrap button is disabled. How do I confirm the jurisdiction of a company?

    Go to the Structure tab and click Edit. Click the entity to open the edit module on the right, then change the Registered country field to the company's correct jurisdiction and click Update entity. Go back to the Structure tab; you should now be able to click Start Unwrap.

  2. My search is bringing up the wrong matches. What should I do?

    Double-check that the company number and registration authority (if applicable) are correct; this narrows the search. If the entity's legal name is in non-Latin script, try searching again in the local alphabet, for example Simplified Chinese characters. If it's still wrong, flag it with your First AML contact so we can investigate.

  3. The entity type is "Unknown" and I can't unwrap the company.

    Go to the Structure tab and click Edit. Click the entity to open the edit module, then change Entity type from Unknown to Private Company and click Update entity. Go back to the Structure tab; you should now be able to click Start Unwrap.

  4. Our KYB unwrap will not display shareholders if:
    1. It assumes they are the same company e.g. the name matches the parent but could be an overseas shareholder. 
    2. In cases where the company is recorded as a director of itself e.g. the entity may be a shareholder of it's parent, but the parent acts as a shareholder of the entity.

Please review the structure and company extract carefully and build this out manually to continue. You can use the following article: How to manually build an entity structure


Please also refer to this help centre article for more tips on how to troubleshoot entity verification errors or this article for further information on unwrapping companies

5. The platform hasn't received the required information from the registry, and this needs manual updating.

Our KYB unwrap won't display shareholders in two situations: when it assumes a shareholder is the same company as the parent because the names match, but it's actually a separate overseas shareholder; or when a company is recorded as a director of itself, for example where an entity is a shareholder of its parent, but the parent also appears as a shareholder of the entity.

Review the structure and company extract carefully and build it out manually. 


FAQs

Why does the corporate information differ by jurisdiction?

Documents vary by country, depending on that country's laws around public access to company information and what must be filed with its company registry.

Why is some information not provided by certain company registries?

Some registries don't provide certain information because local laws and regulations restrict public disclosure of sensitive details.

Why aren't documents provided in English or my preferred language?

Company registries issue documents in their own country's language. The unwrap tool automatically extracts key company information from incorporation documents and presents it in standard English across all jurisdictions.


Feedback & questions?

Contact your First AML representative with any questions or to provide feedback.