Trulioo has introduced UBO Discovery Agent, an artificial intelligence agent designed to reconstruct company ownership chains when corporate registries do not clearly reveal who exercises ultimate control. The company integrates this tool into its business verification service and ensures it can expand coverage in jurisdictions with fragmented or limited-access information.
The key features of Trulioo’s AI agent in 20 seconds
- UBO Discovery Agent aims to identify the effective beneficial owner of a company.
- It combines official records, commercial data providers, public documents, and open sources.
- Trulioo claims to have increased coverage by between 20% and 80% in initial tests.
- Each result includes supporting evidence, and the tool can recognize when no defendable answer exists.
The effective beneficial owner, known by the initials UBO in English, is the individual who ultimately owns or controls a company, even if their name does not appear directly as a shareholder. Identifying this person is part of anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, and illicit activity financing controls.
The challenge is that this information is not always available in a single registry. A company might be owned by another firm, which in turn is controlled by a third entity based in a different country. After several layers, the chain may end on an individual, but it can also be interrupted in jurisdictions that do not publish data or apply different criteria.
AI for tracking ownership chains across countries
UBO Discovery Agent extends a feature that Trulioo already offered within its Know Your Business (KYB) processes, which are controls used to verify the existence, activity, ownership, and risk level of a company.
Until now, these analyses mainly relied on official records, commercial databases, and manual review. The new agent automates parts of what an analyst would do: locating related entities, comparing names and addresses, following ownership stakes, and searching for documents that can continue the chain to one or multiple individuals.
Trulioo states that the system uses rules tailored to each jurisdiction. This is important because company registries do not follow a universal model. Some countries publish shareholders; others only list administrators; and some registries offer limited, paid, or request-based information.
Additionally, a name appearing in a registry does not necessarily reflect the current ownership situation. Changes in ownership can take time to be reported and processed. There may also be a difference between the formal shareholder and the individual who exercises actual control through agreements, intermediaries, or other legal mechanisms.
The company claims its agent does not use a one-size-fits-all model connected unrestrictedly to the internet. According to its description, conclusions must be supported by four types of sources: official records, commercial information providers, legally required communications, and open sources.
Each identification is accompanied by the evidences used, enabling compliance officers to review the process and justify why they accepted, rejected, or subjected a company to further scrutiny.
Trulioo reports over 90% coverage in challenging markets
In its initial deployments, Trulioo claims that UBO Discovery Agent increased the proportion of companies for which at least one owner could be identified by between 20% and 80%, compared to limited checks relying solely on official records.
The company also states that in some markets where official records provided usable information for less than 5% of companies, the agent raised coverage above 90%. These results are communicated by Trulioo, and no independent evaluation with details of samples, jurisdictions, and criteria has been published to date.
This nuance matters because coverage alone does not equate to accuracy. Finding a potential owner is different from demonstrating that this person exceeds the participation threshold required by regulations or exercises effective control over the entity.
Definitions and applicable thresholds vary by country and transaction type. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) states that the effective beneficial owner must always be a natural person who owns or controls a company ultimately, but leaves part of the practical application to each jurisdiction.
UBO Discovery Agent can also indicate when it lacks sufficient data to draw a conclusion. Trulioo presents this feature as a safeguard against generating seemingly complete answers without supporting evidence. In compliance processes, recognizing a data gap can be preferable to accepting a corporate relationship based on an inference that is hard to defend before an auditor or regulator.
The first corporate client announced is a large social commerce platform whose name has not been disclosed. Deployment began in July 2026 in Malaysia, Vietnam, and the UK. Trulioo states that its solution achieved the highest coverage in an evaluation conducted by the client, and that it was the only viable option considered in one of the three markets.
Why official records are not always sufficient
Corporate ownership transparency remains inconsistent worldwide. FATF has reinforced its recommendations for countries to maintain accurate, up-to-date information on individuals controlling companies. However, international obligations do not guarantee that all registries are equally complete or accessible to private companies.
The U.S. demonstrates how regulatory regimes can change significantly. In March 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) exempted U.S.-incorporated entities and U.S. citizens from certain beneficial ownership reporting requirements. The federal system focused mainly on certain foreign entities registered to operate in the U.S.
These changes require banks, payment platforms, digital marketplaces, and e-commerce companies to combine different sources. A company might meet legal obligations and still lack all the information needed by another organization to assess risk or onboard a client or supplier.
Automation can reduce repetitive research but does not eliminate compliance teams’ responsibility. Organizations must verify data provenance, establish minimum confidence levels, and decide when a ownership chain warrants human review.
They also need to monitor changes over time. The beneficial owner can change after onboarding, so a valid profile during client onboarding may become outdated months later.
Trulioo plans to develop more specialized agents in identity, fraud, and corporate risk. The evolution of UBO Discovery Agent aims to verify whether these systems can reduce manual work without turning incomplete results into automatic decisions that are hard to challenge.
FAQs
What is an ultimate beneficial owner (UBO)?
It is the individual who owns or controls a company ultimately. They can exercise control directly or through multiple intermediaries.
What does Trulioo’s UBO Discovery Agent do?
It reconstructs ownership chains by utilizing official records, commercial databases, public documents, and open sources. Each result includes the supporting evidence.
Does the tool replace compliance teams?
No. While it can automate investigative tasks and broaden coverage, companies remain responsible for reviewing results and applying their regulatory and risk criteria.
In which countries is it initially being used?
Trulioo announced its first corporate deployment in Malaysia, Vietnam, and the UK since July 2026.
