KYC for Companies and Trusts in Australia: A Complete KYB Guide for Tranche 2

Verifying an individual's identity is straightforward. Verifying a company or trust — Know Your Business (KYB) — is far more complex. Most of your clients as an accountant, lawyer or advisor are entities, not individuals. This guide explains exactly what AUSTRAC requires.

KYC vs KYB — what's the difference?

KYC (Know Your Customer) refers to verifying an individual's identity. KYB (Know Your Business) refers to verifying an entity — a company, trust, partnership or association — and identifying the real people behind it. AUSTRAC requires both for entity clients.

Verifying a company (body corporate)

To satisfy AUSTRAC's initial CDD requirements for a company client, you must establish:

• The company's name, ACN and registration status (via ASIC extract)
• The identity of all directors
• The identity of all beneficial owners — anyone who owns or controls 25%+ of shares or voting rights
• Whether any directors or beneficial owners are PEPs or subject to sanctions
• The nature and purpose of the business relationship

Each director and beneficial owner must then be individually KYC verified — biometric identity check against their passport or driver's licence.

Verifying a trust

For trust clients, AUSTRAC requires you to establish:

• The trust's name and ABN (where applicable)
• The trustee's identity and authority to act (trust deed evidence)
• The settlor's identity
• The appointor's identity (if applicable)
• All beneficiaries, or the class of beneficiaries where not individually identifiable
• The source of trust funds

How AI document scanning helps

CompliDesk uses AI to read ASIC extracts, trust deeds and partnership agreements — automatically extracting directors, trustees, beneficial owners and ownership percentages. This eliminates manual data entry and ensures nothing is missed.

Tracing through layered structures

If a company is owned by another company, you must trace through the ownership chain until you reach natural persons. AUSTRAC's rules require you to identify UBOs (Ultimate Beneficial Owners) at every layer — not just the immediate shareholders.

How long does KYB take?

Without software, KYB on a company with 2 directors and 3 shareholders can take 2–4 hours — requesting ASIC extracts, collecting ID documents, certifying copies. With CompliDesk's AI document scanner and biometric KYC links, the same process takes under 15 minutes.

Related reading: KYC requirements in Australia · Customer due diligence explained · AML/CTF for trust & company service providers · Frequently asked questions