OpenCorporates

What actually is a legal entity?

Part 1 in a series on the fundamentals of legal entity identity data. Think about the last time you signed a contract. If it was done in a work context, perhaps it was a supplier agreement, a SaaS subscription like Salesforce, or with a new customer. You probably focused on the terms, the obligations, the price. But behind all of those details sits a more fundamental question: who, exactly, is entering into this agreement?

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February 26, 2026

Compliance / Risk Management

Why data provenance is the only defence against personal liability

While the broader fintech market prioritizes "move fast and break things" efficiency, the modern Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) faces a different reality: in this industry, when things move too fast it’s the law that gets broken. For years, compliance was often viewed as a cost center. But a structural transformation in global regulation has fundamentally changed this. Through the "Monaco Memos," the US Department of Justice (DOJ) instructed prosecutors to ensure there are no longer two sets of rules... one for corporations and executives, and another for the rest of America.

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February 23, 2026

Case studies / Fraud Investigations / Healthcare

Case study: How open data connects the dots in investigative journalism

A recent investigation by The Maine Wire, titled "Rep. Yusuf Yusuf Tied in to Vast Network of Million-Dollar Somali-Run Medicaid Recipients and Money Transfers," serves as a powerful example of how open company data can be used to cross-reference official government filings and uncover complex networks.

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February 13, 2026

Data Access / Policy

Von der Leyen’s “EU Inc” calls for speed, but the underlying data infrastructure is still catching up

On Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a passionate pitch for European competitiveness. Speaking on the new "EU Inc" proposal to simplify cross-border business, she offered a soundbite that was clearly meant to inspire: "If we get this right — and if we move fast enough — this will not only help EU companies grow. But it will attract investment from across the world."

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February 2, 2026

Data / Impact / Resources

Mapping innovation in energy startups: A data fusion journey with OpenCorporates and Semantic Scholar

Today’s energy sector is evolving fast. With thousands of new companies emerging each year, keeping track of innovative startups is both a challenge and an opportunity. So how can investors, policymakers, and researchers quickly identify the most promising ventures, especially those with deep scientific expertise? In this post, I’ll walk through the methodology, share some key findings, and explain how this approach opens new doors for data-driven innovation analysis.

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January 12, 2026

Case studies / Compliance / Risk Management

Case study: How Datastruct replaced manual checks with reliable entity intelligence

Manual Secretary of State (SOS) research was slowing teams down, creating data gaps, and increasing compliance risk. Relying on manual, state-by-state desktop research and ad hoc tracking was time-consuming, inconsistent, and difficult to scale, leading to outdated information and operational inefficiencies. This was why it was critical to automate access to accurate, real-time entity information as the business scaled and recovery volumes grew.

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January 7, 2026

Data / Impact

Delaware is “losing incorporations”? Our data shows a different story

Delaware’s incorporations are still growing in absolute terms. Our data shows Delaware’s total recorded companies rising from 5.02m (Nov 2023) to 5.30m (Nov 2024) to 5.62m (Nov 2025), a ~10% increase over two years. The real change is in where new, small entities (especially LLCs) are being formed. Our December 2024 blog series documents that Wyoming overtook Delaware in new incorporations on a per‑capita basis, powered by a nationwide explosion in LLCs. High‑profile “DEXIT” reincorporations are happening, but they don’t equal an overall collapse. After court‑driven flashpoints, some large companies announced moves (e.g., Tesla and SpaceX), a visible but numerically limited subset of total formations.

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December 16, 2025

Reading List / Resources

15 years of corporate transparency: The ultimate resource list

Fifteen years ago, Chris Taggart founded OpenCorporates with a simple mission: to make legal-entity data transparent and reliable. Today, that mission is more critical than ever. We've built the foundation for the first step of any transaction; verifying a legitimate business from its primary source, such as Secretaries of State and Companies House. OpenCorporates was an early innovator in this space, establishing itself as the most trusted source for legal-entity data, anchored in our seven Legal-Entity Data Principles. This commitment to provenance and quality is what sets our data apart.

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December 10, 2025

Compliance / Data Access

When auditors ask “where did this data come from?” Can you answer?

Provenance means the ability to trace every data point back to its official source with timestamps. This capability addresses the trust gap in business data by providing clear lineage for compliance decisions. This article examines why data transparency has become essential for compliance operations, how leading organizations implement it, and what it means for business data management.

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November 18, 2025

Entity Verification / Resources

How to map company networks using the OpenCorporates API + Relationships File

Understanding how companies connect has become a critical part of modern business intelligence. For assessing risk, managing compliance, or researching markets, you need to know more than just a company’s name and registration number - you need to know who owns what and how those entities relate.

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October 28, 2025