A review can rest on free public sources, on paid data providers or on both. The difference matters to what a finding rests on: a free official record is the source itself, while a paid database is a provider's compilation of records, with fields it may derive. This page compares the two as source types and explains how a report names which one each finding came from, so you can judge the weight of it.
Public registers and the company's own pages are the primary material: what they show can be cited and read by anyone. A paid database collects, standardises and adds to those records, which makes searching easier and may bring in fields the primary record does not give. That convenience carries a lag, and the provider's method is not always visible. A finding that rests on a public register or company material cites the primary record. A compiled extract that you supply, derived fields included, is client-provided and is not read as verified fact.
Where the primary record does not give a field, the line says unavailable.
A general comparison of two source types. Coverage varies between countries and providers, so the report states what applied in the case.
| Question | Free registers and public pages | Paid business databases |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The record as published by the keeper, or the company's own page | A provider's compilation of records and other data |
| Ease of searching | Varies, and may be limited to the keeper's own search | Uniform where the provider standardises records |
| Currency | As up to date as the keeper makes it | Depends on how often the provider refreshes |
| Fields you get | What the record contains | Possibly more, including fields the provider derives |
| How it appears in a report | Cited as the primary source and read as a verified fact if it states it | A supplied extract, derived fields included, is client-provided |
| What it leaves open | Whatever the record does not publish | What the provider could not collect or does not disclose |
Neither source type is a screening, a rating or a credit report, and neither replaces legal due diligence.
Free primary records and the company's own pages are one way to test whether the basics agree.
A compiled source can show links across entities more quickly; the review reads group links only where public records show them.
Free sources may be present but awkward to search; what cannot be established from them is marked unavailable.
Research reports what can be established from public and provided sources. It is not a guarantee about a counterparty's future conduct and not legal advice.
Which sources are used is named in the agreed scope and the source log. An extract from a paid database that you supply is client-provided.
Not necessarily. It is easier to search, and its fields carry the provider's method.
Each finding in the source log names its source type and its class.
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Tell us what you need to find out and by when. We confirm scope before any work starts.
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