Onboarding businesses

A business account is a brokerage account registered under a business entity including LLC and corporations to manage investments for the business. While the business account is owned by one entity, the entity can have multiple ultimate beneficial owners who are natural persons. Business accounts differ from individual accounts in accountholder ownership and information required for compliance and regulatory reasons, including legal entity details, ownership structure, and identification documents.

Integration path

Your integration path is determined mainly by 2 factors:

KYB (Know-Your-Business) methods supported:

• DriveWealth Does KYB (DO_KYB): DriveWealth performs KYB checks on new entities (up to 1 week processing time). For KYB approval, DriveWealth requires successful completion of KYC for all directors of the entity, as well as verification of the entity itself.
• DriveWealth Relies on Partner (NO_KYB): DriveWealth relies on the partner’s KYB process, subject to KYB policy and procedure review. The KYB method used depends on your location, licenses, and AML capabilities. Contact your DriveWealth Relationship Manager to discuss the right approach.

Customer base

• US Entities Only: DriveWealth auto-generates W9 forms from entity data.
• Foreign Entities: Must provide a valid W8 form via a 3rd party vendor ComplyExchange. You must embed a ComplyExchange white-labeled UI widget for the entity customer to complete the form.

Note that entities cannot begin investing until both KYB verification and W8/W9 validation are complete.

Key concepts

Onboarding

Step 1. Create a business Entity

Collect entity data for onboarding and verification. Field requirements vary by incorporation country.

Create entity sample payload:

POST /entities

{
  "type": "LLC",
  "subType": "LLC_S_CORPORATION",
  "attributes": {
    "name": “Testing Co",
    "dba": "Acme",
    "incorporationCountry": "USA",
    "incorporationProvince": "CA",
    "incorporationDate": "2019-01-01"
  },
  "identifications": {
    "ein": "123456789"
  },
  "contact": {
    "addresses": {
      "primary": {
        "street1": "123 Main Street",
        "city": "San Francisco",
        "province": "CA",
        "zipcode": "94105",
        "country": "USA"
      }
    },
    "phone": "+14050001234",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "website": "www.testing.com"
  },
  "disclosures": {
    "termsOfUse": {
      "agreed": true,
      "signedBy": "name",
      "signedWhen": "2024-09-09T15:20:05Z"
    },
    "customerAgreement": {
      "agreed": true,
      "signedBy": "name",
      "signedWhen": "2024-09-09T15:20:05Z"
    },
    "rule14b": {
      "agreed": true,
      "signedBy": "name",
      "signedWhen": "2024-09-09T15:20:05Z"
    }
  },
  "investment_profile": {
    "annualRevenue": 100000000,
    "netWorthTotal": 10000000000,
    "investmentObjectives": "GROWTH",
    "riskTolerance": "MODERATE",
    "liquidityNeeds": "SHORT_TERM",
    "investmentExperience": "YRS_3_5",
    "timeHorizon": "MODERATE_TERM"
  },
  "financialAffiliations":[
	  "Bank of America"
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "myCustomKey": "myCustomValue"
  }
}

If you subscribe to the entities.create event, you should receive a notification when the entity is successfully created. Please refer to Entity events for payload details.

Step 2. Upload business documents

DriveWealth requires proof of business registration and address. The entity must provide at least one document that shows entity formation and one document that shows business registration. There are multiple types of documents that can show each. For example, entity formation could be articles of incorporation, an LLC agreement, a partnership agreement etc depending on the entity type. Business registration documentation will vary by jurisdiction. Acceptable documents include:

• Entity Formation: Articles/Certificate of Incorporation, Certificate of Formation (LLCs), Partnership Agreement
• Business Registration/License: Government-issued registration certificates, trade licenses
• Tax ID Proof: IRS Form SS-4 / EIN Confirmation Letter (US), equivalent foreign tax registration
• Proof of Address: Recent utility bill, lease agreement, or bank statement in entity’s name

Best practices:

1. Ensure business names provided in account application match with legal documentation
2. Use high-quality document scans—blurry or incomplete uploads can delay KYB processing.
3. Customers should combine all pages of each required business document into a single, multi-page PDF file before uploading. Do not split one document into multiple files.

Upload Document API example:

POST /documents

{
  "userID": "{{entityID}}",
  "type": "BUSINESS_DOCUMENT",
  "document": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUh..."
}

Step 3. Add Beneficial Owners & Control Person

The business entity must provide the following individuals for regulatory and compliance purposes:

• Control Person: A designated individual with significant authority to manage, control, or direct the entity’s operations (e.g., CEO, Managing Director). Exactly one control person is required.
• Beneficial Owners: Any individual who owns more than 10% of the entity, directly or indirectly. Multiple beneficial owners may be provided if applicable. Beneficial owners must be natural persons.

Create Control Person and Beneficial Owner as individuals using the Users API, and link to the Entity using the DIRECTOR_INFO section. Required information includes:

• Standard KYC information: name, DOB, citizenship, ID number, address, and Photo ID (If Required)
• Director related information: role (control person or beneficial owner or both)

API Example:

POST /users

{
   "username": "test.controlperson",
   "password": "passw0rd",
   "userType": "INDIVIDUAL_TRADER",
   "documents": [
       {
           "type": "BASIC_INFO",
           "data": {
               "firstName": "control",
               "lastName": "person",
               "country": "USA",
               "phone": "2912341122",
               "emailAddress": "[email protected]",
               "language": "en_US"
           }
       },
       {
           "type": "IDENTIFICATION_INFO",
           "data": {
               "value": "123456789",
               "type": "SSN",
               "citizenship": "USA"
           }
       },
       {
           "type": "PERSONAL_INFO",
           "data": {
               "birthDay": 3,
               "birthMonth": 12,
               "birthYear": 1990
           }
       },
       {
           "type": "ADDRESS_INFO",
           "data": {
               "street1": "123 Main St",
               "city": "Chatham",
               "province": "NJ",
               "postalCode": "09812"
           }
       },
       {
           "type": "DIRECTOR_INFO",
           "data": {
               "directorList": [
                   {
                       "title": "Chief Innovation Officer",
                       "roles": [
                           "CONTROL_PERSON",
					 “BENEFICIAL_OWNER”
                       ],
                       "controlContact": true,
                       "institutionalID": "{{entityid}}"
                   }
               ]
           }
       }
   ]
}

Step 4. Create Authorized Traders

Create individuals using the Create User API if additional personnel will trade on behalf of the business beyond owners and control persons. These Users will be linked as authorized users on the business account in the next step.

Step 5. Open Business Account

Create business account under the business entity using one of the 3 supported Business Account Management Types:

Unlike individual accounts, Business accounts must assign at least one authorized user covering the current and future period. You should also provide the authorized user's userID as traderID when placing orders via the Create Order API.

Create Business Account API Example:

POST /accounts

{
  "userID": "{{entityID}}",
  "accountType": "LIVE",
  "accountManagementType": "BUSINESS_SELF",
  "tradingType": "cash",
  "interestedParties": [
    {
      "type": "AUTHORIZED_USER",
      "data": [
        {
          "id": "{{controlPersonID}}",
          "reportingRole": "AUTHREP",
          "tradeDiscretion": true,
          "from": "2024-12-01T00:00:00Z"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Step 6. Foreign Entities: W-8 Form Completion

🚧

Applicable for foreign entities only. US entities can skip this step as W9 forms are auto-generated by DriveWealth.

Foreign entities are required to complete the appropriate W-8 forms through a third-party platform, ComplyExchange. DriveWealth will generate a unique ComplyExchange URL for each entity with certain identification details prefilled. You may either share this URL directly with the entity customer or embed ComplyExchange’s UI within your application to facilitate form completion. An authorized signer from the entity must complete the remaining sections of the form, including critical tax-related information such as Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 status codes.

ComplyExchange offers step-by-step guidance and helpful tools to assist the entity in accurately completing the form. Below is a sample of the ComplyExchange UI. The interface can be customized to align with your branding.

DriveWealth will generate a ComplyExchange URL only after receiving account creation requests. You can use the Retrieve Entity API to view the Entity’s ComplyExchange URL. Alternatively, you will also receive an entities.updated notification if you subscribe to the event.

Example API response snippet:

"taxData": {
  "fatcaData": {
    "applicable": true,
    "applicableFrom": "2025-08-26T19:49:58Z",
    "setBy": "SYSTEM"
  },
  "vendor": {
    "COMPLY_EXCHANGE": {
      "name": "Comply Exchange",
      "taxFormUrl": "https://drivewealth.complytaxforms.com/ServiceRedirect.aspx?UUID=xxx&Language=US",
      "formUrlDate": "2025-08-26T19:50:20Z"
    }
  }
}

Entity verification

DO_KYB mode

In DO_KYB mode, DriveWealth is responsible for performing KYB checks after receiving business account opening requests.

The KYB object in the Retrieve Entity API is helpful for you to understand the current KYB status and remediation required. You can use Retrieve Entity to view entity’s current KYB status at any given time, or you would receive entities.updated notifications if you subscribe to the event to receive real-time KYB updates.

Example API response snippet:

"kyb": {
  "status": "KYB_DOC_REQUIRED",
  "statusWhen": "2025-10-06T21:03:29.027Z",
  "reasons": [
    {
      "code": "K003",
      "description": "Abnormal document quality. ID may have obscured data points, obscured security features, a corner removed, punctures, or watermarks obscured by digital text overlay "
    }
  ],
  "notes": [
    "Need more doc"
  ]
}

KYB status and description:

NO_KYB mode

If you are on NO_KYB mode, you are responsible for performing KYB and all necessary due diligence on the entity prior to onboarding the entity with DriveWealth. All entities are automatically placed in the KYB_APPROVED status upon creation.

Ongoing Entity management

Please ensure that entity data in the DriveWealth system is kept up to date whenever entity information changes. Common updates include changes to address, contact information, or company ownership. Use the Update Entity API to make these updates as needed.

Updates to key entity identification fields such as entity name or identification numbers may trigger additional actions:

• If you are on DO_KYB mode, DriveWealth will automatically initiate a new KYB review using the updated entities information. During re-KYB, the accounts will remain in OPEN status and open to all activities unless the new KYB came back as failed, which will set the account to FROZEN state.
• Foreign entities must complete a new W8 via ComplyExchange. DriveWealth will automatically generate a new ComplyExchange URL upon entity update. You can view the new URL either by the Retrieve Entity API or you should receive a new notification if you subscribe to entities.updated event. Please direct your customer to fill out the form again. The entity can continue trading; however, all tax treaty benefits are removed until the entity submit a new validated W8.

Need help?

Reach out to the DriveWealth Integrations team for:

• Discussing which KYB integration model is right for your business
• Supported business document types per jurisdiction
• White-label W-8BEN-E/W-8IMY form integration for foreign entities