Supplier Risk Intelligence: United States / US

The United States runs corporate registration at the state level, not federal — 50 separate Secretary of State registries with varying disclosure depth. Delaware, Nevada, and Wyoming dominate as registration jurisdictions but offer minimal public ownership data. The federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and FinCEN BOI reporting regime are in active enforcement-litigation; treat ownership transparency as opaque for now unless the entity voluntarily discloses.

The United States has no single national company registry — incorporation is at state level. Delaware, Wyoming, and Nevada are the most common shell jurisdictions because they require minimal disclosure. The 2021 Corporate Transparency Act introduced FinCEN beneficial-ownership reporting, but enforcement and access remain limited. For US suppliers, EIN, state Secretary of State filings, and bank-beneficiary match are the verification floor.

• 1EIN should appear on any W-9 or invoice — verify it matches the state filing record.
• 2ACH and wire are the standard rails; bank account must be in the registered legal name.
• 3OFAC sanctions screening is mandatory for any US-domiciled counterparty payment.
• 41099 reporting obligations may apply for non-corporate vendors — request a W-9 before paying.

1. 1Secretary of State pull in the entity's registered state — entity name, status, formation date, registered agent, officers (where disclosed).
2. 2EIN validation where the entity supplies a W-9.
3. 3OFAC, EU, UK, UN sanctions screening.
4. 4Federal court records (PACER) for outstanding litigation.
5. 5Optional D-U-N-S overlay and Experian Business Credit pull.