Direct registry access
Established access to hundreds of official government registries worldwide, used directly rather than through intermediaries wherever the jurisdiction allows.
Services
What we do
Four lines of work, all built the same way: from official registers and primary records, verified at source, and reported so that every finding can be traced back to where it came from.
01
Individual due diligence
A written report on one person in one country, built from official records and published sources. The most common instruction we receive, and the one we offer at a fixed fee per person per country. Typical scope:
- Identity verification
- Address and residence check
- Tax and registry identifiers, where the jurisdiction publishes them
- Pensions and social-security traces, where available
- Court records, noting where files are sealed or not public
- Official gazette
- PEP and sanctions screening
- Local adverse media
- Relevant regulator or licensing check, for example a financial regulator
If a check is not public in that country, the report says so. We do not invent a result.
02
Corporate and counterparty due diligence
Who owns and controls a company, what it holds, what it owes, and what has been filed against it. We work from company registers, beneficial-ownership filings, land and property records, court and insolvency files, and regulatory and enforcement registers in each relevant jurisdiction, and follow the structure across borders where it leads.
Typical uses: pre-transaction and pre-appointment checks, supplier and distributor onboarding, joint-venture partners, and understanding the other side before a dispute.
03
Asset and lifestyle analysis
Does the subject's lifestyle match their declared position, and can they be pinned down to fixed assets? We identify property, corporate holdings, and other fixed footprint from registries, and set that against what the subject has said or shown about themselves.
A subject with verifiable assets is reachable and accountable. A subject who is media-clean but asset-light, with a lifestyle that cannot be explained, is the one to worry about. This work supports pre-action assessment, enforcement of judgments and awards, source-of-wealth reviews, and risk decisions on individuals.
04
Cryptocurrency tracing
Blockchain forensics and tracing of digital assets across wallets, exchanges, bridges, and mixing services. We identify where funds have moved, where they have come to rest, and which service providers hold the records needed to take the next step.
Reports are written to support freezing and disclosure applications, recovery actions, and internal investigations, and can be combined with registry-based work on the people and companies behind the wallets. Experience includes complex cross-border matters involving sanctioned parties.
Reporting
Defensible reporting
Every finding is attributed to a named source. Fact is kept strictly separate from inference. The search scope is documented, so the client sees exactly what was searched and what was and was not identified, and a "no findings" result is demonstrable rather than a blank assertion.
Reports are written for law firms and regulated entities, to litigation and compliance standard, and are built so they can sit on a client file without further work.
Coverage
109 jurisdictions, and counting
Since 2009 we have obtained records in the 109 countries and territories below. The list is where we have already been, not a boundary: if a jurisdiction keeps a register, we will find the lawful route to it.
UK and Crown Dependencies 5
- United Kingdom
- Gibraltar
- Guernsey
- Isle of Man
- Jersey
Europe 34
- Albania
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia 12
- Bahrain
- Egypt
- Georgia
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Lebanon
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Türkiye
- United Arab Emirates
- Uzbekistan
Africa 11
- Angola
- Ghana
- Ivory Coast
- Kenya
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nigeria
- Seychelles
- South Africa
Asia-Pacific 19
- Australia
- China
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Malaysia
- Marshall Islands
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
North America and the Caribbean 17
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Costa Rica
- Curaçao
- Dominican Republic
- Greenland
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- Panama
- Puerto Rico
- United States
South America 11
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Guyana
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Suriname
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Local agents where needed
Where in-country access is required, records are obtained through a vetted local agent network built over nearly two decades, with multiple agents per country used to cross-verify one another.
Data security by design
Most work is kept in-house. Where local agents are used, tasks are compartmentalised so that no single agent sees the whole enquiry or knows who the client is.
In almost every jurisdiction the question is not whether records can be obtained, but the time and cost of doing so lawfully. We tell you that before you commit.
Turnaround and fees
Individual due diligence is a fixed fee per person per country. Corporate, asset, and tracing work is quoted on scope. Turnaround is stated on the quote; typical individual scopes complete in a small number of working days, and it varies by register and jurisdiction.
Ask for a country and we will send the checklist, fee, and turnaround for that jurisdiction.
How to instruct
Email info@surestep.co.uk with the subject, the jurisdiction, the purpose, and whatever identifiers you already hold. We confirm scope and fee before work starts, and nothing is collected until the lawful basis is agreed.
Or use the enquiry form. Telephone +44 20 7754 0359.