OpenCorporates

OpenCorporates
Name	OpenCorporates
Type	Non-profit / Data company
Founded	2010
Founder	Chris Taggart; Rob McKinnon
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Industry	Corporate registry data; Transparency
Products	Open data API; Bulk data; Research tools

OpenCorporates is a web-based global company registry platform that aggregates official company information from public registries. It provides structured data on corporate entities, directors, officers, filings, and corporate hierarchies drawn from primary sources across many jurisdictions. The project has been used by investigative journalists, academics, anti-corruption organisations, and financial institutions to cross-check corporate identities and beneficial ownership.

History

OpenCorporates was launched in 2010 by Chris Taggart and Rob McKinnon following work on data journalism and transparency initiatives associated with The Guardian, The Financial Times, Deloitte, and civic technology projects such as MySociety. Early development coincided with the rise of open data movements linked to events like the Sunlight Foundation campaigns and the Open Government Partnership. The platform expanded coverage during the 2010s alongside major leaks and investigations including the Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, and reporting by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which amplified demand for authoritative corporate registry cross-referencing. Growth phases involved partnerships with institutional actors such as World Bank, OECD, and non-governmental initiatives like Transparency International.

Database and Coverage

The database aggregates entries from national and regional registries including bodies such as Companies House (United Kingdom Companies House), the Delaware Division of Corporations, the European Business Register, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and registries in jurisdictions like Hong Kong Companies Registry, Corporate Affairs Commission (Nigeria), and Registro Mercantil (Spain). Coverage spans established markets including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and newer or smaller registries in regions such as Kenya, Panama, and Mauritius. The dataset includes company identifiers, registration dates, status, industry codes when available (e.g., NAICS and NACE proxies), officer lists linking to public figures documented by agencies such as Companies House and the SEC. Open data export and API endpoints support queries leveraged in investigations involving entities named in probes by entities like Reuters, BBC, and ProPublica.

Data Sources and Methodology

Primary sources are official public registries, corporate filings, gazettes, and statutory databases from jurisdictions including civil registry authorities such as Companies House (UK), state registrars like the Delaware Division of Corporations, and national archives used in cases like Panama Papers cross-referencing. The methodology combines automated scraping, structured imports, license-compliant bulk ingestion, and manual curation by editors and contributors with provenance metadata tracked for auditability. Name disambiguation algorithms borrow techniques from record linkage work used by projects such as Wikidata, OpenRefine, and bibliographic initiatives like CrossRef. Quality controls reference standards applied by bodies such as the ISO and data governance frameworks promoted by World Bank and OECD.

Products and Services

Core offerings include a RESTful API for programmatic access, bulk data dumps for researchers, bespoke data services for compliance teams, and visualization tools for corporate graph exploration used in reporting by outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post. Product integrations cater to due-diligence workflows in firms including major banks governed by standards from regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s anti-money laundering guidance. The platform also released tooling to assist reporters and investigators working with leaks handled by consortia like the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and non-profits such as Global Witness.

Governance, Funding, and Partnerships

OpenCorporates operates with a mix of commercial licensing, grant funding, and philanthropic support, engaging partners such as the Open Data Institute, Knight Foundation, Google.org, and international institutions including the World Bank. Governance structures combine a core management team, advisory boards drawn from academic and civil-society organisations like Transparency International and Global Witness, and contractual relationships with national registries including Companies House and equivalent agencies. Collaboration with research groups at universities such as University of Oxford and University of Cambridge has informed methodological improvements.

Privacy, Legal, and Ethical Issues

Handling of personal data, especially officer and director names, intersects with privacy regimes like the General Data Protection Regulation and national freedom of information laws such as the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (UK). Legal challenges and takedown requests arise around jurisdictional restrictions and commercial terms imposed by some registries, reflecting tensions similar to disputes involving Wikimedia Foundation and data publishers. Ethical debates address use-cases in surveillance, corporate targeting, and compliance screening raised by NGOs such as Amnesty International and watchdogs like Transparency International.

Impact and Reception

The platform has been cited in investigative reporting by organisations including The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, and Der Spiegel, and utilized in academic research published via outlets such as Journal of Economic Perspectives and conference presentations at venues like International Conference on Digital Government Research. It has been praised by transparency advocates including Sunlight Foundation and criticised by some registry operators and commercial data vendors for its approach to copying and normalising registry data. Policymakers at institutions like the G20 and OECD have referenced the broader utility of open registries for anti-corruption and beneficial ownership initiatives, areas where the platform’s data has been applied by entities such as Financial Action Task Force and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Category:Online databases Category:Transparency organizations