Due Diligence

This guide helps you run an in-depth due diligence before an investment, acquisition, or strategic partnership.

Goal

Thoroughly analyze a target company:

• Legal and compliance verification
• Historical financial analysis
• Mapping of officers and beneficial owners
• Risk and background detection
• Asset verification (trademarks, patents)

Due diligence scope

Due Diligence Scope

360° review before any deal, investment, or partnership.

Legal

• Bylaws & statutory acts
• K-bis & registration proofs
• Ultimate beneficial owners
• Corporate structure

Finance

• Financial statements & ratios
• Tax bundles & VAT
• Bank accounts & cashflow
• Sector benchmarks

Compliance

• PEP & sanctions screening
• Adverse media
• Conformity checks
• Background graphs

Governance

• Current & former officers
• Mandates and control links
• Beneficial owner timeline
• Multi-mandate detection

Assets

• Trademarks and IP
• Patents & software
• Real estate footprint
• Other intangible assets

History

• Collective procedures
• Court decisions
• Legal notices & events
• Privileges & liens

Data collected

Legal and structural data

Type	Description	Endpoint
Company Profile	Identification details	/users/{userId}/company-profile
Articles of Association	Company bylaws	/users/{userId}/articles-of-association
Acts	Statutory acts and amendments	/users/{userId}/acts
Corporate Offices	Secondary establishments	/users/{userId}/corporate-offices
Registration Proof	K-bis extract	/users/{userId}/registration-proof
INSEE Registration Proof	INSEE status notice	/users/{userId}/insee-registration-proof

Governance and control

Type	Description	Endpoint
Company Officers	Current and past officers	/users/{userId}/company-officers
Beneficial Owners	Ultimate beneficial owners	/users/{userId}/beneficial-owners
Background Check V2	Relationship graph	/users/{userId}/background-check-v2
Conformity Check	Compliance verifications	/users/{userId}/conformity-checks

Financial data

Type	Description	Endpoint
Financial Statement	Published statements	/users/{userId}/financial-statements
Tax Return	Tax bundles	/users/{userId}/tax-returns
Tax Return Analysis	Financial ratios	/users/{userId}/tax-return-analysis
Sector Analysis	Industry benchmark	/users/{userId}/sector-analysis
Bank Accounts	Bank accounts	/users/{userId}/bank-accounts
Bank Cashflow	Cashflow analysis	/users/{userId}/bank-cashflow

History and risk

Type	Description	Endpoint
Collective Procedure	Insolvency proceedings	/users/{userId}/collective-procedures
Court Decision	Court rulings	/users/{userId}/court-decisions
Legal Notice	Official legal notices	/users/{userId}/legal-notices
Privileges	Liens and pledges	/users/{userId}/privileges
Timeline	Event history	/users/{userId}/timeline

Intangible assets

Type	Description	Endpoint
Trademark	Registered trademarks	/users/{userId}/trademarks

Implementation steps

Step 1: Enable every required provider

PUT /api/v6/providers/company_legal_fr

{
  "enable": true
}

PUT /api/v6/providers/company_legal_fr/settings

{
  "auto_connect": true
}

PUT /api/v6/providers/infogreffe

{
  "enable": true
}

PUT /api/v6/providers/comply_cube

{
  "enable": true
}

PUT /api/v6/providers/comply_cube/settings

{
  "officers_check": true,
  "beneficial_owners_check": true,
  "background_check_nodes_check": true
}

Step 2: Create the target user

POST /api/v6/users/legal

{
  "name": "Target Acquisition SAS",
  "siren": "123456789",
  "group": "due-diligence-2024"
}

Step 3: Create the data connections

3.1 Full legal data

POST /api/v6/users/{userId}/data-connections

{
  "requested_data_types": [
    "COMPANY_PROFILE",
    "COMPANY_OFFICER",
    "CORPORATE_OFFICE",
    "ACT",
    "ARTICLES_OF_ASSOCIATION",
    "AVIS_SIREN",
    "COLLECTIVE_PROCEDURE",
    "BENEFICIAL_OWNER",
    "BACKGROUND_CHECK",
    "BACKGROUND_CHECK_V2",
    "CONFORMITY_CHECK",
    "BANKING_RELATIONSHIP",
    "FINANCIAL_STATEMENT",
    "TAX_RETURN",
    "TAX_RETURN_ANALYSIS",
    "SECTOR_ANALYSIS",
    "TIMELINE",
    "TRADEMARK",
    "LEGAL_NOTICE",
    "PRIVILEGES"
  ],
  "provider_name": "company_legal_fr"
}

3.2 Court decisions (Infogreffe)

POST /api/v6/users/{userId}/data-connections

{
  "requested_data_types": [
    "COURT_DECISION",
    "REGISTRATION_PROOF"
  ],
  "provider_name": "infogreffe"
}

Step 4: Launch the full synchronization

POST /api/v6/users/{userId}/sync

{
  "data_types": [
    "COMPANY_PROFILE",
    "COMPANY_OFFICER",
    "CORPORATE_OFFICE",
    "ACT",
    "ARTICLES_OF_ASSOCIATION",
    "AVIS_SIREN",
    "COLLECTIVE_PROCEDURE",
    "BENEFICIAL_OWNER",
    "BACKGROUND_CHECK_V2",
    "CONFORMITY_CHECK",
    "FINANCIAL_STATEMENT",
    "TAX_RETURN",
    "TAX_RETURN_ANALYSIS",
    "SECTOR_ANALYSIS",
    "TIMELINE",
    "TRADEMARK",
    "LEGAL_NOTICE",
    "PRIVILEGES",
    "COURT_DECISION",
    "REGISTRATION_PROOF"
  ]
}

Synchronization time

A complete due diligence may take several minutes. Set up webhooks so you are notified when the sync ends.

Step 5: Analyze the results

5.1 Legal checklist

async function legalDueDiligence(userId) {
  const [profile, articles, officers, beneficialOwners] = await Promise.all([
    qardApi.getCompanyProfile(userId),
    qardApi.getArticlesOfAssociation(userId),
    qardApi.getCompanyOfficers(userId),
    qardApi.getBeneficialOwners(userId)
  ]);

  return {
    companyActive: !profile.insee_closing_date && !profile.rncs_closing_date,
    hasStatutes: articles.length > 0,
    statutesUpToDate: articles[0]?.date > '2020-01-01',
    hasActiveOfficers: officers.some(o => !o.roles[0]?.end_date),
    hasBeneficialOwners: beneficialOwners.length > 0,
    legalForm: profile.legal?.form,
    capital: profile.capital?.amount
  };
}

5.2 Governance analysis

async function governanceDueDiligence(userId) {
  const backgroundCheck = await qardApi.getBackgroundCheckV2(userId);

  // Analyze links between entities
  const nodes = backgroundCheck.details?.nodes || [];
  const links = backgroundCheck.details?.links || [];

  const naturalPersons = nodes.filter(n => n.type === 'NATURAL');
  const legalPersons = nodes.filter(n => n.type === 'LEGAL');

  // Detect officers holding too many mandates
  const multiMandates = naturalPersons.filter(person => {
    const personLinks = links.filter(l => l.to === person.id);
    return personLinks.length > 3;
  });

  // Check linked entities for collective procedures
  const entitiesWithProcedures = nodes.filter(n =>
    n.pcl?.management_difficulties || n.pcl?.financial_difficulties
  );

  return {
    totalOfficers: naturalPersons.length,
    legalOfficers: legalPersons.length,
    multiMandatePersons: multiMandates,
    entitiesWithProcedures,
    riskAcceptable: backgroundCheck.acceptable === 'OK',
    riskReasons: backgroundCheck.reasons
  };
}

5.3 Compliance risk analysis

async function complianceDueDiligence(userId) {
  const [backgroundCheck, conformityChecks] = await Promise.all([
    qardApi.getBackgroundCheckV2(userId),
    qardApi.getConformityChecks(userId)
  ]);

  const riskFlags = {
    pep: backgroundCheck.reasons?.includes('PEP'),
    sanctions: backgroundCheck.reasons?.includes('WATCHLIST'),
    adverseMedia: backgroundCheck.reasons?.includes('ADVERSE_MEDIA'),
    blacklistedNationality: backgroundCheck.reasons?.includes('BENEFICIAL_OWNER_NATIONALITY_BLACKLISTED'),
    blacklistedAddress: backgroundCheck.reasons?.includes('COMPANY_ADDRESS_BLACKLISTED')
  };

  // Person-level details from conformity checks
  const personRisks = conformityChecks.map(check => ({
    personId: check.entity_id,
    entityType: check.entity_type,
    status: check.status,
    risks: check.risks
  }));

  return {
    globalRisk: backgroundCheck.acceptable === 'NOK' ? 'HIGH' : 'LOW',
    riskFlags,
    personRisks,
    requiresManualReview: Object.values(riskFlags).some(Boolean)
  };
}

5.4 Historical financial analysis

async function financialDueDiligence(userId) {
  const [taxReturns, analysis, sectorAnalysis] = await Promise.all([
    qardApi.getTaxReturns(userId),
    qardApi.getTaxReturnAnalysis(userId),
    qardApi.getSectorAnalysis(userId)
  ]);

  // 3-year trend
  const revenueHistory = taxReturns
    .sort((a, b) => b.closing_year - a.closing_year)
    .slice(0, 3)
    .map(tr => ({
      year: tr.closing_year,
      revenue: tr.revenue,
      netProfit: tr.net_profit,
      margin: tr.net_profit / tr.revenue
    }));

  // Trend calculation
  const revenueGrowth = revenueHistory.length >= 2
    ? (revenueHistory[0].revenue - revenueHistory[1].revenue) / revenueHistory[1].revenue
    : null;

  return {
    revenueHistory,
    revenueGrowth,
    lastRevenue: revenueHistory[0]?.revenue,
    lastNetProfit: revenueHistory[0]?.netProfit,
    profitMargin: revenueHistory[0]?.margin,
    dataQuality: taxReturns[0]?.warnings?.length === 0 ? 'GOOD' : 'WARNINGS',
    sectorPercentile: sectorAnalysis[0]?.percentile
  };
}

5.5 Incident history

async function historicalDueDiligence(userId) {
  const [procedures, courtDecisions, legalNotices, privileges] = await Promise.all([
    qardApi.getCollectiveProcedures(userId),
    qardApi.getCourtDecisions(userId),
    qardApi.getLegalNotices(userId),
    qardApi.getPrivileges(userId)
  ]);

  return {
    collectiveProcedures: procedures.map(p => ({
      type: p.type,
      date: p.date,
      status: p.status
    })),
    courtDecisions: courtDecisions.length,
    hasActivePrivileges: privileges.some(p => !p.end_date),
    recentLegalNotices: legalNotices
      .filter(n => new Date(n.date) > new Date(Date.now() - 365 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000))
      .length
  };
}

Due diligence report

async function generateDueDiligenceReport(userId) {
  const [legal, governance, compliance, financial, historical] = await Promise.all([
    legalDueDiligence(userId),
    governanceDueDiligence(userId),
    complianceDueDiligence(userId),
    financialDueDiligence(userId),
    historicalDueDiligence(userId)
  ]);

  // Compute the overall score
  const scores = {
    legal: calculateLegalScore(legal),
    governance: calculateGovernanceScore(governance),
    compliance: calculateComplianceScore(compliance),
    financial: calculateFinancialScore(financial),
    historical: calculateHistoricalScore(historical)
  };

  const globalScore = Object.values(scores).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0) / 5;

  return {
    userId,
    generatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
    globalScore: Math.round(globalScore),
    recommendation: globalScore >= 70 ? 'PROCEED' : globalScore >= 50 ? 'CAUTION' : 'DECLINE',
    sections: {
      legal: { score: scores.legal, details: legal },
      governance: { score: scores.governance, details: governance },
      compliance: { score: scores.compliance, details: compliance },
      financial: { score: scores.financial, details: financial },
      historical: { score: scores.historical, details: historical }
    },
    redFlags: identifyRedFlags({ legal, governance, compliance, financial, historical }),
    nextSteps: generateNextSteps(globalScore)
  };
}

function identifyRedFlags(data) {
  const flags = [];

  if (!data.legal.companyActive) flags.push('Inactive or deregistered company');
  if (data.governance.riskReasons?.length > 0) flags.push('Governance risks identified');
  if (data.compliance.globalRisk === 'HIGH') flags.push('High compliance risk');
  if (data.financial.profitMargin < 0) flags.push('Negative net margin');
  if (data.historical.collectiveProcedures?.length > 0) flags.push('History of collective procedures');
  if (data.historical.hasActivePrivileges) flags.push('Active liens or pledges');

  return flags;
}

Due diligence checklist

Documents to collect

• Recent K-bis extract
• Updated bylaws
• Beneficial owner declaration
• Last three financial statements
• Complete tax bundles
• Trademark and patent list

Verification points

• Company is active and not deregistered
• Legal information is consistent
• All officers are identified
• Beneficial owner declaration is complete
• No active collective procedures
• No individuals on sanctions lists
• Satisfactory financial health
• No significant liens or pledges

See also

• KYB / Onboarding - Streamlined onboarding version
• Background Check V2 - Detailed risk analysis
• Conformity Check - Compliance checks
• ComplyCube - Compliance verification provider