The use of beneficial ownership data by private entities
Annex 1. Further information on research framework
The rapid scoping exercise identified a range of questions that the research team aimed to answer through primary and secondary data collection.
1. Identify the current use of BO data by private entities, including an overview of a full range of types of entities and industries that use BO data. The research will provide a typography of the industries, departments, other private entity characteristics, markets, and jurisdictions where BO data is currently used, identifying those for whom BO data is most important.
Research questions:
- Which industries currently use BO data, and why?
- Are there specific characteristics of a private company (e.g. size, number of transactions or suppliers, scale of operations, etc.) that determine whether or not BO data is used by that company?
- Are there specific markets in which the use of BO data is more prevalent and, if so, why?
- Where within a specific company or other type of private entity is BO data used (i.e. which departments or units)?
2. Identify the range of different business drivers for the use of BO data and how they relate to different industries. In addition to existing drivers, emerging trends that may drive business use in the near future will be identified.
Research questions:
- What are the different business drivers for the use of BO data by private entities?
- Are the drivers industry or jurisdiction-specific?
- Where is BO data most impactful or valuable within the private sector, both in terms of how BO data is currently used and how it may be used in the future?
- How recent are the drivers, and will they grow or diminish in strength?
- Which actors and entities are at the forefront of trends that could encourage access to BO data by private entities?
- Within the private sector, who has influence, and of what kind, in business drivers and incentives for the use of BO data?
3. Define the specific business processes, systems, and tools used for collecting, processing, and managing BO data within key industries that will be explored. The research will also provide an overview of the policy and workflow involved within key business processes and in the use of BO data of customers, suppliers, partners, distributors, and other business relationships.
Research questions:
- What are the current use cases for the use of BO by private entities? Which use cases are more common?
- What are the business processes for which BO data is used within a given company/private entity? Is the data used for more than one business process and, if so, which business unit is the primary data purchaser/internal provider?
- How is BO data sourced/procured?
- In what form is BO data used?
- If BO data is used with other data within a business process/business decision, in what ways is it transformed and/or used with other data?
- What tools or software are used in the process of extraction, importation, integration, or application of BO data?
4. Explore and detail the challenges that private entities find in accessing and using BO data. The research will identify gaps where BO data may be useful but is not currently being used widely, as well as emerging areas of use and trends that can support more effective and widespread availability and use of BO data.
Research questions:
- What are the internal (to the private entity) and external incentives and disincentives for use of BO data by private entities in groups 2 and 3?
- Where else is BO data not being widely used currently where it could be of value to private entities? What are the reasons for this?
- What kinds of challenges do private entities face using BO data? How do they address these challenges?
- How are trends moving that would support the use of BO data by companies or other private entities?