Also called: Know your customer, Know your counterparty
What KYC means
KYC answers “who is this legal person?” It collects company name, registration jurisdiction, constitutional documents, and, where required, the ownership chain through to natural persons. Screening against sanctions and other restricted-party lists is a related step, not the same as identity collection. What a bank, insurer or regulator will accept is set by that institution and by the laws that apply to the file, not by a single worldwide KYC form.
Why counterparties collect KYC before terms
Commodity files move money, goods and documents across borders. A trading style on a letterhead is not enough if it does not match the registered company. Banks, insurers and serious counterparties expect a file before they treat an inquiry as real.
KYC also protects both sides. Buyers screen suppliers; suppliers screen buyers. An RFQ that refuses any due diligence is usually declined.
What it covers
A typical trade KYC file includes:
- Registered name, jurisdiction and evidence the entity still exists
- Directors or authorised signatories
- Ownership chain, including ultimate beneficial owners where required
- Business address and a way to contact the company that is not only a web form
- Consent to screening
What it does not cover
KYC does not prove production capacity. It does not replace a mill test or a COA. It does not, by itself, clear a restricted product or a restricted producer. It does not mean every future shipment from that company is automatically acceptable.
When it is required
In TTC’s process, KYC is collected before commercial terms are discussed and before names are introduced. Banking details are confirmed later in writing, not on first contact. Other counterparties, banks and destination authorities may collect KYC at different points; this page describes TTC’s sequence, not a universal legal timetable.
Common mistakes
Treating a website or a WhatsApp display name as identity. Sending full bank account details to an unknown mailbox with the first RFQ. Confusing KYC with a quality certificate. Assuming a licensed trader makes a restricted mill eligible.
TTC uses these terms in its RFQ and transaction process. Nothing on this page is a licence, a certification, a guarantee of clearance, or a substitute for the documents and clauses of a specific contract.