Entity Lookup

Use the /entity-lookup endpoint to search for an entity by its registry identifier and retrieve basic information such as the entity name, status, classification, and address. This is useful for pre-filling verification or form submissions with official registry data before calling the Forms API or KYB API.

Supported countries

CountryAccepted identifiersData source
Australia (AUS)ABN (11 digits) or ACN (9 digits)Australian Business Register (ABR) and ASIC Company Dataset
New Zealand (NZL)NZBN (13 digits) or NZCN (company number, 1-7 digits)New Zealand Business Number registry

GET/v5/entity-lookup

Look up an entity

This endpoint allows you to look up an entity by country and identifier. It returns basic registry information such as the entity name, classification options, status, and address inside the standard v5 response envelope's data field.

Query parameters

  • Name
    country
    Type
    string
    Description

    3 letter country ISO code (e.g. AUS, NZL).

  • Name
    id
    Type
    string
    Description

    The unique identifier of the entity to look up. Country-specific (e.g. ABN or ACN in Australia, NZBN or NZCN in New Zealand). An NZCN (New Zealand Company Number) is resolved to its entity through the registry's search index and verified against the entity's company number, so only an exact match is returned.

Request

GET
/v5/entity-lookup
curl "https://dev.bronid.com/v5/entity-lookup?country=AUS&id=33051775556" \
  --user "XL7ULiU6B4QE9Y2iWFZnhtMDKFN2:api_sec_NJAtNcRtUrPlf7xYDrMNP9URI-ZfN314"

AUS response

{
  "timestamp": "2026-07-10T04:34:37.668Z",
  "serviceUid": "XL7ULiU6B4QE9Y2iWFZnhtMDKFN2",
  "trace": "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT",
  "path": "/v5/entity-lookup",
  "pathParams": {},
  "statusCode": 200,
  "message": "Entity found.",
  "help": null,
  "status": "success",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "country": "AUS",
    "name": "TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED",
    "classification": {
      "default": {
        "type": "company",
        "subType": "none",
        "description": "Australian Public Company"
      },
      "options": [
        {
          "type": "company",
          "subType": "none",
          "description": "Australian Public Company"
        }
      ]
    },
    "identifiers": {
      "abn": "33051775556",
      "acn": "051775556"
    },
    "names": [
      {
        "value": "TELSTRA INFRACO",
        "type": "businessName"
      },
      {
        "value": "TELSTRA",
        "type": "tradingName"
      }
    ],
    "entityStatus": "Active",
    "address": {
      "text": "VIC 3000",
      "state": "VIC",
      "postcode": "3000"
    },
    "dateRegistered": "1999-11-01"
  }
}

NZL response

{
  "timestamp": "2026-07-10T04:34:37.668Z",
  "serviceUid": "XL7ULiU6B4QE9Y2iWFZnhtMDKFN2",
  "trace": "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT",
  "path": "/v5/entity-lookup",
  "pathParams": {},
  "statusCode": 200,
  "message": "Entity found.",
  "help": null,
  "status": "success",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "country": "NZL",
    "name": "SPARK NEW ZEALAND LIMITED",
    "classification": {
      "default": {
        "type": "company",
        "subType": "none",
        "description": "NZ Limited Company"
      },
      "options": [
        {
          "type": "company",
          "subType": "none",
          "description": "NZ Limited Company"
        }
      ]
    },
    "identifiers": {
      "nzbn": "9429039661098",
      "nzcn": "303826"
    },
    "names": [
      {
        "value": "SPARK NEW ZEALAND",
        "type": "tradingName"
      }
    ],
    "entityStatus": "Registered",
    "address": null,
    "dateRegistered": "1987-02-24"
  }
}

The entity lookup data model

A successful response carries the matched entity's registry information in the envelope's data field.

Properties

  • Name
    country
    Type
    string
    Description

    3 letter country ISO code.

  • Name
    name
    Type
    string
    Description

    The main name of the entity.

  • Name
    classification
    Type
    object
    Description

    The canonical classification model for the entity. It provides a default and most likely pair through classification.default, plus any additional valid type/subType combinations through classification.options. You can map these values directly into request payload fields for the Forms API and KYB API. For more details, see Working With Classification below.

  • Name
    identifiers
    Type
    object
    Description

    The entity's registry identifiers, keyed by the same names the verification request payloads accept — the values can be mapped directly into the identifiers object of a Forms API or KYB API request. See Identifiers below.

  • Name
    names
    Type
    array
    Description

    Array of name objects with different names the entity is known by.

  • Name
    entityStatus
    Type
    string
    Description

    Text description of entity status from the registry (e.g. Active, Registered).

  • Name
    address
    Type
    object | null
    Description

    Address of the entity, or null if not available. NZL lookups always return null for this field.

  • Name
    dateRegistered
    Type
    string | null
    Description

    The date the entity was registered with the registry (e.g. "1999-11-01"), or null if not available.

Names array

  • Name
    value
    Type
    string
    Description

    The name of the entity.

  • Name
    type
    Type
    string
    Description

    The type of name: businessName, tradingName, or formerName.

Identifiers object

All keys are optional — only the identifiers the registry holds for the entity are present.

  • Name
    abn
    Type
    string
    Description

    Australian Business Number (AUS).

  • Name
    acn
    Type
    string
    Description

    Australian Company Number (AUS).

  • Name
    nzbn
    Type
    string
    Description

    New Zealand Business Number (NZL).

  • Name
    nzcn
    Type
    string
    Description

    New Zealand Companies Register number (NZL), present when the entity is registered on the NZ Companies Register.

Address object

  • Name
    text
    Type
    string | null
    Description

    Address as a single line of text.

  • Name
    state
    Type
    string | null
    Description

    State of the address.

  • Name
    postcode
    Type
    string | null
    Description

    Postcode of the address.


Error responses

Errors follow the standard v5 error envelope — see Validation errors for the general format.

Entity not found

Returned with HTTP status 404 when the identifier does not match any entity in the registry.

{
	"timestamp": "2026-07-10T04:34:37.668Z",
	"serviceUid": "XL7ULiU6B4QE9Y2iWFZnhtMDKFN2",
	"trace": "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT",
	"path": "/v5/entity-lookup",
	"pathParams": {},
	"statusCode": 404,
	"status": "error",
	"message": "Not found",
	"help": null,
	"data": null,
	"error": {
		"type": "not_found",
		"details": [
			{
				"message": "No registry match found for the provided identifier.",
				"code": "not_found",
				"path": ["id"]
			}
		]
	}
}

Unsupported country or invalid parameters

Returned with HTTP status 422 when the country parameter is not a supported country, or when required parameters are missing or invalid. An id that fails its country's checksum (a valid ABN/ACN for AUS, a valid NZBN or a 1-7 digit NZCN for NZL) is rejected here rather than reaching the registry — a malformed identifier is a client error, not a 404 or a retryable 503.

{
	"timestamp": "2026-07-10T04:34:37.668Z",
	"serviceUid": "XL7ULiU6B4QE9Y2iWFZnhtMDKFN2",
	"trace": "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT",
	"path": "/v5/entity-lookup",
	"pathParams": {},
	"statusCode": 422,
	"status": "error",
	"message": "Validation error",
	"help": null,
	"data": null,
	"error": {
		"type": "validation_error",
		"details": [
			{
				"message": "Country not supported: GBR. Supported countries: AUS, NZL",
				"code": "validation_error",
				"path": ["country"]
			}
		]
	}
}

Registry unavailable

Returned with HTTP status 503 when the upstream business registry could not be reached (outage or network failure). This is distinct from a 404: the entity may well exist — retry the request later.

{
	"timestamp": "2026-07-10T04:34:37.668Z",
	"serviceUid": "XL7ULiU6B4QE9Y2iWFZnhtMDKFN2",
	"trace": "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT",
	"path": "/v5/entity-lookup",
	"pathParams": {},
	"statusCode": 503,
	"status": "error",
	"message": "Service unavailable",
	"help": null,
	"data": null,
	"error": {
		"type": "service_unavailable",
		"details": [
			{
				"message": "The business registry could not be reached. Try again later.",
				"code": "service_unavailable"
			}
		]
	}
}

Working With Classification

Use the classification field as your source of truth for choosing type and subType values for downstream API calls.

1) Classification Schema

  • Name
    default
    Type
    object
    Description

    The default and most likely classification pair to use automatically. In some cases, additional valid pairs may also be available in options.

  • Name
    options
    Type
    array
    Description

    Non-empty list of available classification pairs for the entity, each the same shape as default; the default pair is always included.

2) Classification Item Schema

Both default and every options entry use this shape.

  • Name
    type
    Type
    string
    Description

    The entity type for this pair (e.g. company, trust, partnership).

  • Name
    subType
    Type
    string
    Description

    The entity subtype paired with the type.

  • Name
    description
    Type
    string
    Description

    The registry's human-readable description of the entity type this pair was derived from (e.g. Australian Public Company, NZ Limited Company).

3) How To Use It

  1. Call /v5/entity-lookup and read data.classification.options.
  2. If options has exactly 1 pair — the entity classification is unambiguous. Auto-select classification.default and skip any user prompt.
  3. If options has multiple pairs — the registry entity type is ambiguous (e.g. a Government Co-operative could be cooperative, governmentBody, or other, and a trust code can allow several trust subtypes). Pre-select classification.default but let the customer choose from all options.
  4. Submit the selected type and subType values directly to the Forms API or KYB API.

4) Practical Examples

Example A — Unambiguous entity (auto-select)

An Australian Private Company (ABN lookup). A single option pair. Use the default directly — no user selection needed.

{
	"classification": {
		"default": { "type": "company", "subType": "none", "description": "Australian Private Company" },
		"options": [{ "type": "company", "subType": "none", "description": "Australian Private Company" }]
	}
}

Auto-populate type: "company" and subType: "none" in your form submission.

Example B — Ambiguous entity type (let user choose type)

A Government Co-operative registered with ABR. The registry code maps to 3 possible types. Pre-select the default but present all options to the customer.

{
	"classification": {
		"default": { "type": "cooperative", "subType": "none", "description": "Government Co-operative" },
		"options": [
			{ "type": "cooperative", "subType": "none", "description": "Government Co-operative" },
			{ "type": "governmentBody", "subType": "none", "description": "Government Co-operative" },
			{ "type": "other", "subType": "none", "description": "Government Co-operative" }
		]
	}
}

Show a selector pre-filled with "cooperative". The customer can confirm or switch to "governmentBody" or "other".

Example C — Known type, multiple subtypes (let user choose subtype)

A trust registered with the NZBN. The type is known (trust) but the specific trust subtype is ambiguous.

{
	"classification": {
		"default": { "type": "trust", "subType": "discretionaryTrust", "description": "Trading trusts" },
		"options": [
			{ "type": "trust", "subType": "discretionaryTrust", "description": "Trading trusts" },
			{ "type": "trust", "subType": "unitTrust", "description": "Trading trusts" },
			{ "type": "trust", "subType": "hybridTrust", "description": "Trading trusts" }
		]
	}
}

Show a subtype selector pre-filled with "discretionaryTrust". The customer can confirm or pick "unitTrust" or "hybridTrust".


What's next?

Once you have the lookup response, use the classification values to pre-fill your downstream API requests:

  • Use classification to pre-fill a Forms API request
  • Use classification to submit a KYB API request

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