Commodity Counterparty Due Diligence
Counterparty diligence is cheapest first and most expensive last, so sequence matters: registry existence, sanctions exposure, authority, then people. Most bad counterparties fail at the first two steps, which cost almost nothing to run.
Registry and existence
Start with the official corporate registry of the stated jurisdiction: does the entity exist, is it active, when was it formed, and do its directors reconcile with the people in front of you? A company formed weeks before offering fifty million dollars of commodity is answering your first question already.
Sanctions and exclusion screening
Screen the entity and its principals against government sanctions and debarment lists — OFAC, UN, EU and UK consolidated lists, plus the multilateral development banks' debarment registers. A match is a compliance stop; a possible match must be resolved with full identity details before anything proceeds.
Authority and people
Confirm the individual's relationship to the entity through the company's own verified channels — a call to the registered office, not a reply to the same email thread. Free-mail addresses, phone numbers that never resolve to the company, and signatories absent from any filing are individually small and jointly decisive.
Verification checklist
- Registry extract from the official source, matched to the people in the deal
- Sanctions and debarment screening of entity and principals
- Signatory confirmed through the company's own verified channels
- Corporate age and filing history consistent with the offer's scale
- Physical address that resolves to real operations
Paste the offer, email or chat into the Free Deal Check and get a preliminary verification posture with a concrete evidence list — no account required.
Run the Free Deal Check