Cross-border trade rests on a simple question that is still hard to answer: how can a buyer, a bank, a customs officer or an AI agent know that a company on the other side of the world is real, and is who it says it is?
Today the answer comes from commercial databases that charge per search and are not official, from manual checks that take days and cost more than a small order is worth, or from paper and PDF certificates that are easy to fake and that no computer can check. Honest small firms in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) lose, because buyers trust them less and ask for more paperwork. Fake companies win, because they hide in the confusion.
Global Corporate Reference (GCRef) is a free public service run by Global Credibility Centre (GCC), an independent think tank in London. GCRef reads a company’s record only from its government’s official company register. Fixed rules written in code check every field, with no guessing and no artificial intelligence; if anything looks wrong, nothing is published. GCRef then adds a digital seal and an independent date stamp, and issues the Global Registry Pass (GRP). Anyone can check a GRP in seconds, free, without an account, even offline. Changing one letter breaks the seal.
The seal works like a tamper-proof seal on a jar. It does not change what is in the jar. It shows who closed it and that nobody has opened it since. The government register always stays the real source; GCRef makes its record easy to carry across borders and quick to check.
GCRef is not a company register, and it does not rate companies. It confirms what the official register says, and gives the same free proof to a small workshop and a large corporation.
1. Policy context
Almost every country keeps an official register of its companies, but these registers do not talk to each other. Each has its own website, language, format and status codes, and most still hand out paper or PDF certificates.
The UN is writing the rules that would connect them. UN/CEFACT’s Global Registry Information Directory (GRID) will show which register is official in each country, and the UN Transparency Protocol (UNTP), near its version 1.0, sets one common format for digital trade proofs. What is missing in most developing economies is a register able to issue digital proofs: registers lack the technology, the people and the money to change.
GCRef fills that practical gap: the working technology that lets a register join the UN system now instead of in many years.
Why scores and ratings do not close the gap
Commercial ratings and scores answer a different question. They give an opinion about a company, built by a method the company usually cannot see. They are sold, so a small firm may not be able to see or improve how it appears. And the data behind them is a copy, which can fall behind the official record.
The question a buyer asks first is simpler: is this company real, and is it who it says it is? The official register already holds that answer. What is missing is a way to carry it across borders and check it quickly.
2. Core proposition
GCRef turns a company’s official register record into a signed digital proof that anyone can check for free. Issuance and checking are free and identical for every company. GCRef publishes no score, rating or ranking, and sells nothing on the verification surface.
GCRef covers companies, never people. It keeps no data about people from any register.
3. Frameworks GCRef builds on
GCRef does not invent new rules. It follows agreements, standards and model laws that already exist, and adds the working technology. Each item says what GCRef does today, and what it plans next.
UN Global Digital Compact (2024)
The GDC sets out an open, fair and safe digital future. GCRef serves three of its objectives:
Objective 1, closing digital divides. A free digital proof for companies whose registers still issue paper.
Objective 2, inclusion in the digital economy. The Global Registry Pass lets a small exporter show buyers abroad that it is a real, registered company, for free and without hiring anyone.
Objective 4, responsible and interoperable data governance. Open standards, no data about people, and a public route to report mistakes.
UN/CEFACT: UNTP and GRID
UN Transparency Protocol (UNTP). A UN common format for digital trade proofs, near its version 1.0. Today, GCRef’s proofs use the same W3C Verifiable Credentials format that UNTP uses. Next, GCRef plans to match UNTP’s format for company proofs.
Global Registry Information Directory (GRID). A UN directory, being built through UN/CEFACT’s Global Trust Registry project, of which register is official in each country. Next, GCRef plans to use GRID to confirm which register is official, and can act as the technical operator for a register in a GRID pilot.
Other agreements, laws and programmes
G20 Framework for Systems of DPI (2023) and UN Universal DPI Safeguards Framework (2024). Built to these principles: open standards, no personal data, public challenge.
UNCITRAL Model Law on Identity Management and Trust Services (2022). A model law for recognising digital seals and date stamps across borders. GCRef’s seals and date stamps are this kind of service; their legal status is with counsel.
UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Key Principles of a Business Registry (2018). GCRef builds on its call for public access: anyone, in any country, can check the records of covered registers for free.
WTO Agreement on Electronic Commerce (stabilised text 2024). Compatible with its rules on electronic signatures, electronic proof and paperless trade.
GLEIF and the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). GCRef already reads LEIs as a second identifier. It does not replace the LEI or GLEIF’s vLEI: GCRef gives any covered company a free proof from its home register, with no LEI needed.
UNIDO AIM Global. A possible worked example of trustworthy data for industry, checked by fixed rules rather than AI.
UNCTAD eRegistrations and eTrade for all. Companies registered online could become checkable abroad, at no cost.
GCRef supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals on industry and innovation (SDG 9).
4. Value to multilateral institutions
Fair access to trade. A free proof for honest small firms in EMDEs that buyers abroad do not yet know.
Proof a computer can check. A digital seal and date stamp replace paper and PDF certificates that are easy to fake.
Registers stay in charge. Each register stays the owner and the official source, decides what GCRef may read, and can stop at any time. When a register issues its own digital proofs, GCRef steps back for that register.
Interoperability. One proof format that customs and Single Window systems, trade portals, ERPs and AI agents can read.
Neutrality. No scores, no ratings, no rankings, and no paid placement. No funder can change a proof or a rule, or choose which companies are covered.
5. Technical standards
Proof format: W3C Verifiable Credentials, with an Ed25519 Data Integrity proof and a second, JWS form over the same content for UNTP alignment
Date stamp: IETF RFC 3161 tokens from two independent time-stamp authorities
Identifiers: the register’s own company number, ISO 6523 codes for identifier schemes, ISO 3166 country codes, and the Legal Entity Identifier (ISO 17442) read as a second identifier where it exists
Issuer identity: a published did:web identifier
Status: a public status list, so a cancelled proof shows as cancelled
Readable by: customs and Single Window systems, trade portals, ERPs and AI agents, with standard tools and without an account
6. Data and privacy
No data about people: GCRef stores no natural person’s name, identifier, birth data or address from any register. A person who holds shares appears only as “Natural Person (Restricted)” with an interest band.
No raw copies: raw register files are deleted once processed; only their SHA-256 hashes are kept, and each proof carries the hash of the record it came from.
No bulk access: no endpoint lists or exports companies in bulk.
Current, not stale: GCRef rechecks the register regularly. If the official record changes, the old proof is cancelled within an hour and a new one is issued.
Open to challenge: anyone can report a mistake, and GCRef then rechecks the register itself.
Security: GCRef runs NIS2-level security controls, with a risk register, an incident runbook and multi-factor sign-in for every staff role.
7. Status and recommended path for cooperation
GCRef is built. The full system works and is tested: reading registers, checks, seals, free checking, reporting mistakes and monitoring. Coverage today is the United Kingdom and Brazil, with LEIs read as a second identifier. Next planned are India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. No dates are promised; each step waits on agreements, not on the calendar.
Public test. 100 companies once the final setup steps are done: secure key storage, legal advice and the live web address.
First pilots. More countries’ registers, and a first UN GRID pilot with one register and one funder.
Register-run proofs. Help registers issue digital proofs themselves, under a key each register holds itself. GCRef never holds a register’s key and never issues a proof in a register’s name.
Wider reach. EMDEs and the Global South first, then G20 economies.
What GCRef asks of partners:
Access to national registers. Help member states let GCRef read their official company register, through open data or a direct connection. Only facts about companies, never about people.
Funding. To connect each register and run the service. Every covered company gets the same free service.
Expert review. Of how GCRef works, by your specialists. We ask for review, not endorsement.
Use. Of GCRef checks in your own trade, procurement or customs projects, free.
8. In one line
GCRef does not replace official registers. It turns their records into free digital proofs that anyone, anywhere, can check in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
Q1. What exactly is GCRef? A free public service, run by Global Credibility Centre, that turns a company’s official government register record into a digital proof, the Global Registry Pass, that anyone can check for free.
Q2. What does GCRef store? The company facts it reads from the official register, checked and mapped by fixed rules, with their source and retrieval time. It keeps no data about people from any register, and it keeps no raw copies of register files, only their hashes.
Q3. Why not just query official registers directly? You can, and the register stays the source. But each register has its own website, language, format and status codes, and most issue paper or PDF certificates. GCRef maps each register’s codes to one shared set of values and issues a proof a computer can check.
Q4. How do you know a proof is reliable? Each proof carries the hash of the register record it came from, a date stamp from an independent time-stamp authority, and GCRef’s digital seal. Changing one letter breaks the seal. A cancelled proof shows as cancelled on a public status list.
Q5. How is GCRef different from commercial company databases? Commercial databases charge per search, can be out of date, and are not official. GCRef reads only official registers, gives every company the same free proof, publishes no ratings, and sells nothing on the verification surface.
Q6. Do you rate or score companies? No. GCRef publishes no score, rating or ranking. It confirms what the official register says.
Q7. Are you an official government register? No. The register always stays the owner and the official source. Where GCRef shows its own sealed copy, it is clearly labelled as GCRef’s, and GCRef steps back once the register issues its own proofs.
Q8. What does GCRef do about personal data? It keeps no data about people from any register. A person who holds shares appears only as “Natural Person (Restricted)”. Raw register files are deleted once processed.
Q9. Which standards do you follow? W3C Verifiable Credentials, IETF RFC 3161 date stamps, ISO 6523, ISO 17442 (LEI) and ISO 3166, and the UN/CEFACT work on UNTP and GRID.
Q10. Why will small exporters use GCRef? Because checking a foreign supplier by hand costs more than a small order is worth. A free Global Registry Pass lets a small exporter show buyers abroad that it is a real, registered company, without hiring anyone.
Q11. Who runs and funds GCRef? Global Credibility Centre, an independent think tank registered in England and Wales. Funding from international organisations, development banks, foundations, NGOs and governments is welcome, on the same terms for all. Every funder is named publicly. No funder can change a proof or a rule, choose which companies are covered, or receive company data beyond what the public sees.
Q12. How does GCRef pay for itself if checking is free? Through funders and four paid services that never change a proof: integration support for platforms, enterprise assurance, public coverage licences for funders who pay to connect a register, and register services that help an official register issue its own proofs under its own key. None is priced per check.
Global Credibility, Universal Access. © Global Credibility Centre