A put option transfers a right to sell at a fixed price. The counterparty's capacity to honour that obligation depends on who controls the entity, what assets it holds, and whether prior claims already encumber those assets. These facts are verifiable from official sources before the instrument is signed.
Control is the operative question. Registered directors, authorised signatories and ultimate beneficial owners determine whether the counterparty can bind itself and whether it will remain solvent when the option is exercised. The report establishes each layer in sequence, names the source for each finding, and states where the chain stops.
What the report establishesRegistered controllers, ownership chain to the identifiable layer, filed financial position, and any recorded insolvency or enforcement proceedings. Sources verified March 2026. Jurisdiction coverageUp to 35 jurisdictions per engagement, depending on the counterparty's corporate structure and the tier selected. Price rangeSignal €890 · Standard €1 900 · Extended €4 200. Fixed per tier; no variable billing. What the report does not doIt does not qualify the legal effect of findings, predict enforcement outcomes, or guarantee completeness where a register withholds data by law.What the sources cover: the control layer
Counterparty control is established through three sequential layers: registered management, ownership structure, and beneficial ownership where disclosed.
Registered management. Most commercial registers publish the names of directors, managing officers, and authorised signatories. The filing date of each appointment is recorded. Gaps between resignation and new appointment are visible in the filing history. Where a register provides document-level access, the original instrument of appointment can be retrieved and compared against the current entry.
Ownership structure. Shareholder registers or equivalent filings show the legal owners of shares or membership interests. In jurisdictions that require periodic updates, the most recent filed list is the baseline. In jurisdictions where the register is not updated in real time, the filed list reflects the position at the last notification date — not necessarily today.
Beneficial ownership. Following the CJEU ruling in joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, EU member state UBO registers are no longer publicly accessible as a default. Access requires a demonstrated legitimate interest, assessed by the registering authority. The report identifies the access pathway available in each jurisdiction and states whether a request was submitted, pending, or refused. Where access is unavailable, the report names the last identifiable layer and the legal basis for the restriction.
The United Kingdom's PSC register remains accessible. Poland's CRBR register has a public-access mechanism. Both are subject to verification against current access conditions before each engagement.
Ownership chain across multiple jurisdictions
A put option counterparty is frequently a holding structure. The entity signing the instrument may be a subsidiary; the entity with assets may be a parent or a sister company in a different jurisdiction. The report traces the chain across jurisdictions to the extent that official sources permit.
For each jurisdiction in the chain, the report records:
- the name and registration number of the entity at that layer
- the registered address and the date it was last updated
- the names of registered controllers at that layer
- the source registry and the date of extraction
Where a layer is incorporated in a jurisdiction that does not publish ownership data — Delaware LLC, certain offshore structures — the report states this explicitly. The chain is documented to the point of verified fact; the gap is named, not papered over.
Filed financial position
Counterparty capacity to honour a put option depends on balance-sheet solvency at the time of exercise. Filed accounts provide the most recent publicly available snapshot.
The report retrieves the most recent filed financial statements where the jurisdiction requires their publication. The filing date is recorded. The gap between the filing date and the report date is stated: a counterparty with accounts filed eighteen months ago presents a different information position than one with accounts filed last quarter.
Where accounts are not required to be filed publicly — as in certain US states and offshore jurisdictions — the report states the absence and identifies what alternative indicators are available from public sources.
No financial projection is made. No solvency opinion is given. The report states what the filed figures show and when they were filed.
Insolvency and enforcement proceedings
A put option exercised against an insolvent counterparty produces a claim in the insolvency estate, not a payment. Identifying prior proceedings is therefore a prerequisite, not an optional step.
The report queries insolvency registers, gazette publications, and court record databases in each relevant jurisdiction. The scope of each query is stated. A negative result is recorded as a negative result at the date of query — not as a guarantee of absence. In several jurisdictions, a petition may be filed and not yet published; the report identifies this lag where it is known.
Enforcement records — judgments, liens, and registered charges — are retrieved where the relevant register is accessible. The report records the source, the date of query, and the scope of the search. Charges registered after the query date are not captured.
The limit of what the sources allow
Official registers show what was filed. They do not show what was agreed privately, what assets were transferred before a filing obligation arose, or what obligations exist under unregistered instruments.
Specific limits that apply to counterparty reports before a put option:
Ownership. Where a jurisdiction does not require beneficial ownership disclosure, the report identifies the registered legal owner. The beneficial owner behind that legal owner is not established from public sources.
Financial position. Filed accounts reflect a past period. The counterparty's position at the date of option exercise is not determinable from filed accounts alone.
Insolvency. A negative result in an insolvency register confirms no published proceeding at the date of query. It does not confirm that no proceeding has been initiated.
Charges and encumbrances. Some jurisdictions register charges centrally; others do not. Where no central register exists, the report states this. An unregistered charge may exist and remain invisible to any public-source search.
Nominee structures. Where a nominee director or nominee shareholder is used, the register reflects the nominee. The principal behind the nominee is not visible from the register alone.
The ceiling of what the sources allow is stated before payment. The report does not overstate what it establishes.