Commerce Research Library: Company & Industry Research: Vetting

Getting Started with Vetting

Vetting often involves:

Checking whether a company is a legitimate enterprise
Finding any negative stories about a company from news sources
Checking public records for any bankruptcy or criminal proceedings against a company
Determining whether there are any lawsuits pending against a business
Investigating whether there are any politically exposed persons within a firm

Depending on your company (private/public, big/small, foreign/domestic) you will have numerous results to sort through or nothing at all. For tips on how to limit or expand your search results check out our training videos.

Best Bets Vetting Databases

Lexis Advance Research
Nexis Diligence is the best resource for vetting companies. It is particularly useful for doing negative news searches and searches for legal issues since the LexisNexis database is a leading source for news and legal research. Nexis Diligence provides access to public records and can be used to monitor a company’s credit rating through its access to Experian.

D&B Hoovers
Hoover's is easy to use and one of the best DOC resources to use when performing most types of company research. The Hoover’s database includes records for over 120 million businesses across over 1000 industries. It covers both domestic and foreign companies and public as well as private firms.

Bureaus billed back by ID. Access limited to HCHB staff, ITA regional, and BEA regional offices

Other Vetting Resources

Bloomberg Terminal
Information and data in the Bloomberg database are grouped by function. Most company related information is grouped under the “equity” function. The library is currently offering remote access to our Bloomberg terminal. Only one person can login to the terminal at a time; please reserve a time slot using the link above.
Company Profiles
EBSCO includes a company directory that covers over a million companies, both public and private. Its coverage, however, is far less comprehensive than D&B Hoovers, LexisNexis Dossier or Bloomberg. Instead it focuses on the largest companies and even for these provides much less information and data than the other business directories. Company Profiles provide MarketLine/Medtrack Reports which cover company overview, SWOT analyses, key facts, top competitors, company products and services, subsidiaries, etc.
Uniworld Online
With Uniworld Online, you’ll find contact information for headquarters, subsidiaries, and branches of multinational firms with offices in another country. While the directory offers minimal information on companies that are included, it is an excellent resource for locating the subsidiaries of parent companies and visa-versa, as well as the branch offices of corporate headquarters.