Money, Movement and Misdirection

Elizabeth Clemons
Nov 23, 2025
2 min read

Tracking Global Business Footprints

Tip Sheet

In this workshop, we walked through how to use public and open-source records to identify who really controls entities; trace entities across jurisdictions even when data is fragmented; uncover cross-border foreign influence and lobbying; connect corporate structures to political and financial power; and navigate language and cultural barriers when records aren’t in English.

Mapping Corporate Networks

OpenCorporates
Secretary of State incorporation records (add in the link to the tool we have on our site)
- Peel back the layers by searching...
  - Company names
  - Registered agents
  - Addresses
Country-specific company registers
- Companies House UK
LittleSis
- Visualize influence networks between entities and people.
OCCRP Catalogue of Research Databases
OCCRP Aleph
- Search leaks
- Official company data
- Court records
OpenOwnership
- Beneficial ownership data
SEC EDGAR database
- Publicly traded companies and certain large, privately traded companies

Political Influence

United States

FARA Database: foreign agents and clients in the U.S.
Senate Lobbying Disclosure: domestic lobbying.

Global Influence

One country’s lobbying data can be a backdoor to get information even if you are focusing on another country
Examples:
- EU Transparency Register: lobbying of EU institutions.
- LobbyCanada: federal lobbying in Canada.
- Germany Lobbyregister: who meets with federal officials.

Follow the Assets

Aircraft

ADS-B Exchange: unfiltered global flight data.
PlaneSpotters: registration info and photos.
Databases for researching business jet ownership.

Ships

MarineTraffic: real-time and historical vessel tracking.
Equasis: ship owner/operator details
VesselFinder: searchable by MMSI, IMO, or name.

Property

County assessor or land registry databases.
Cross-reference property-owning LLCs on OpenCorporates.

Trademarks

WIPO Brand Database: global trademark filings.
EUIPO eSearch — EU trademarks and IP.

Overcoming Language Barriers

Tools:

DeepL Translator — good for accuracy.
Linguee — side-by-side legal usage.Google Translate — quick searches.
OECD Legal Glossary — standard definitions for key terms (e.g. BO)

Tips:

Translate keywords, not whole documents.
Search registry terms in native
Use foreign-language Google domains (.fr, .es, .de) for local coverage.

Look to Other Journalists

Local media can provide a different perspective (and sometimes more information)
- Corroborate information
- Research biases
  - Media Ownership Monitor
  - NewsGuard
Cross-border collaborations bring together different perspectives and expertise