Overview
You can create a business contact in Legl manually without running a company search using the unified Create contact button.
This is useful when a company does not have a registered company number, operates in an unknown jurisdiction, or you simply need to create the contact before running further checks.
Once created, you can run a sanctions screening directly from the Business Contact page, and optionally link a company report at a later stage.
Before you start
You must have permission to create contacts in Legl. Contact your firm's Admin if you do not have access.
How to manually create a business
Go to the Contacts tab in Legl.
Click Create contact in the top right corner.
Select Business as the contact type.
Enter the company name. Optionally, enter the company number.
Select the country.
Click Add details manually instead of starting a company search.
ℹ️ Note
Clicking Add details manually creates the Business Contact page without running a company search or generating a Company Report. No charge is incurred at this stage.
If you want to run a full company search instead, click Start company search this will take you to the standard search screen and will generate a Company Report and sanctions screening, which incurs a charge.
The Business Contact page will be created. It will look the same as any other business contact page in Legl, with sections for Activity, Risk assessments, Associated contacts, and Monitoring.
How to run a sanctions screening
Once the business has been manually created, you can run a sanctions screening from the Business Contact page.
Open the Business Contact page.
Click Start Screening.
Click View to review the results.
If the screening returns a clear result, no further action is required at this stage.
If the result is not clear:
Review each result and mark it as our client or not our client.
Add a comment if required.
Click Mark as reviewed to complete the review.
How to link a company report after manual creation
If you decide to run a Company Report after creating the business manually, you can do this without losing the existing sanctions screening.
From the Business Contact page, click Search and link company.
The search will use the details you already provided.
Scroll through the results, find the relevant business, and click Link.
Once linked, click Create report to generate the Company Report.
ℹ️ Important
Linking a company and generating a Company Report incurs a charge. The existing sanctions screening will be preserved and linked to the report.
What happens next
The Business Contact page becomes the central location for managing the company and all compliance activity.
You can proceed with risk assessments, Engage workflows, or associated individual screening as required.
If you link a company report at a later stage, ongoing monitoring will be enabled at that point.
Important information
Manually creating a business does not generate a Company Report. This must be done separately using Search and link company if required.
Sanctions screenings run on a manually created business are saved against the Business Contact page and will be preserved if a company report is linked later.
This feature is useful for businesses in unknown jurisdictions or entities without a registered company number.