What is DUNS Number?
A 9-digit identifier assigned by Dun & Bradstreet to individual business locations, widely required by US federal contracting, procurement systems and credit checks. Unlike a registry number it is issued by a private company rather than a government register, so it is not evidence of legal incorporation and can exist for an unregistered branch.
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Related Terms
EIN (Employer Identification Number)
A 9-digit federal tax identifier issued by the IRS to US businesses, formatted NN-NNNNNNN. It is separate from a state entity or file number: the EIN identifies the taxpayer federally, while the state register identifies the legal entity. EINs are not published in a free public directory, so they normally come from the company or from IRS exempt-organization data.
LEI (Legal Entity Identifier)
A 20-character alphanumeric code issued under the global LEI system and maintained by GLEIF, used to identify legal entities in financial transactions. It encodes the issuing Local Operating Unit, an entity-specific block and two check digits, and must be renewed annually. LEI records are free, global and include the entity's legal name, address and direct parent.
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