Given that our clients operate in highly regulated industries where trust, data security, and reputation are paramount, and that Sumsub serves as a reliable provider handling sensitive information, we consider it necessary to address a series of false and defamatory claims that have been circulating across social media and certain publications.
These materials, often presented as “investigations”, rely on a mix of publicly available information, selective omissions, deceptive framing, and, in some cases, outright false allegations to construct a narrative that does not reflect the reality of Sumsub’s ownership and control structure, operations (past or present), or compliance practices.
Notably, in most instances, the authors do not approach Sumsub for comment prior to publication, fail to fairly reflect the factual clarifications provided by the company, use platforms that do not take responsibility for content posted, or remain anonymous. A lot of the analysis in these “investigations” is LLM-generated or originates from sources that have been associated with removal of adverse content in exchange for financial consideration. This falls short of the standards expected of responsible reporting and raises serious concerns about objectivity and editorial integrity.
For this reason, we believe it is important to set the record straight and provide a rebuttal of the following statements, broadly summarized based on publicly available incorrect allegations.
Allegation: “Sumsub Conceals Its Ultimate Beneficial Ownership”
Since the inception of Sumsub in 2015, three of its founders – specifically, Andrew, Jacob and Peter Sever – have been its only ultimate beneficial owners. Variations in the spelling of the brothers’ names and surnames are attributable to historical changes made to some of their IDs, as well as their personal preferences.
Raritex Trade Ltd, a Cyprus-incorporated company, is currently both the holding company of the Sumsub Group and its main operating entity. The Sever brothers are registered as ultimate beneficial owners in the Cyprus UBO registry. The Sever brothers’ shares are held in trust by Ineko Consultancy Ltd, a provider of corporate secretarial services.
Raritex Trade Ltd also has four minority shareholders. Those shareholders are not connected with each other; they do not have seats on our board or exert control over our operations; they do not have PEPs or sanctioned individuals as UBOs; they are not sanctioned themselves; they are not in any way, shape, or form linked to the Russian state apparatus. None of their UBOs (whose identity we are not at liberty to disclose without the affected parties’ written consent) are simultaneously Sumsub's UBOs. We trust this information is sufficient to alleviate any reasonable concerns regarding the shareholding of Sumsub.
Sumsub also maintains operational legal entities in multiple other jurisdictions. This includes Sum and Substance Ltd, in which Raritex Trade Ltd now holds 100% of shares, and which was originally the first legal entity of the Sumsub Group. The Sever brothers are likewise notified as the PSCs (“persons with significant control”) in the respective section of the Sum and Substance Ltd Companies House profile, which is publicly available. Historical changes in PSC reporting in 2023-2024 are attributable to differing interpretations of, and professional advice received on, the relevant Companies House guidelines. Prior to that, a single internal reorganization happened in 2019 during the asset consolidation within the Sumsub Group, when the UK entity’s shares were transferred to Raritex Trade Ltd from Jacob Sever. These filings do not represent alterations in Sumsub’s ultimate beneficial ownership. The Sever brothers have been UBOs of the entire Sumsub Group for over 10 uninterrupted years.
Allegation: “Sumsub Used To Be A Russian Project Called SMTDP Technology”
SMTDP Technology was a separate pre-Sumsub project of the Sever brothers. It focused on image forensics and involved a different product called “Picture Manipulation Inspector”, its primary use case being mitigation of insurance fraud (e.g. forged images submitted in motor insurance claims). The business venture of SMTDP Technology was eventually abandoned and wound down.
Sumsub was set up as an independent venture of the Sever brothers and Dr. Vyacheslav Zholudev, our CTO, to develop remote KYC technologies in the context of the AML/CFT regulatory landscape.
Sumsub is not a successor to SMTDP Technology. There is no business continuity between the two.
Allegation: “Sumsub Has Ties To The Kremlin Or Russian Security Agencies, Or Shares Customer Data With Them”
These allegations, along with similar statements, are outright false and deeply insulting. There is no factual basis for such accusations. We consider such allegations to be defamatory and harmful to our reputation. Sumsub takes this seriously and will pursue all available legal remedies against those who continue to spread this narrative, as we have done successfully in the past.
Allegation: “Sumsub Received Investment From Russian State-Backed Entities”
This claim is typically raised in relation to three episodes:
(i) SMTDP Technology (not Sumsub) participated in the accelerator of the Russian Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF). This is true, but has no connection with Sumsub whatsoever. Notably, at the relevant time (2013-2014) and onwards, the IIDF was lauded as a highly successful initiative by Western media and was actively partnering with global businesses like Microsoft and Bayer, using private funding for its investments;
(ii) Sumsub’s former Russian subsidiary, Digital Security Technologies LLC, serving as a local sales point to cater to customers from Russia and other CIS countries, was a resident of Skolkovo, a Russian educational and technology hub (the so-called “Silicon Valley of Russia”, set up to promote entrepreneurship by creating a favorable legal environment for startups), and accepted the standard tax and other commercial benefits associated with the membership, including a small (c. 50,000 EUR) grant in 2016 that was absorbed by Russia-facing operations. All of this was extremely common practice for Russia-incorporated IT companies. As per publicly available information, giants like Cisco, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Siemens, Nokia, and Samsung all used to have R&D partnerships with Skolkovo;
(iii) the UCP Investment Group (a private equity and asset management firm) intended to invest in Sumsub in late 2017, but shortly afterwards Sumsub withdrew from the deal. From 2018, Sumsub has had no relationship with UCP whatsoever.
With these facts clarified, Sumsub has never received investment from the Kremlin, or the Russian state apparatus in general.
Allegation: “Sumsub Still Has Business Presence In Russia”
Sumsub’s business operations in Russia ceased in Q1-Q2 of 2022, following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sumsub’s former Russian subsidiary, Digital Security Technologies LLC, was also sold in 2022. Sumsub relocated its remaining core personnel in Russia to its offices in Germany, the UK, and Cyprus.
Sumsub has not operated in Russia for more than four years, and its founders have not lived in Russia for more than seven years. Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many members of the Sumsub team made significant personal and professional sacrifices in order to act in line with their values, including relocating, exiting businesses, and leaving behind assets, personal and professional ties.
For additional background, please see Sumsub’s April 2022 public statement regarding the war in Ukraine: https://sumsub.com/blog/statement-regarding-the-war-in-ukraine/
Allegation: “Sumsub Is Still Using Russian Vendors and Transfers Data to Russia”
Sumsub’s exit from Russia in 2022 in response to the war included termination of contractual relationships and further business collaboration with Russia-based vendors. Sumsub does not have data processing infrastructure in Russia. Sumsub also does not contract with or otherwise engage Russia-based data processors and sub-processors.
By default, Sumsub stores end-user personal data at Amazon Web Services infrastructure (primarily in Frankfurt, Germany; alternative buckets are sometimes available for customers subject to data localization requirements in their jurisdictions of operation, but that does not include Russia).
Our Trust Center and publicly available list of sub-processors provide transparent and verifiable information about our information security and privacy standards.
Allegation: “Sumsub’s Credibility Was Never Verified”
Allegations that Sumsub lacks transparency are not new. The company has addressed such claims on multiple occasions with journalists, clients, auditors, and other stakeholders.
Sumsub is a private company and is not subject to the same public disclosure obligations as a public issuer. At the same time, we are subject to disclosure requirements that, in practice, are more extensive than those applicable to comparable private companies in many other jurisdictions. For example, we have more public filings than any private Delaware or California corporation.
Sumsub complies with all applicable disclosure requirements in every jurisdiction where it operates and provides additional information directly to clients, partners, auditors, and regulators where appropriate, as part of thorough vendor due diligence.
Over the course of its ten-year history, Sumsub has not been subject to sanctions and has not been the subject of regulatory fines or restrictions.
To support transparency and facilitate customer due diligence, Sumsub maintains a dedicated Trust Center, where clients can review its certifications, security controls, and selected restricted documentation, including materials such as its SOC 2 Type II report and PCI DSS attestation documentation: https://sumsub.com/sumsub-trust-center/
Repeated attempts to present the company as opaque, without new evidence and while disregarding the information already provided to relevant stakeholders, are misleading and false.
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Sumsub takes its reputation, integrity, and compliance obligations extremely seriously.
The company remains committed to factual accuracy, transparency, and responsible engagement with clients, partners, regulators, media and the public. At the same time, Sumsub will defend itself against false, defamatory, and misleading statements by all lawful means available, including legal action for libel, malicious falsehood and unfair competition where appropriate.
