What is a shell?

A “shell company” or “shell report” is a standard practice and a structural component of a Ratings Tree.

• Its key functionality is to be a container that holds the data and information of the collective organization without having any data of its own.
• It also allows us to curate a rating for individual subsidiaries, and also a separate one for the main company, without any effects between the subsidiary relations.

The “main company” is the legal owner of all subsidiaries that also holds the data of just the predominant Bitsight curated organization within the tree. These will often be distinguished by the legal terminology used in its naming scheme, such as Inc., PLC, LLC, etc.

A shell is created for the main company so other companies that are interested in just the main company and not the entire organization can monitor it. The shell’s functionality, which aggregates all the data, then allows the main company to exist on its own with no connections with its subsidiaries. A shell can be distinguished from the main company with terminology used in its naming scheme, such as Group or Corporation.

A shell is always created for a Ratings Tree that has at least one, Bitsight-curated subsidiary (siblings).

Example
No Shell	With Shell