Know-Your-Client (KYC) & suitability

A client who runs a business brings the business into the KYC conversation, because the business decides what money can leave and when.

A sole proprietorship is the owner. There is no separate legal person, so liability reaches personal assets, and raising outside capital is hard because ownership cannot be divided into shares. A client in this position often needs a liquidity reserve the size of a bad quarter.

A partnership is two or more people sharing profit, loss and liability under an agreement. The agreement is the document that matters. Who may call capital, who may leave, what happens when a partner dies: these decide whether the client's money is actually theirs to invest.

A corporation is a separate legal person. Shares can be issued, liability is generally limited, and a public corporation can offer shares to the market, which brings continuous disclosure obligations. A private corporation keeps ownership inside a small group and faces fewer disclosure duties. For an owner manager, the corporation often means the investment question is whether to leave cash inside the company or take it out, and that is a tax question with investing consequences.

A co-operative is owned and democratically controlled by its members, who share in benefits according to use rather than according to share count.

You are not being asked to give legal advice on structure. You are being asked to notice that a business owner's horizon, liquidity and tax position are not a salaried client's, and to collect the facts that follow from that.