> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.kernel.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.kernel.ai/data/hierarchies/regional-subsidiaries.md).

# Regional subsidiaries

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A global company can appear in a CRM as a parent company, a country subsidiary, and several local branches. Some of those records are true duplicates. Others are real entities that should stay separate.

Kernel treats regional subsidiaries as distinct entities when the evidence supports it. A regional subsidiary gets its own KERN ID, its own entity-level data, and a parent relationship back to the wider company family.

## What counts as a regional subsidiary

A record must meet all four criteria:

1. **Verified existence** - it is a real legal entity, not a loose regional label.
2. **Shared brand** - it operates under the same core brand as the parent.
3. **Explicit geography** - its name or evidence points to a specific country, region, or market.
4. **Regional scope** - it serves a market that is smaller than the parent's global scope.

<figure><img src="/files/SRuD7PKkqVk068qOptdy" alt="Salesforce has two subsidiaries. Salesforce Japan meets all four criteria (verified existence, shared brand, explicit geography in Japan, regional scope) and is a regional subsidiary. Slack is a real entity but shares no brand, is in the same country as Salesforce, and serves the global market, so it is a subsidiary but not regional."><figcaption><p>Both are real subsidiaries of Salesforce. Salesforce Japan shares the brand and serves a smaller market, so it is regional; Slack is a separate brand in the same market, so it is a subsidiary but not a regional one.</p></figcaption></figure>

For example, Google Japan Inc. can be a regional subsidiary when it is the legal entity for Google's Japanese operations. A product division such as Google Cloud Japan is not automatically a regional subsidiary unless it is also the legal entity representing that region.

## Regional scope

Kernel provides three data points about an entity's regional scope:

| Data point     | What it means                                                       |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Is regional    | Whether the entity operates as a regional subsidiary of its parent. |
| Regional scope | The country or market served by the regional operation.             |
| Reasoning      | Why Kernel classified the entity as regional or not regional.       |

The regional scope is filled in only when the entity is a regional subsidiary. If the account is not regional, or Kernel has not determined the classification yet, it can be empty.

See the [Kernel Account object reference](/integrations/salesforce-integration/kernel-account-object-reference.md) for the Salesforce and API field names.

## Duplicate or subsidiary?

The right CRM action depends on how your team wants to model regional records.

| Policy                               | What happens                                                                         |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Treat regional sites as subsidiaries | Kernel keeps the regional entity separate and links it to the parent.                |
| Treat regional sites as duplicates   | Kernel can merge regional versions into the global company when your rules allow it. |

Exact duplicates still merge regardless of this policy. The policy applies to records that could reasonably represent either a regional entity or another copy of the global company.

## Scope across regions

Regional subsidiaries matter because firmographics have scope. The regional entity has its own headcount, revenue, location, and status. The parent or top parent can also have consolidated values for the larger family.

Use the regional entity when the account is meant to represent local operations. Use the parent or top parent when the question is about the full group.