What is the ultimate beneficial owner identification?

Asked by: Kiera Klocko  |  Last update: December 21, 2025
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The most common Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) meaning refers to the natural person who is ultimately responsible for, owns, or controls a 'customer'. In most cases, this 'customer' is an institution, business, or legal entity: of which the UBO has 100% direct ownership.

How to identify the Ultimate Beneficial Owner?

Successfully establishing who the ultimate beneficial owner(s) of an entity is takes place through a series of checks - often via a process known as KYB or as part of an onboarding or ongoing Know Your Customer (KYC), Customer Due Diligence (CDD) or third-party due diligence program.

Who qualifies as an UBO?

While jurisdictions may interpret the specifics of this definition differently, it is commonly agreed that an ultimate beneficial owner or UBO owns more than 25% of a company's shares, or controls more than 25% of the voting rights. However, determining the UBO of a company is not always a straightforward task.

What is an example of UBO?

It also includes those persons who exercise ultimate effective control over a legal person or arrangement. Typically a UBO is the majority shareholder or a person who holds at least 5% shares in the company but not all entities have a majority shareholding or even shareholders at all.

How do I get a significant beneficial owner ID?

To obtain the Significant Beneficial Owner (SBO) ID, an individual must: Submit a declaration using Form LLP BEN-1 to the reporting Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) if they meet the SBO criteria (e.g., holding at least 10% of contribution, voting rights, or profit participation).

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How do I find my beneficial owner ID?

Log in to your Demat account using your username and password. Once you are logged in, navigate to the “My Profile” or “Account Information” section. Look for the “Demat Account” or “BO ID” tab within the account information. Click on the tab to access your Demat account details.

What is the difference between ultimate beneficial owner and significant beneficial owner?

The difference between the beneficial owner and the ultimate beneficial owner is that there is only one of the latter. The UBO is the one beneficial owner who benefits more than the others. In the case of being represented by a trust, a guardian, or another company, the UBO is the person whom the trust represents.

How to calculate the Ultimate Beneficial Owner?

Generally, someone who holds at least 25% of the capital stake, voting powers, and/or profit rights for an asset is considered a beneficial owner (or ultimate beneficial owner, if their ownership share is among the highest for that asset).

What information is required for UBO?

There is an industry-wide expectation for banks and corporations to know the individuals they do business with. Any institution within the scope of Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing regulations needs to disclose the UBO's identity for any of their business transactions.

What is the difference between UBO and beneficial owner?

Traditionally, the ultimate beneficial owner is identified as a natural person who ultimately owns or controls the company. However, there are circumstances where a corporate entity, trust, or similar legal arrangement might be listed as the UBO, especially in the initial stages of ownership identification.

What are the rules for ultimate beneficial owner?

Someone who has beneficial ownership of a company is said to have more than 25% of the company's shares to 25% control over the voting rights, according to the Money Laundering Act (GwG). Alternatively, they may have such controls in place as to have similar influence over how the company is run.

What is the difference between a beneficiary and a beneficial owner?

Income beneficiary means a person to whom net income of a trust is or may be payable. Beneficial Holder A Person holding a beneficial interest in any Book-Entry Certificate as or through a DTC Participant or an Indirect DTC Participant or a Person holding a beneficial interest in any Definitive Certificate.

What is the rule for beneficial owner?

Under the ownership prong, a beneficial owner is each individual, if any, who, directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, owns 25 percent or more of the equity interests of a legal entity customer.

What if a company does not have an UBO?

A company without a registered UBO will not be able exercise its voting rights at the General Meeting or to make decisions as a sole shareholder.

How do you verify a UBO?

To verify the identity of a UBO, the document needs to have the person's name, photo and date of birth ─ if not, we'll ask for a new, acceptable document. Here are the documents we accept: Passport (photo page only)

Can a CEO be an UBO?

There are three types of ultimate beneficiary: 1) Directors holding a formal office from the Board of Directors such as the CEO, the CFO or the treasury manager, and “deputy” corporate officers in the general sense.

How to find the Ultimate Beneficial Owner?

You can find and identify the Ultimate Beneficial Owner by doing proper due diligence, including getting hold of the paperwork and researching the chain of ownership. Once you have confirmed a UBO, it's important to perform background checks on them to ensure they are the type of person you want to work with.

What is the identification of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner?

Common thresholds used to define a UBO include those who own at least 25% of the company's shares, hold more than 25% of the voting rights, or otherwise exert control over the business through other means such as decision-making power.

Is UBO mandatory?

In India, identifying UBOs is mandatory for regulatory compliance to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. The UBO must be disclosed if they hold a 25% or greater stake in a company, or in some cases, a 10% stake for high-risk entities.

What are the requirements for UBO?

The UBO meaning differs from country to country, and in certain jurisdictions, they may be defined as a person holding at least 10% to 25% of the voting rights or shares in the underlying legal entity.

How to identify the UBO of a company?

How is an Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) Identified?
  1. Verify the company's legitimacy. Using reliable documents and data sources, gather and verify key information about the company, such as its name, address, and list of top management.
  2. Assess the ownership chain. ...
  3. Review UBO data. ...
  4. Conduct KYC verification.

What is an example of an Ultimate Beneficial Owner?

In its simplest iteration, an Ultimate Beneficial Owner is the natural person(s) who benefit from a company's activity or a financial transaction. For example, a software business owner would clearly be that company's Ultimate Beneficial Owner, but this can extend further.

Who is the Ultimate Beneficial Owner of an LLC?

A beneficial owner is defined as any individual who, directly or indirectly, either exercises substantial control over a reporting company or owns or controls at least 25 percent of the reporting company's ownership interests. Every LLC will have at least one beneficial owner.

Who is considered an UBO?

UBO stands for 'Ultimate Beneficial Owner', referring to the person or entity who ultimately benefits from the company's activities.

How do you identify a beneficial owner?

A beneficial owner is an individual who ultimately owns or controls an entity such as a company, trust or partnership. 'Owns' in this case means owning 25% or more of the entity. This can be directly (such as through shareholdings) or indirectly (such as through another company's ownership or through a bank or broker).