Who counts as a beneficial owner?

Asked by: Richard Johnston DVM  |  Last update: January 12, 2026
Score: 4.9/5 (43 votes)

In banking, the beneficial owners of a legal entity are those individuals who have a large equity interest or control over the entity's financials. Banks are required to collect this information in order to prevent money laundering.

Who qualifies as a beneficial owner?

A beneficial owner of a reporting company (as any entity required to file a BOI report is called) 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.

Who is not a beneficial owner?

In addition, “beneficial owner” does not include a minor child (although the information of their parent or guardian has to be reported); an individual acting as a nominee, intermediary, custodian, or agent of another individual; an employee acting solely as an employee; an individual whose only interest in the company ...

How do I determine if I'm a beneficial owner?

A beneficial owner is someone who owns at least part of a property or other asset, even if its legal title is owned by someone else. That person can also vote on or otherwise influence decisions regarding transactions involving that asset or property. An example is a corporate shareholder.

What is the IRS definition of beneficial owner?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) defines a beneficial owner as the person who is required under U.S. tax law to report the income or asset on a tax return. For example, if an individual is the beneficiary of a trust that holds income-generating assets, the IRS would consider them the beneficial owner of that income.

Who Counts as a Beneficial Owner Under the CTA? 🏢

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Who is exempt from the beneficial ownership rule?

Are some companies exempt from the reporting requirement? Yes, 23 types of entities are exempt from the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements. These entities include publicly traded companies meeting specified requirements, many nonprofits, and certain large operating companies.

What is the new definition of beneficial owner?

Under financial regulations, a beneficial owner is considered anyone with a stake of 25% or more in a legal entity or corporation. Beneficial owners can also be considered anyone with a significant role in the management or direction of those entities, or any trusts that own 25% or more of an entity.

What are the two prongs for identifying a beneficial owner?

What constitutes beneficial ownership? The U.S. government regulation defines “beneficial ownership' as being made up of two prongs (1) Ownership Prong and (2) Control Prong. A beneficial owner is an individual, if any, who, directly or indirectly, owns 25% or more of the equity interest of a legal entity customer.

Does a beneficial owner need to be a natural person?

PRINCIPLE 1: BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP DEFINITION

Guidance: The beneficial owner should always be a natural (physical) person and never another legal entity. The beneficial owner(s) is the person who ultimately exercises control through legal ownership or through other means.

How do you confirm beneficial ownership?

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.

What is required for beneficial ownership?

Important to remember the 5% threshold for beneficial ownership declaration, with an aggregate of 100%. Currently the Companies Act provides for 5% of beneficial interest in securities, thus the norm was upheld in terms of beneficial ownership. Any beneficial ownership / control below 5%, need not be declared.

What is a non-beneficial owner?

“Non-beneficially” held means that the shareholder is holding the share "as trustee for" or "in trust for" a second entity such as a Trust, a company or another individual.

Can there be two beneficial owners?

A legal entity may have multiple “beneficial owners,” this form requires you to list only those that own 25% or more (up to five) under each of the two prongs of the definition above. If appropriate, the same individuals may be listed under both prongs.

What is a legal owner but not a beneficial owner?

The owner at law may not be the same person as the beneficial owner. A beneficial owner is a person entitled to the benefit of the land and on their death the equitable interest may not pass in the same way as the legal ownership does.

What is the beneficial ownership rule in 2024?

1, 2024, requires certain entities (Reporting Companies) to report personally identifiable information (PII) about the individuals, called beneficial owners, who ultimately own or control them directly to FinCEN,1 which stores this information on a national, secure, nonpublic database accessible to governmental ...

What is the difference between owner and beneficial owner?

A registered owner or record holder holds shares directly with the company. A beneficial owner holds shares indirectly, through a bank or broker-dealer.

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).

What is classed as a beneficial owner?

For partnerships (other than a limited liability partnership), a beneficial owner is an individual who ultimately is entitled to, or controls more than 25% share of the capital/ profits or voting rights of the partnership, or otherwise exercises ultimate control over the management of the partnership.

What is legally considered a natural person?

While natural person describes an actual human being, artificial person describes a partnership, corporation, or some other entity that has been provided with legal personhood by statute. [Last updated in July of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]

Are single members LLC exempt from beneficial ownership?

Summary. Under the CTA, an LLC (unless an exemption applies) is a “reporting company” that must file a beneficial ownership information report via the Beneficial Ownership Secure System (“BOSS”) interface and database. In identifying itself on its BOSS report, a reporting company must provide its EIN.

Who is the beneficial owner of a nonprofit organization?

Who are considered the beneficial owners and company applicants of nonprofit reporting companies? A beneficial owner is an individual who directly or indirectly exercises substantial control over the reporting company or who owns or controls at least 25 percent of its ownership interests.

Is a registered agent considered a beneficial owner?

Control Over Company Decisions

While a registered agent may be listed on official documents filed with the state, they do not have any control over the business or its operations. They are simply a representative of the business for legal and official purposes.

Is a beneficial owner always a natural person?

Definition. In March 2019, an Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) report defined beneficial owners as "always natural persons who ultimately own or control a legal entity or arrangement, such as a company, a trust, a foundation".

When must a beneficial owner be identified?

A bank must establish and maintain written risk-based procedures for verifying the identity of each beneficial owner of a legal entity customer within a reasonable period of time after the account is opened.

Who is required to file beneficial ownership?

Who has to file a BOI report? Every LLC, corporation, or other entity that was created by filing a document with a secretary of state or equivalent office must file a BOI report unless it qualifies for one of the CTA's exemptions.