Beneficial Ownership Structures

Scandals such as the Panama Papers, Unaoil, and VimpelCom not only highlight the absolute need for robust customer due diligence (CDD), but have spurred the regulatory momentum for enhanced ownership disclosure and transparency. Failure to comply with the new, stricter regime carries significant reputational and financial risk for both corporations and individuals.

But while the penalties are clearly identifiable, peeling back the complex legal structures designed to conceal Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) represents a significant challenge. Confusion over multiple beneficial ownership definitions, a lack of accurate ownership registries, disclosure fatigue, and deliberate non cooperation are additional hurdles.

This guide will help you better understand beneficial ownership legal structures and their complexities. It will also demonstrate how data and analytics can help improve the speed and accuracy of UBO identification, in addition to offering wider organizational benefits from enhanced knowledge management to resource redeployment.