Beneficial ownership

In domestic and international commercial law, a beneficial owner is a natural person or persons who ultimately owns or controls an interest in a legal entity or arrangement, such as a company, a trust, or a foundation.^[1] Legal owners (i.e. the owners on the record), commonly described as the "registered owners", may hold those interests as beneficial owners or for the benefit of someone else, in which case they may be described as a "nominee".

Beneficial owners hold specific property rights ("use and title") in equity belong to a person even though legal title of the property belongs to another person. Beneficial owner is subject to a state's statutory laws regulating interest or title transfer.^[2] This situation commonly occurs when the person who holds the legal title to a property or asset is considered to have inherent responsibilities similar to those of a trustee towards the individual who benefits from or has an interest in the property. A common example of a beneficial owner is the real or true owner of funds held by a nominee bank.

^ A Beneficial Ownership Implementation Toolkit. Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (Report). March 2019. p. 51. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
^ Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Pocket ed. 2001 pg. 508)

[IADB_201903-1] A Beneficial Ownership Implementation Toolkit. Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (Report). March 2019. p. 51. Retrieved 15 April 2020.

[2] Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Pocket ed. 2001 pg. 508)

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