Beneficial Owner
The natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity, account, or asset, even if registered in another name.
What is Beneficial Owner?
A beneficial owner is the natural person (individual human being) who ultimately owns or exercises control over a legal entity, account, or asset, even when that entity or account is registered in the name of a nominee, trustee, or intermediary. FinCEN's Customer Due Diligence (CDD) rule, effective 2018, requires U.S. financial institutions to identify and verify the beneficial owners of legal entity customers—generally any individual who owns 25% or more of the entity, plus one individual who controls it. Beneficial ownership transparency is a key anti-money-laundering tool that prevents criminals from hiding behind shell companies.
Example
A shell company opens a bank account to move funds for a criminal organization. Under FinCEN's beneficial ownership rule, the bank must collect and verify the identities of all individuals who own 25% or more of the company and the person who controls it—piercing the corporate veil to identify the actual human beings benefiting from the account.