UBO

UBO is an acronym from the English and means Ultimate Beneficial Owner. Translated, this means the beneficial owner.
Legislation has created this term to provide clarity to banks and companies about who they are doing business with.
Industry-wide, banks and companies are expected to know the individuals with whom they do business. Any institution that falls within the scope of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Act must disclose the UBO identity for each of its business transactions.

What or who is a UBO?

• The person with whom you do business and who may be the legal owner of the business; or
• The person or group of persons who owns or controls the entity.
  An entity may have more than one beneficial owner or group of owners in order to conceal the identity of the ultimate controlling person or interests.
  The "ultimate beneficial owner" of a legal entity is thus:
• One who holds 25% or more of the share capital; or
• One who exercises 25% or more of the voting rights; or
• A beneficiary of 25% or more of the capital of the legal entity; or
• A "nominee director" appointed on behalf of another person and used to conceal the identity of the true owner of the company or to engage in unauthorized activity; or
• a company or other legal entity that is a "corporate director" that can be used to set up complex and opaque corporate structures across multiple jurisdictions to facilitate illegal activity; or
• a holder of "bearer shares", which do not require registration of the owner and can be transferred simply by changing the share certificate. This anonymous ownership can be used for tax evasion, money laundering or illegal activities.