How must a UAE TCSP identify the ultimate beneficial owner?
A UAE TCSP must take reasonable measures to identify the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a corporate client and to verify that person’s identity. Under the UAE beneficial owner rules, the real beneficiary is anyone who owns or controls, directly or indirectly, 25 per cent or more of the capital or voting rights, or who otherwise controls the entity, for example through the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board.
Where no such owner can be identified after exhausting all means, or there is doubt, the person exercising control by other means is treated as the beneficial owner; failing that, the senior managing official. The TCSP must look through chains of companies and arrangements rather than stopping at the immediate shareholder, obtain and keep the information up to date, and record how the conclusion was reached. Nominee arrangements must be identified and disclosed.
Legal Reference (UAE):
· Cabinet Resolution No. 109 of 2023 (Real Beneficiary Procedures), Article 5 - sets the 25 per cent ownership and control test and the fallback hierarchy.
· Cabinet Resolution No. 109 of 2023, Article 6 - requires reasonable measures to obtain and maintain accurate beneficial owner information.
For more details, consult the full text of Cabinet Resolution No. 109 of 2023 or seek guidance from your AML compliance officer.