Why does Pliant determine the Ultimate Beneficial Owner of my company?
Pliant and its partner bank, as financial service providers, must identify and report the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (“UBO”) of their customers to comply with regulatory laws and standards such as GWG, CRS and FATCA which are to combat financial crimes such as money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption, as well as tax evasion. By ensuring compliance with these laws, Pliant protects its existing customers, as well as itself, and the wider community.
What does Ultimate Beneficial Owner (“UBO”) stand for, and am I an UBO of my company?
An Ultimate Beneficial Owner (“UBO”) is a natural person, who ultimately owns or controls a legal organization and is the end beneficiary of all activities carried out by the organization.
Under the German anti-money laundering act (GWG), you are a UBO if you are a natural person, who, directly or indirectly:
holds more than 25% of the capital shares, and/or
controls more than 25% of the voting right, or
exercises controlling or dominant influence in a comparable manner (e.g. through a veto right).
In cases where no UBO is deemed to exist, we are required to determine a fictive UBO. Fictive UBOs are the statutory, judicial legal representatives of the legal entity, i.e. the managing directors, board of directors, partners.