The Ultimate Beneficial Owner is the natural person who has the ultimate ownership or control over an entity directly or indirectly.
The Ultimate Beneficial Owner can be determined as follows;
• A natural person who ultimately controls or owns 25% or more shares of an entity directly or indirectly or has a voting right of 25% or more. Control can be through other means like the right to appoint or dismiss the majority of managers.
• If no natural person can be determined as per the first point above, then the natural person who exercises control over the legal entity through other means will be considered as the Ultimate Beneficial Owner.
• If no natural person can be identified as per the first and second point above, the top manager in the entity will be considered as the Ultimate Beneficial Owner.
For most companies in the UAE, the Ultimate Beneficial Owner will be the shareholders as shown in the articles of association.