Glossary · compliance
Beneficial Owner
Also known as: UBO, Ultimate Beneficial Owner
- Definition
- A Beneficial Owner is the natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity. In wealth management, identifying the beneficial owners behind trusts, foundations, and corporate structures is a baseline KYC requirement.
Singapore corporate transparency rules require all SG companies to maintain registers of beneficial ownership and to share these registers with regulators. UBO identification cascades through complex structures — a SG VCC owned by a Cayman trust owned by a Liechtenstein foundation must trace back to the natural-person settlors / beneficiaries. UBO disclosure is integral to family-office onboarding and is the most documentation-intensive part of the 13O / 13U application.
Looking for the full picture? See our deep-dive pages on Singapore private banking, family office Singapore, and the full glossary index.