Whose Information is needed?
A beneficial owner is any individual who, directly or indirectly:
- Exercises substantial control over a reporting company
- An individual exercises substantial control over a reporting company if the individual meets any of four general criteria: (1) the individual is a senior officer; (2) the individual has authority to appoint or remove certain officers or a majority of directors of the reporting company; (3) the individual is an important decision-maker; or (4) the individual has any other form of substantial control over the reporting company
OR
- Owns or controls at least 25 percent of the ownership interests of a reporting company.
- Reporting companies are required to identify all individuals who own or control at least 25 percent of the ownership interests of the company. Any of the following may be an ownership interest: equity, stock, or voting rights; a capital or profit interest; convertible instruments; options or other non-binding privileges to buy or sell any of the foregoing; and any other instrument, contract, or other mechanism used to establish ownership.
NOTE: An individual might be a beneficial owner through substantial control, ownership interests, or both.
Information to be Reported:
Reporting Company
- Full legal name
- Any and all trade name or “doing business as” (DBA) names
- Complete current U.S. address –
- principal place of business in United States
- if the reporting company’s principal place of business is not in the United States, the primary location in the United States where the company conducts business.
- State, Tribal, or foreign jurisdiction of formation
- For a foreign reporting company only, State or Tribal jurisdiction of first registration
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- If a foreign reporting company has not been issued a TIN, report a tax identification number issued by a foreign jurisdiction and the name of such jurisdiction.
Each Beneficial Owner and Company Applicant
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Complete current address
- Report the individual’s residential street address
- Applicants who form or register a company in the course of their business, such as paralegals report the business street address.
- Unique identifying number and issuing jurisdiction from, and image of, one of the following non-expired documents:
- S. passport
- State driver’s license
- Identification document issued by a state, local government, or tribe
- If an individual does not have any of the previous documents: foreign passport
NOTE: It may be beneficial for Owners to obtain a FinCEN ID, especially if they are linked to multiple companies.
For more information, consult these sources:
https://www.fincen.gov/boi-faqs
https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/BOI_Small_Compliance_Guide.v1.1-FINAL.pdf