A beneficial ownership record is the documented information that an organisation holds about the individuals who ultimately own or control a legal entity, or on whose behalf an account or holding is maintained. Two kinds are common. A company or trust keeps a record of its own owners so that it can meet its filing duties and answer requests from authorities. A bank, custodian or other regulated firm keeps a record for each corporate customer as part of customer due diligence (CDD).
The record normally holds each person's name, date of birth, nationality and address, the size and nature of the interest, the ownership chain linking the person to the entity and the evidence used for beneficial ownership verification. It should agree with any public beneficial ownership register. Records identifying each ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) must be kept up to date and retained for a set period, commonly five years after the relationship ends.