Who is the Ultimate Beneficial Owner?

Under Polish law it is generally assumed that the Ultimate Beneficial Owner of the company is only the natural (individual) person, who is exercising direct or indirect control over the company (entity) through the powers held, which result from legal or factual circumstances, enabling the exertion of a decisive influence on the actions or actions taken by the company (entity), or any natural (individual) person on behalf of whom business relations are established or an occasional transaction is carried out.

In case of the LLC companies incorporated under Polish law, the most common example of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner is a natural (individual) person who is a person holding – directly or indirectly – more than 25 % of shares in the share capital of the company or more than 25 % of votes in the shareholders’ meeting, also as a pledgee or usufructuary, or under agreements with other persons entitled to vote.

Full, legal definition of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner under Polish law is available here.

Why we are asking for the Ultimate Beneficial Owner ?

We are asking for the Ultimate Beneficial Owner Our, because under AML regulation we have the legal obligation to determine its identity and notify the Polish authorities, i.e. the Central Register of Beneficiary Owners about the data of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner and his legal title regarding the newly incorporated company.

Failure to perform the above-mentioned obligation may expose the management board of the newly incorporated company to negative legal consequences, including fines or even criminal liability.