Beneficial Owner (BO)
The natural person(s) who ultimately own or control a company, trust, or other legal entity, even if their name isn’t on the official registration documents.
When your client is a company, close corporation, or trust rather than an individual, FICA requires you to look past the entity to the natural person(s) who actually own or control it, even when that person’s name never appears on a CIPC registration or a deed.
This matters because shell structures exist precisely to obscure who’s really behind a transaction; beneficial ownership checks close that gap. CIPC’s own beneficial ownership register, and its power to deregister non-compliant companies, has made this an increasingly active enforcement area, not just a paperwork exercise.
See it in practice, not just in theory.
Read how Lucere handles this on features, check the FAQ for common questions, or get started.