Beneficial owners
The Act on Beneficial Owners imposes upon most enterprises the duty to keep an overview of their beneficial owners and to be able to show who the beneficial owners of the enterprise are.
The Register of Beneficial Owners
Businesses and other legal entities can now register information about beneficial owners. To allow businesses time to adjust, there will be a transitional period of 10 months. The obligation to register information about beneficial owners takes effect on October 1, 2024, but the rule regarding enforcement fines will not apply until July 31, 2025.
The Register of Beneficial Owners has been established as a measure to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and financial crime. The purpose of the register is to provide transparency about who ultimately controls businesses.
What is a beneficial owner?
A beneficial owner is a physical person who, by themselves or together with others, can exercise control of an enterprise through ownership or voting rights. A person is a beneficial owner if the ownership or voting right exceeds 25 %. Also, physical persons entitled to appoint or dismiss a minimum of 50 % of the members in the governing bodies of the enterprise is a beneficial owner.
The ownership can be direct or indirect through other companies.
In the case of limited liability companies, the beneficial owners are generally identified in the founding documents, shareholder book or shareholder agreements. However, other agreements may have an impact on the assessment. The board of directors are responsible for obtaining, retaining, and registering information about who the beneficial owners of the enterprise are.
The Brønnøysund Register Centre on beneficial owners
The Brønnøysund Register Centre - Check if you have to register beneficial owners
Act on register of beneficial owners (in Norwegian only)
Regulations to the Act on register of beneficial owners (in Norwegian only)
