Beneficial owner examples in anti-money laundering: 8 solved cases step by step

In short: to find the beneficial owner of a company with share capital, apply art. 20 of D.Lgs. 231/2007 (Italian AML decree) in order: first the natural person with more than 25% of the capital (directly or through controlled companies, trust companies, nominees), then whoever has control, and as a last resort whoever has powers of representation, administration or management. Here we do this on 8 concrete cases, each with structure, rule and answer. The companies and names are invented; the rules are not.

What is the rule to apply to the cases?

Under art. 1, paragraph 2, letter pp), the beneficial owner is the natural person (or persons), other than the customer, in whose interest the relationship is ultimately established or the service provided. For a customer that is not a natural person, art. 20 provides the criteria:

1. Ownership (paragraph 2): in companies with share capital, a stake greater than 25% of the capital held by a natural person, directly or through controlled companies, trust companies or nominees.
2. Control (paragraph 3): if ownership does not uniquely identify anyone, whoever holds the majority of votes in the ordinary shareholders' meeting, or votes sufficient for a dominant influence, or contractual constraints that allow it.
3. Residual criterion (paragraph 5): if even this identifies no one, the beneficial owner is whoever holds powers of legal representation, administration or management.

The exact 25% is not enough: the law says "greater". The full method is in the guide on how to reconstruct it for customer due diligence; here the cases are what matter.

Case 1: SRL with two 50% shareholders, who is the beneficial owner?

Structure: Alfa Srl, shareholders Marco 50% and Giulia 50%, both natural persons.

Rule: art. 20, paragraph 2, letter a): a stake greater than 25% held by a natural person.

Answer: the beneficial owners are Marco and Giulia. Both exceed the threshold, so there are two.

Case 2: SRL with one 30% shareholder and the others below 25%

Structure: Beta Srl, shareholders Luca 30%, Anna 25%, Paolo 25%, Sara 20%.

Rule: art. 20, paragraph 2, letter a). Anna and Paolo are at exactly 25%, not "greater".

Answer: the only beneficial owner is Luca. The 25% does not trigger the presumption of ownership, and the fact that everything sits right at the limit is a point to note in the file.

Case 3: SRL owned by another SRL (indirect ownership)

Structure: Gamma Srl is 100% owned by Delta Srl. Delta Srl has two shareholders: Marco 80% and Giulia 20%.

Rule: art. 20, paragraph 2, letter b): indirect ownership, i.e. more than 25% of the capital held through controlled companies. Delta is controlled by Marco.

Answer: the beneficial owner of Gamma is Marco. Giulia, with 20% of Delta, remains below the threshold. A corporate shareholder is never the answer: you trace the chain up to a natural person.

Case 4: a shareholder is a foreign company

Structure: Epsilon Srl: Marco 30% and Omega Ltd 70%. Omega Ltd, a foreign company, is 100% owned by Giulia.

Rule: art. 20, paragraph 2, letters a) and b), applied to the chain: the rule does not change because the shareholder is foreign.

Answer: the beneficial owners are Marco (30% direct) and Giulia (70% through Omega, which she controls). The source changes: Omega's composition is not in the Italian Business Register (Registro Imprese), so you must obtain it from the customer's declaration or from documents of the foreign company.

Case 5: no shareholder above 25%, who is the beneficial owner?

Structure: Zeta Srl, five natural-person shareholders at 20% each. No agreement, no bylaw clause giving special votes. Sole director: Elena, who is also a shareholder.

Rule: ownership (paragraph 2) identifies no one. Control (paragraph 3) does not either: no one holds the majority of votes or contractual constraints. We reach paragraph 5, the residual criterion.

Answer: the beneficial owner is Elena, who has the power of administration and representation. Paragraph 6 asks you to also keep the reasons why ownership and control were not enough.

Case 6: control without a majority stake

Structure: Eta Srl, five shareholders at 20%. Marco and two other shareholders have signed a written shareholders' agreement under which the two undertake to vote in the ordinary shareholders' meeting as Marco indicates. Marco holds 20% of the capital, but directs 60% of the votes.

Rule: no one exceeds 25% (paragraph 2), so we move to control: art. 20, paragraph 3, letter c): contractual constraints that allow the exercise of a dominant influence.

Answer: the beneficial owner is Marco. This is a constructed example: whether the agreement really confers a dominant influence depends on its clauses, and the conclusion must be justified in the file. The agreement must be obtained and archived: a company extract does not show it.

Case 7: stake held by a trust company (società fiduciaria)

Structure: Theta Srl: Fiduciaria Nord Spa 40%, Carla 35%, Dario 25%. Fiduciaria Nord holds the stake on behalf of a principal, Stefano.

Rule: art. 20, paragraph 2, letter b): ownership held through trust companies counts as indirect.

Answer: the beneficial owners are Stefano (40% through the trust company) and Carla (35%). Dario, at 25%, does not qualify. The trust company is never the beneficial owner. Only the trust company appears in the company extract: the name of the principal comes from the customer's declaration.

Case 8: recognised association or foundation

Structure: a foundation that is a private legal person under D.P.R. 361/2000. Two founders (one deceased), beneficiaries identified by the bylaws, a chairman with legal representation.

Rule: here there is no share capital and the 25% threshold does not apply. Art. 20, paragraph 4, cumulatively indicates: the founders, where living; the beneficiaries, when identified or easily identifiable; the holders of powers of legal representation, management and administration.

Answer: the beneficial owners are the founder still living, the beneficiaries named in the bylaws and whoever, under the bylaws, holds the powers of representation, management and administration. They are all together, not one chosen at will.

Summary table of the cases

Case	Structure	Rule (D.Lgs. 231/2007)	Beneficial owner
1	Two shareholders at 50%	art. 20, para. 2, let. a)	Both shareholders
2	30% / 25% / 25% / 20%	art. 20, para. 2, let. a)	Only the 30% shareholder
3	SRL owned by SRL	art. 20, para. 2, let. b)	Whoever controls the holding, with more than 25% indirectly
4	Foreign company shareholder	art. 20, para. 2, let. a) and b)	Natural persons at the top of the chain
5	No one above 25%, no control	art. 20, para. 5 and 6	Whoever holds administration powers, with reasons kept on file
6	Voting shareholders' agreement	art. 20, para. 3, let. c)	Whoever directs the votes through the agreement
7	Stake held by a trust company	art. 20, para. 2, let. b)	The principal, not the trust company
8	Foundation or recognised association	art. 20, para. 4	Founders living, beneficiaries, holders of powers

What about partnerships and trusts?

The 25% threshold is written, in paragraph 2, for companies with share capital. For partnerships (SNC and SAS) the text of the law sets no percentage: the general criterion of paragraph 1 (direct or indirect ownership, or control) remains, along with paragraph 3 and the residual criterion of paragraph 5. For this reason I do not give you a case with a fixed figure: assess and document the reasons for your conclusion. On trusts, art. 20 lays down no specific criterion, so I do not cover them here.

Can I stop at the register of beneficial owners?

No. As of October 2026, consultation by third parties remains suspended pending the decision of the Consiglio di Stato (status updated in the guide on who can consult the register). In any case, the law requires you to reconstruct the beneficial owner and keep a record of the checks (art. 20, paragraph 6). Where the Business Register helps: shareholders, stakes and chains. Veryfy starts from there; it does not read the register of beneficial owners. Behind a trust company (case 7) it shows the trust company: you must obtain the principal's details yourself.

If you only need a check on one company, without the file, see how to do it free or paid; for the general logic there is the guide on who really controls a company.

What Veryfy does on these cases, and what it does not

• Obliged entities: the Customer Due Diligence File (€49) includes the CNDCEC risk assessment sheet (Italian National Council of Chartered Accountants and Bookkeepers), the beneficial owner reconstructed from the Business Register with shareholders and officers, protests and insolvency proceedings, the due diligence report and a single PDF for the file.
• Companies that want to understand who is behind a client: the micro-product Beneficial Owner (€9.90).
• It does not do: identification of the customer with an identity document, checks on politically exposed persons or sanctions lists, or the final decision: these remain yours.

Single payment, no subscription, source and date for every data point. With the Customer Due Diligence File at €49 you already have the chain of shareholders on which to apply art. 20, instead of reconstructing it extract by extract.

Sources

• Normattiva, D.Lgs. 21 November 2007, No. 231, art. 1, paragraph 2, letter pp) (definition of beneficial owner), text in force read on 29/10/2026: normattiva.it.
• Normattiva, D.Lgs. 231/2007, art. 20 (criteria for determining the beneficial ownership of customers other than natural persons), paragraphs 1-6, text in force read on 29/10/2026: normattiva.it, art. 20.