It's possible that a legal entity owns shares in your company. This FAQ explains how to identify and declare your beneficial owners when they include one or more legal entities.
As a reminder:
Who is considered a beneficial owner in a limited company (società di capitali)?
In limited companies (società di capitali), the term ‘beneficial owner’ refers to an individual person who owns more than 25% of the capital. Alternatively, it may refer to any individual person who possesses enough votes to influence a shareholder meeting, or who has administrative or management powers.
Who is considered a beneficial owner in a partnership (società di persone)?
In partnerships (società di persone), the term ‘beneficial owner’ refers to any company shareholder, regardless of their type of shares and their percentage of capital participation.
Who is considered a beneficial owner in a co-operative company (società cooperativa)?
In co-operative companies (società cooperativa), the term ‘beneficial owners’ refer to its President and Vice President.
During the company registration phase, you must declare who the beneficial owners of your company are.
There are two types of ownership:
Direct ownership
We consider beneficial owners with direct ownership to be the internal beneficial owners of the company. Normally, they are shareholders in the company.
Indirect ownership
We consider beneficial owners with indirect ownership to be those individual persons who are beneficial owners of the company through a legal entity that holds company shares.
How to declare my beneficial owners if my company is owned by a legal entity?
If your company’s shares are owned by a legal entity (or multiple legal entities), you must declare all the beneficial owners (i.e. the individual persons) of all the legal entity(ies).
You must specify that those individuals are beneficial owners of your company with indirect ownership.
It could also be the case that there’s another legal entity (or entities) that holds shares in the legal entity that owns shares in your company: in this specific case, you must name all individual persons who serve as beneficial owners of all the entity(ies) in the ownership chain.
These individuals will be classified as beneficial owners of your company with indirect ownership.
On the other hand, if there are beneficial owners directly within your company, you must declare them as beneficial owners with direct ownership.