Beneficial owners in a club or association
Last updated: 24 October 2024.
Check if your organisation must register beneficial owners:
Only associations with business activity or accounting obligations have to report whether or not they have beneficial owners.
In an association, each members has only on vote, and as a result of that, there has to be less than four members in order to be able to have the right to vote.
The association must consider whether or not there might be others with decisive influence.
Worth knowing prior to the registration:
A beneficial owner is a Norwegian or foreign person who meets one or more of these criteria:
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owns more than 25 percent of the organisation
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controls more than 25 percent of the voting rights in the organisation
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has the right to appoint or remove more than half of the board members in the organisation
Example: In accordance with the agreement/articles of association, certain share classes may provide the right to elect a given number of the company’s board members
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influence/control in another way
Example: Rights to decide or veto, or situations where the person’s recommendation is followed consistently by the majority shareholders or owners
You are a beneficial owner based on direct ownership or control or indirect ownership or control.
When there is no organisation between the person and the organisation subject to registration, the person is a beneficial owner on a direct basis.
Example:
A person who controls a sufficient share of a organisation who in turn has sufficient control of the organisation obliged to register beneficial owners.
To be a beneficial owner, a person must indirectly control more than 25 percent at the first level, then control 50 percent or more at subsequent levels.
At the first level, the following rules apply:
- ownership more than 25 percent
- voting rights more than 25 percent
- the right to appoint or remove more than half of the board
- influence/control in another way
At all the other levels below apply:
- voting rights 50 percent or more
- the right to appoint or remove more than half the board
Organisations that are between the organisation subject to registration and the beneficial owners are called intermediate organisations.
A person can be a beneficial owner on an indirect basis in three different ways:
Most of the beneficial owners will be identified in the organisation’s documents, such as the memorandum and articles of association, the share register and shareholder agreements. Generally speaking, the information here will be sufficient to identify the beneficial owners.
The board is responsible for keeping information about the beneficial owners of the organisation.
- full name
- national identity number or d-number
If a beneficial owner does not have a national identity number or d-number, you must state the date of birth - country of residence
- all citizenships
- organisation number – when it is indirect ownership or control
You must indicate whether you are the beneficial owner due to ownership, voting rights or the right to appoint or remove board members, or control/influence in any other way.