Beneficial owners in co-operatives and companies with limited liabilities
Last updated: 13 February 2026.
A co-operative and a company with limited liability must register whether they have beneficial owners or not.
If there are four or more members or participants, the organisation will generally not have any beneficial owners, unless someone has more control than the others, for instance through unequal voting rights.
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
A person is a beneficial owner on a direct basis, indirect basis or through an agreement/contract.
When there is no business between the person and the business subject to registration, the person is a beneficial owner on a direct basis.
Example:
When a person controls a sufficient share of a business (for instance a holding company) which in turn has sufficient control of the business obliged to register its beneficial owners, that person is a beneficial owner on an indirect basis.
To be a beneficial owner, a person must indirectly control more than 25% at the first level, and then hold direct or indirect control of 50% or more at each subsequent level.
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 at least half of the board
Businesses that are between the business subject to registration and the beneficial owners are called intermediate businesses.
All intermediate businesses between the business that must register and the beneficial owner must be registered.
A person can be a beneficial owner on an indirect basis in three different ways:
Most of the organisations will find their beneficial owners in their own documents, such as the memorandum and articles of association, and list of members/participants. 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 – where the basis is indirect
For individuals with a national identity number or d-number, several personal details will be retrieved from the National Population Register. For these individuals, you only need to enter the national identity number and surname.
You must also state whether the person is a beneficial owner due to ownership, voting rights, the right to appoint or remove board members, or any other form of control or influence.
You must also register whether the control is direct, indirect or exercised through agreements.