UBO thresholds by legal entity type
Thresholds in Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) determination are entity-sensitive. A percentage that is decisive for a capital company may be the wrong primary lens for a partnership, trust, or foundation. This page gives practice-oriented framing — always verify against AMLR text and national overlays for the mandate at hand.
By Noah Böker — Regulatory Strategy, Transparify
Last updated: Content is reviewed on a ~90-day cycle while AMLR implementation evolves through 2027.
Capital companies
For GmbH/AG-like structures, capital and voting participation remain central quantitative anchors. Still apply control via other means where articles or side agreements create influence below or beside the percentage test.
Partnerships and corporate general partners
Partnerships (including GmbH & Co. KG patterns) require careful treatment of general partners, limited partners, and interlocking ownership. Threshold narratives that ignore the corporate general partner’s control can misstate the UBO picture.
Trusts and foundations
Roles (settlor, trustee, protector, beneficiary classes; foundation board and beneficial classes) often matter more than a single ownership percentage. See the dedicated trusts & foundations cluster.
Documentation tip
Record the entity type first, then the tests applied. A checklist that always starts with “>25% shares” without entity context trains bad habits ahead of AMLR applicability on 10 July 2027.
Related reading
Primary sources
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR)Anti-Money Laundering Regulation — directly applicable from 10 July 2027.
- Directive (EU) 2024/1640 (AMLD6)Sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive — national transposition obligations.
- Geldwäschegesetz (GwG) — Germany
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