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What a UBO is
An Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) is the natural person who ultimately owns, controls, or benefits from a legal entity — even if the entity’s registered ownership is structured through multiple layers of companies, trusts, or partnerships.
Why it matters for KYB
RBI’s KYC Master Direction requires regulated entities to identify and verify the beneficial owner(s) of a business customer, not just the business itself, based on defined ownership or control thresholds. This is what prevents a shell company from being used to obscure who actually controls the funds moving through an account.
Related terms
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What a UBO verification API actually checks
A UBO verification API for KYB doesn’t just collect a declared beneficial-owner name — it cross-references the individual’s identity (PAN/Aadhaar) against the business’s registration data (GST/CIN) to confirm the stated ownership or control relationship is consistent with official records, rather than taking a self-reported form at face value.
More about Beneficial Ownership
To learn more about Beneficial Ownership, explore our GST Verification API and Company CIN Lookup v1 API, or talk to our team. For the official source, see the RBI’s Master Direction on KYC.
