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Companies in the commercial free zones of the UAE are not held on any register open to search: each free zone authority keeps its own register and does not publish it, and beneficial ownership, filed with that authority under Cabinet Decision 58 of 2020, is not public either. Nothing about this structure can be confirmed against a registry, so the case is assessed on the applicant's own documents — whose authenticity the issuing free zone confirms by the code printed on them. The two financial free zones, DIFC and ADGM, do publish company registers and are not described by this statement.

UAE free zones do not issue a register of members. The certificate of incumbency from the free zone authority names the current shareholders, and share certificates name the same holders.

Nor is a register of directors issued; the same certificate of incumbency names the directors in office.

The register records the particulars filed on incorporation and any subsequent filings made to the Registrar. Changes in directors, members and beneficial ownership are recorded at the registered office of the company and are not reflected in this register.

The Seychelles register of beneficial owners is not public: it is kept by the resident agent and in a central database with the Financial Intelligence Unit, and is open to the authorities alone. Who ultimately owns this company cannot be confirmed against a register, and the case is therefore assessed on the applicant's own documents.

The register of members of a Seychelles IBC is kept by the registered agent and is not issued to the applicant. A certificate of incumbency from that agent, or share certificates, name the same holders.

Good standing is confirmed on the incumbency certificate issued by the registered agent.

Anguilla keeps a register of beneficial owners under the Commercial Registry and Beneficial Ownership Registration System Act, 2022: the registered agent files who ultimately owns and controls the company. The register is not open to the public, so ownership cannot be confirmed against it from here. There is somebody to ask: the registered agent named in the register answer holds the filing and can provide it, together with the chart of ownership up to every natural person.

Angola keeps beneficial ownership information with the Guiché Único da Empresa: a company files an initial declaration of its beneficial owners on the form the GUE publishes. The declarations are not searchable by the public, so who ultimately owns this company cannot be confirmed against the register from here. There is somebody to ask, and it is the company itself: it holds a copy of what it filed and can give it, together with the chart of its ownership up to every natural person.

Angola does not issue certificates of incumbency. A recent commercial registry certificate carries the same facts: that the company stands and who manages it as of its date.

A quota in an Angolan Lda is not made out as a certificate: who holds it is shown by the registered articles and transfers, which is the stronger evidence of the two. Shares of an SA are the exception and are asked for as certificates or from the company's share register.

Canada answers about beneficial ownership at two levels, and this pack answers for the country. A corporation incorporated federally files its individuals with significant control with Corporations Canada; a corporation of a province keeps that register at its own records office and files it with nobody, Quebec being the one province whose register publishes ultimate beneficiaries. Neither is consulted here: the case records the level the company is registered at, and no channel to either registry exists on our side. Who ultimately owns this company is therefore taken from the applicant's own documents — the register of members the corporation keeps, certified by its secretary.

Canadian registries issue a certificate of compliance and a director listing instead of an incumbency certificate.

Cyprus keeps a central register of beneficial owners at the Registrar of Companies under section 61A of Law 188(I)/2007. Public access to it was suspended on 23 November 2022, after the CJEU judgment of 22 November 2022 in joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20. Access is now limited to competent authorities, obliged entities and, since Law 25(I)/2026, persons who show a legitimate interest in preventing money laundering, who see only limited data. The beneficial ownership of the applicant is therefore established from the applicant's own documents.

Cyprus does not issue certificates of incumbency. Registrar certificates of good standing and of directors carry the same facts.

Germany keeps a transparency register of beneficial owners, but since the CJEU judgment of 22 November 2022 it is no longer open to the public: the authorities and obliged entities under the Money Laundering Act see it after registering, and others only on a legitimate interest shown case by case. We are neither, so who ultimately owns this company cannot be confirmed against the register from here. There are two routes, and both are worth taking: the company must hold its own beneficial ownership information and give it on request, and an obliged entity — a licensed payment or e-money institution is one — can obtain the register extract under its own access.

Germany does not issue certificates of incumbency. The current extract of the commercial register carries the same facts: that the company stands and who represents it today.

A share in a German GmbH is not made out as a certificate: who holds it is shown by the list of shareholders filed with the register court, which is the stronger evidence of the two.

A Hong Kong company keeps its register of significant controllers at its registered office and has done since March 2018. The register is not filed with the Companies Registry and is not open to the public: the company appoints a designated representative and produces the register to law enforcement on demand. So who ultimately controls this company cannot be confirmed against a register — but there is somebody to ask, and it is the company itself. A copy of that register, certified by the company, is what answers the question here, and asking for it is not a formality: the company is required to keep it accurate.

Hong Kong does not issue certificates of incumbency. The company's register of directors — or the Companies Registry's particulars search, which carries the same officers — together with the register of members names the same people the certificate would.

Malta keeps a register of beneficial owners at the Malta Business Registry, but since the CJEU judgment of 22 November 2022 it is open only to the authorities and to subject persons, and to others case by case on a legitimate interest. We are neither, so who ultimately owns this company cannot be confirmed against the register from here. There are two routes, and both are worth taking: the company is required to hold its own beneficial ownership information and to give it on request, and a subject person — a licensed payment or e-money institution is one — can obtain the register extract under its own access.

The Malta Business Registry does not issue certificates of incumbency. Its certificate of good standing and its record of directors carry the same facts: that the company stands and who runs it today.