Business

Companies will soon have to reveal the identity of their shareholders: report

Updated : January 24, 2019 10:11 AM IST

The revised rules are expected to be notified by the ministry of corporate affairs over the next few days.

The new rules will provide separate norms for companies where the beneficial owners are Indian companies and those with overseas entities.

Companies will soon have to reveal the identity of their shareholders: report

Government is taking steps that will ensure companies will no longer be able to hide the identity of their stockholders, reported The Times of India, citing sources.

According to the report, the government is coming up with new rules and regulations that will lift corporate veil around multi-layered companies. Shareholders and companies with more than 10 percent stake in any company will be required to disclose the ultimate beneficiaries of shares once the new regulations come into effect, said the report.

The revised rules are expected to be notified by the ministry of corporate affairs over the next few days, the sources told the paper, adding that the new rules will provide separate norms for companies where the beneficial owners are Indian companies and those with overseas entities. "Every case where the register has a body corporate outside India, the onus is on the company to find the beneficial owner," a source was quoted as saying in the report.

According to the report, the ministry had released the rules on significant beneficial ownership last year itself, but "due to concerns over disclosures related to multi-tier companies and those with overseas holding, the plan was kept in abeyance."

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