40 FATF 40 Recommendations
24

Recommendation 24 · Group E · Transparency & Beneficial Ownership

Former: R.33

Beneficial ownership of legal persons

Recommendation 24 requires every country to ensure that adequate, accurate and up-to-date information on the beneficial ownership and control of legal persons (companies, foundations, associations) is held in a public-authority registry or comparable mechanism, and is rapidly accessible to competent authorities. The goal: stop criminals from hiding behind shell companies. The 2022-2025 reforms moved the global standard from a 'company-information' approach to a 'multi-pronged approach' anchored in registries.

Who must comply?

  • All legal persons created in the country: corporations, LLCs, partnerships, foundations, cooperatives, associations and similar entities
  • Beneficial ownership registries and central authorities responsible for them
  • Financial institutions and DNFBPs that conduct CDD on legal-person customers
  • Competent authorities: FIU, supervisors, law enforcement, tax authorities, prosecutors

Key requirements

  1. 1

    Country-level risk assessment of legal persons

    Each country must assess the ML/TF risks posed by all types of legal persons created in its jurisdiction — and by foreign legal persons that have sufficient links to it — and take measures proportionate to those risks.

  2. 2

    Multi-pronged approach to beneficial ownership data

    Adequate, accurate and up-to-date BO information must be held by (a) a public-authority registry, (b) the legal person itself, and ideally (c) other supplementary sources such as supervised financial institutions or other regulators — so that no single point of failure exists.

  3. 3

    Public-authority registry of beneficial owners

    Countries must establish a registry — operated by a public authority — that holds beneficial ownership information for all legal persons. The registry must verify the information, sanction false declarations and provide rapid access to competent authorities.

  4. 4

    Verification, accuracy and updates

    Information must be verified at registration, updated promptly when changes occur (typical benchmark: within 30 days), and re-verified periodically. Sanctions must apply to legal persons that fail to provide accurate or timely information.

  5. 5

    Definition of beneficial owner

    The natural person(s) who ultimately own or control the legal person — directly or indirectly — through ownership of equity, voting rights, or other means of control. The 25%-equity threshold is the most common benchmark; below that, control through other means must be assessed.

  6. 6

    Bearer shares and nominee arrangements

    Bearer shares and bearer share warrants must be prohibited or converted into registered shares. Nominee shareholders and nominee directors must disclose to the registry the natural person on whose behalf they act.

  7. 7

    Adequate access by competent authorities

    FIUs, supervisors, law enforcement and tax authorities must have prompt, direct and unfettered access to beneficial ownership information — domestically and through international cooperation channels.

  8. 8

    Sanctions for non-compliance

    Countries must apply effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions — administrative, civil or criminal — to legal persons, their directors and beneficial owners that fail to comply with disclosure obligations.

Practical example

Example: identifying the beneficial owner of a holding chain

A real estate developer (a vulnerable activity in Mexico) onboards a corporate buyer. The buyer is owned by a Mexican S.A. de C.V., which is in turn owned 60% by a BVI company and 40% by a Cayman trust. The developer must follow the chain until it reaches a natural person. Through corporate filings, sworn declarations and the SAT's beneficial-owner register, it identifies that the BVI company has a single ultimate shareholder — a Mexican individual residing in CDMX. That person is screened against PEP and sanctions lists, and her ID and CURP are added to the file as beneficiario controlador. If the chain had hit a dead end (e.g., bearer shares or undisclosed nominees), the relationship would not be opened.

How Mexico implements it

Country-specific section in Spanish — Mexican regulatory references (LFPIORPI, CNBV, SAT, UIF).

México lleva años fortaleciendo su régimen de beneficiario final/controlador y hoy combina la LFPIORPI con el Código Fiscal de la Federación:

LFPIORPI Art. 18 Fr. III — Beneficiario controlador para AV

Quienes realizan actividades vulnerables deben identificar al beneficiario controlador cuando el cliente sea persona moral. El concepto está definido en el Art. 3 Fr. III de la LFPIORPI: persona física que obtiene el beneficio económico o ejerce el control real de la persona moral.

Beneficiario controlador: qué es y cómo identificarlo

CFF Arts. 32-B Ter, Quáter y Quinquies — Registro y actualización

El Código Fiscal obliga a personas morales y fideicomisos a obtener, conservar y proporcionar al SAT información fidedigna del beneficiario controlador. La información debe actualizarse en 15 días naturales tras cualquier cambio. El umbral SAT considera ≥15% de control efectivo (más estricto que el 25% típico GAFI).

Distinción terminológica México

LFPIORPI usa 'beneficiario controlador' (régimen del SAT para AV); la CNBV usa 'propietario real' (régimen financiero). Ambos buscan a la persona física última, pero las disposiciones secundarias y umbrales difieren ligeramente. Es indispensable usar el término correcto al elaborar manuales y formatos.

CNBV: qué es, funciones y entidades

Reforma Reglamento LFPIORPI marzo 2026

El Reglamento reformado el 27/03/2026 endureció obligaciones: cadena de control documentada, conservación 10 años (alineada con la Ley), y la posibilidad de visitas SAT con fuerza pública para verificar la información del beneficiario controlador en sitio.

Milestones

  1. 2003

    Original Recommendation 33 — basic transparency principle

  2. 2012

    Renumbered as Recommendation 24 with 'company-information' approach

  3. 2016

    Panama Papers exposes the limits of the company-information approach

  4. 2022

    Major revision: shift to 'multi-pronged approach' anchored in public registries

  5. 2023

    Updated Best Practices Paper on beneficial ownership of legal persons

  6. 2025

    October 2025 update tightens verification and sanctions standards

Related Recommendations

Other Recommendations in Group E — Transparency & Beneficial Ownership

25 R.25 Beneficial ownership of legal arrangements

Official citation

FATF (2012-2025), International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism & Proliferation, Recommendation 24, FATF, Paris, France. Last updated October 2025.

Read the official text on fatf-gafi.org