Ownership intelligence
UBO Analysis
Identify Ultimate Beneficial Owners through complex corporate structures, with every layer tied back to its registry source.
Target entity
Meridian Pay Limited
BR 7123 4567 · Live · Layer 0
1
UBO
2
Layers
4
Sources
The challenge
Ownership is rarely a straight line
UBO identification is complex because ownership has to be traced through every corporate layer, then aggregated back to natural persons.
- Companies often own other companies (multi-layer structures)
- Circular ownership patterns exist (A owns B, B owns A)
- Cross-shareholdings create indirect ownership paths
- Ownership percentages must be aggregated across multiple paths
- Manual tracing is time-consuming and error-prone
How it works
Layer by layer, with a payment gate at each step
You decide which corporate shareholders to investigate. QuickKYB retrieves the documents, extracts the holdings, and recalculates ownership after every layer.
Initial entity verification
- Search company in Hong Kong Companies Registry (ICRIS)
- Retrieve core documents: NAR1, NNC1, COI, AOA
- Extract shareholder information using AI
- Identify corporate vs individual shareholders
Multi-layer investigation
- Present investigation option with cost estimate
- Upon approval, create a new Entity Search for that company
- Retrieve and extract documents
- Repeat until no more corporate shareholders
UBO calculation
- Direct ownership: the individual’s direct shareholding percentage
- Indirect ownership through corporate entities
- Matrix inversion handles circular ownership patterns
- Path aggregation sums ownership across multiple paths
UBO identification
- Ownership ≥25% (direct + indirect)
- Significant control or influence
- Senior management roles
Method and edge cases
What the calculation handles
What Is UBO Analysis?
Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) analysis identifies the natural persons who ultimately own or control a business entity. This is critical for AML/CFT compliance, as regulations require verification of individuals with ≥25% ownership or significant control.
Circular Ownership Detection
Our system handles complex ownership structures including:
- Simple Circles: Company A owns Company B, Company B owns Company A
- Cross-Shareholdings: A→B→C→A ownership chains
- Self-Ownership: Entities indirectly owning themselves
- Multiple Paths: Same individual reached through different routes
Using matrix inversion mathematics, we calculate the true economic ownership even in circular structures.
Ownership Visualization
Our reports include:
- Ownership Tree: Hierarchical view of corporate structure
- UBO Summary: List of all identified UBOs with ownership percentages
- Detailed Breakdown: How each UBO's ownership was calculated
- Circular Chains: Documentation of any circular ownership detected
Compliance Reporting
Generate compliance-ready reports including:
- UBO register with all required information
- Ownership percentage calculations with methodology
- Document references for all data points
- Risk assessment for each UBO
- Audit trail of investigation steps
Example: How Multi-Layer Search Works
Scenario: Investigating Company X
- Layer 1: Company X has shareholders:
- Individual A (30%) → UBO identified
- Company Y (70%) → Requires investigation
- Layer 2: User approves investigation of Company Y. Company Y has shareholders:
- Individual A (20%) → Now 30% + (70% × 20%) = 44%
- Individual B (40%) → 70% × 40% = 28% → UBO identified
- Company Z (40%) → Requires investigation
- Layer 3: User approves investigation of Company Z. Company Z has shareholders:
- Individual A (50%) → Additional indirect ownership
- Company X (50%) → Circular ownership detected!
Final Result: Using matrix inversion, we calculate precise ownership percentages accounting for the circular ownership.
Benefits
- Automation: No more manual spreadsheet calculations
- Accuracy: Mathematically precise ownership calculation
- Efficiency: Complete UBO identification in minutes
- Transparency: Clear audit trail and methodology
- Compliance: Meet Hong Kong and international regulatory requirements
Pricing
- Base Entity Search: HKD 100 per company
- Corporate Shareholder Investigation: HKD 100 per company
- UBO Analysis: Included in all entity searches
- UBO KYC Verification: HKD 150 per individual
Map ownership structures your registries can't show
QuickKYB reveals every layer between companies and the people who control them.