Skip to main content

Beneficial Ownership Filing

The Companies Act, as amended through the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act, requires companies to file a register of beneficial owners (BO) with the CIPC. AtlasOS tracks BO filing as a first-class compliance obligation — separate from CIPC annual returns.

What is a Beneficial Owner?​

A beneficial owner is a natural person who:

  • Directly or indirectly owns 5% or more of the company's shares or voting rights, or
  • Has the right to appoint or remove the majority of directors, or
  • Exercises direct or indirect control over the company

BO Filing in AtlasOS​

For each company entity:

  1. Navigate to Corporate Secretarial → Company Registers → Beneficial Owners
  2. Add each beneficial owner with:
    • Full name, ID number / passport number
    • Nationality and country of residence
    • Nature and extent of beneficial interest (%)
    • Date the beneficial interest was acquired
  3. Set the BO filing status — AtlasOS tracks whether BO has been submitted to CIPC
  4. Log the CIPC submission date and upload proof of submission

Compliance Calendar Integration​

AtlasOS treats the initial BO filing and any subsequent updates as compliance obligations. Reminders are generated when:

  • A new company is registered (initial BO filing required within 30 days)
  • A change in beneficial ownership occurs (update required within 30 days of the change)
  • Annual review is due (CIPC may require annual confirmation)
warning

Failure to file beneficial ownership information is a criminal offence under the Companies Act. Atlas surfaces BO non-compliance as a Critical priority in the compliance calendar.

Bulk BO Import​

For secretarial firms migrating existing company portfolios, AtlasOS supports bulk import of beneficial ownership data via CSV. Contact support for the import template.