Art. 12 Understanding the ownership and control structure of the customer in the case of complex corporate structures | RTS on customer due diligence | AML

1. To understand the ownership and control structure of the customer in accordance with Article 20(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, obliged entities shall treat an ownership and control structure as a complex corporate structure where there are three or more layers between the customer and the beneficial ownermeans any natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity or an express trust or similar legal arrangement; and, in addition, more than one of the following conditions is met:
  1. there is a legal arrangementmeans an express trust or an arrangement which has a similar structure or function to an express trust, including fiducie and certain types of Treuhand and fideicomiso; or a similar legal entity such as a foundation in any of the layers;
  2. the customer and any legal entities present at any of these layers are registered in jurisdictions outside the EU;
  3. there are nominee shareholders or nominee directors involved in the structure;
  4. the structure obfuscates or diminishes transparency of ownership with no legitimate economic rationale or justification.
1. In the case of complex corporate structures as referred to in paragraph 1, obliged entities shall, where necessary to complement the measures undertaken pursuant to Article 11, obtain additional information, such as an organigram.
1. Obliged entities shall take risk-sensitive measures to satisfy themselves that the information obtained is accurate.