Liberia Business Registry

Beneficial Ownership Register

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Search this register to get information about the true owners and controllers of domestic entities

DECLARE

For domestic entities, create an account and submit information about your beneficial owners

LEGAL BASIS

Get access to all legislation that supports the establishment of this register

GUIDANCE

Get access to frequently asked questions on beneficial ownership and guidance on how to identify a beneficial owner

About Beneficial Ownership

A beneficial owner is a person who ultimately has the right to some share of a legal entity’s income or assets, or the ability to control its activities. Beneficial ownership transparency reveals how companies and other legal entities or arrangements, such as trusts, are owned and controlled by their beneficial owners. Defined by the Associations Law (as Amended) of 2020, a beneficial owner is the natural person(s) who ultimately owns, controls, or exercises ultimate effective control over a legal person or arrangement. Natural persons who exercise control over a legal person through relationships, financial power, or contractual associations are also considered beneficial owners.

In 2017, Liberia committed to implementing beneficial ownership and published a roadmap for achieving this objective. The country’s ongoing beneficial ownership (BO) reforms gained momentum when it joined the Opening Extractives (OE) programme in 2021. The progress made in establishing a regulatory framework to enable the collection, storage and sharing of BO information under the OE programme served as a firm foundation for the development of a public BO register, with support from the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative. The collaboration between these international partners has provided comprehensive support for Liberia’s journey towards implementing beneficial ownership transparency.

Steps in declaring Beneficial Ownership for your business

Steps in declaring your beneficial ownership information

As a registered resident domestic, non-resident domestic and foreign corporation in Liberia, you are required to declare your entity’s beneficial ownership information. To make a beneficial ownership declaration, kindly follow the steps below:

  • Step 1: Create an account which will be approved by the Liberia Business Registry (LBR). An account should only be created by persons authorised to make BO declarations for a corporation
  • Step 2: Once you receive an approval email, register your corporation on the BO register by clicking “add a new entity” on the left side of your dashboard.
  • Step 3: After registering your corporation, start to submit your BO declaration by clicking “submit declaration” on the left side of your dashboard. Declare the details of each beneficial owner of the corporation you have registered.
  • Step 4: When your declaration is complete, press Submit button to send. The LBR will review and approve or query your submission and you will be duly notified.

Benefits of Declaring Beneficial Owners of a Business

For the government

Reduce the risks of money laundering, tax crimes, and various forms of corruption, improve the investment climate in Liberia and public trust in the government

For journalists and civil society organisations

Enable investigations and hold the government and corporate entities to account

For companies

Create fair and competitive open market participation, and facilitate due diligence; allow companies to vet their business and trading partners

For Liberian citizens

Strengthen domestic resource mobilisation and utilisation of public funds for infrastructural development for the benefit of the people

Frequently Asked Questions

Disclaimer

The Liberian Business Registry (LBR) has prepared these frequently asked questions (FAQs) in response to public inquiries with regards to filing beneficial owners of domestic entities in Liberia, in compliance with the Liberia Beneficial Ownership Disclosure Regulations for Domestic Entities. These FAQs are only explanatory and do not supplement or modify any obligations imposed by legislation or subsidiary legislations. Advice on specific cases and individual circumstances can be sought from the LBR.

A. General questions

  • 1. What is beneficial ownership disclosure?

    Beneficial ownership disclosure means the disclosure of individual natural persons who directly or indirectly own, control, or have significant influence over a legal entity. The disclosure of the beneficial ownership of legal entities means filing the particulars of the beneficial owners with the LBR, using the appropriate Beneficial Ownership Disclosure forms.

  • It is a legislative requirement for every legal entity in Liberia to disclose their beneficial owners to the LBR. In 2020, Liberia passed an Amendment to the Associations Law of Liberia, Title 5, Liberia Code of Laws Revised, Vol II to provide for the basis for the collection, processing, verification, maintenance, publication, and accessibility of beneficial ownership information of domestic entities. This was part of the government’s efforts to make it harder for bad actors to hide proceeds from ill-gotten gains (including corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, fraud, and other crimes) through shell companies and opaque corporate structures. In 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs issued the Liberian Beneficial Ownership Regulations (referenced in the regulations section of this website) to guide the implementation of beneficial ownership disclosure.

  • The law applies to all forms of entities and legal arrangements incorporated and/or organised under the laws of Liberia, including:

    • domestic corporations;
    • limited liability companies;
    • partnerships;
    • limited partnerships;
    • trusts;
    • foundations;
    • any other legal entities organised under the laws of Liberia.

    However, data collection on beneficial ownership will start with domestic entities, i.e. resident domestic, non-resident domestic, and foreign corporations.

  • No, all entities incorporated and/or organised under the laws of Liberia or operating in Liberia are required to disclose their beneficial owners. The only entities that are exempted by the Associations Law are publicly listed companies, i.e. companies listed on a stock exchange. With a publicly listed company, the reporting of beneficial ownership information will focus on the provision of information about listings, including the name of the stock exchange, a link to the stock exchange page, and a link to the beneficial ownership information on the stock exchange.

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