TIGHTENING BENEFICIAL OWNER FRAMEWORK: THE PRESS NOTE 3 IMPASSE

The term beneficial owner wasn’t defined under the Press Note 3 of 2020, and the FEMA (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019. Hence, there existed a dichotomy in the industry, as to the ownership threshold applicable to the said term. The PMLA Amendment and change in the KYC Norms, in effect, is expected to put that dichotomy on the definition of beneficial owner under the PMLA/KYC Norms, as against the CA 2013, at rest. INDUSLAW's Winnie Shekhar, Anantha Krishnan Iyer, and Siddharth Malakar discuss.