Beneficial Owners of a Trust: Who Counts and What to Collect
A company has beneficial owners because someone owns or controls it. A trust is different: nobody owns it in the ordinary sense, so the rules list the people who count instead. This guide sets out who those people are under the FATF standards and in the EU, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong and the US, how to handle beneficiaries who are not yet known, and what to collect when a trust is your customer.
Trusts sit in many ownership structures that compliance teams review: family holding companies, investment structures, pension arrangements and charitable vehicles. FATF revised its standard on legal arrangements, Recommendation 25, in February 2023, and published guidance on applying it in March 2024. Several jurisdictions have tightened their own rules since, including the UK and Singapore.
For companies, see our guide to calculating beneficial ownership. For structures that combine companies, trusts and nominees, see UBO discovery in complex corporate structures.
The Five Categories of Trust Beneficial Owner
| Party | Role in the trust | Why they count |
|---|---|---|
| Settlor | The person who creates the trust and puts assets into it | The source of the assets, and often the person whose wishes the trustees follow |
| Trustee | Holds legal title to the trust assets and administers them | Controls the assets day to day; often a professional or corporate trustee |
| Protector | An optional role with powers over the trustees, such as consenting to distributions or replacing a trustee | Can direct or veto key decisions, so is a source of control |
| Beneficiaries | The people who benefit, named individually or described as a class, or who may be selected under a power | The people the assets are held for |
| Others with ultimate effective control | Anyone else who in practice controls the trust, through powers, a chain of companies or an informal arrangement | Catches control that does not fit a formal role |
This list comes from the FATF Glossary, which says that for legal arrangements the beneficial owner includes “the settlor(s); the trustee(s); the protector(s) (if any); each beneficiary, or where applicable, the class of beneficiaries and objects of a power; and any other natural person(s) exercising ultimate effective control”. Recommendation 10 applies the same list to customer due diligence.
Two points make trusts different from companies. First, there is no threshold: every person in these categories is a beneficial owner, however small their interest. Second, you look through legal persons: where the trustee or settlor is a company, FATF’s standard says the beneficial owner of that company should be identified as well. FATF’s 2024 guidance adds that a nominee settlor should not hide the real “economic settlor” who provided the assets.
How the Rules Compare by Jurisdiction
| Regime | Who counts for a trust | Notable detail |
|---|---|---|
| FATF standards | Settlor, trustee, protector (if any), each beneficiary or class, any other person exercising ultimate effective control | No threshold; look through legal persons; revised February 2023 |
| EU AML Directive (until 10 July 2027) | Settlor, trustee, protector (if any), beneficiaries (or the class, where not yet determined), any other person exercising ultimate control | Article 3(6)(b) of Directive 2015/849; trustees file the information in a national register |
| EU AML Regulation 2024/1624 (from 10 July 2027) | Settlors, trustees, protectors (if any), beneficiaries, any other person exercising ultimate control | Article 58; separate rules for classes of beneficiaries (Article 59) and discretionary trusts (Article 60) |
| United Kingdom (MLR 2017, reg 6) | Settlor, trustees, beneficiaries (or the class in whose main interest the trust is set up), any individual with control | Protectors are not named; they count through the control limb, which covers powers to veto, direct or appoint trustees |
| Singapore (MAS Notice 626, para 6.14) | The “trust relevant parties” and any natural person with ultimate ownership, control or effective control | Trust relevant parties include the settlor, trustee, protector, beneficiaries or class, objects of a power and holders of certain powers |
| Hong Kong (AMLO, Schedule 2) | Beneficiaries entitled to a vested interest, settlor, trustee, protector or enforcer, any individual with ultimate control | Only beneficiaries with a vested interest are named; trustees were added by a 2022 amendment |
| United States (FinCEN CDD Rule) | Where a trust owns 25% or more of a company customer, the trustee is the beneficial owner under the ownership test | Trusts are generally not “legal entity customers” themselves, except statutory trusts created by a public filing |
The practical consequence: a control set that identifies only the trustee will satisfy the US rule but not FATF, EU, UK, Singapore or Hong Kong requirements. The EU and Singapore lists are the widest, because they name protectors and objects of a power expressly. If your book spans regimes, collect the full FATF list and apply the local definition at the reporting stage. For Singapore’s wider framework, see our guide to MAS Notice 626; for the EU changes, see getting ready for the AMLR.
Beneficiaries Who Are Not Yet Known
Many trusts do not name every beneficiary. A family trust might benefit “the grandchildren of the settlor”, some of whom are not yet born, and a discretionary trust lets the trustees choose who receives what. The rules deal with this by moving the identification point:
FATF
Where beneficiaries are designated by characteristics or by class, obtain enough information to be satisfied that you can establish their identity at the time of the payout or when the beneficiary intends to exercise vested rights. FATF’s 2024 guidance says it is not necessary to identify every possible beneficiary of a broad discretionary trust.
EU AML Regulation
Article 59: where beneficiaries are designated as a class, the individuals in the class become beneficial owners as soon as they are identified or designated. Article 60: for discretionary trusts, the objects of a power become beneficial owners as soon as they are selected, and so do the default takers if the trustees fail to exercise their discretion.
Singapore
MAS Notice 626 requires a bank to identify a beneficiary designated by characteristics or class before making a distribution to that beneficiary, or when that beneficiary intends to exercise vested rights.
United Kingdom and Hong Kong
The UK names “the class of persons in whose main interest the trust is set up” where individual beneficiaries are not yet determined. Hong Kong’s definition covers beneficiaries entitled to a vested interest, so a discretionary object with no vested interest is not caught by the wording itself, although the trustee, protector and anyone with ultimate control still are.
Operationally, this means a trust file is never finished at onboarding. Build a trigger that re-runs identification and screening when a distribution is requested or a class member becomes entitled.
Trust Registers and Your Duty to Check Them
United Kingdom. All UK express trusts must register on HMRC’s Trust Registration Service (TRS), subject to listed exclusions, within 90 days of being created or becoming registrable, and changes must be notified within 90 days. Some non-UK trusts must register too, for example where they have a UK trustee and a UK business relationship or hold UK land. Since 30 June 2026, non-UK trusts that bought UK land before 6 October 2020 and still hold it must also register, by 1 September 2027. Before establishing a business relationship with a trust that must register, a regulated firm must collect an excerpt of the register, and it must report material discrepancies to HMRC, at onboarding and, since April 2023, on an ongoing basis. Our guide to the 2026 MLR amendments covers the other changes.
European Union. Trustees must hold beneficial ownership information and file it in a central register in each Member State. Access is limited to authorities, obliged entities and people with a legitimate interest. The Court of Justice’s 2022 WM and Sovim judgment struck down general public access to company registers; trust registers already used a legitimate-interest test, and the sixth AML Directive (2024/1640) now sets the access rules for both.
Singapore. There is no public trust register. Instead, trustees of express trusts governed by Singapore law, administered in Singapore or with a Singapore-resident trustee must obtain, verify and keep information on the trust’s relevant parties under Part 7 of the Trustees Act 1967 and its 2017 regulations. Amendments in force from 20 June 2025 widened the categories of relevant party, required letters of wishes to be kept, created a Commissioner of Trust Enforcement and raised the maximum fine from S$1,000 to S$25,000.
What to Collect When a Trust Is Your Customer
- The trust deed, plus any deeds of variation, appointment or retirement of trustees, and any deed adding or excluding beneficiaries.
- The letter of wishes, where one exists: it often shows who the settlor really intends to benefit.
- A register excerpt, such as a TRS excerpt for UK-registrable trusts, checked against what the trustee tells you.
- Identity and verification documents for every natural person in the five categories, and screening of each against sanctions, PEP and adverse media lists.
- For corporate trustees, settlors or protectors: registry extracts and the beneficial owners of that company, traced to natural persons.
- Source of wealth for the settlor and anyone who has added assets: see our guide to source of funds and source of wealth.
- A structure chart showing the trust, its parties and any companies it owns, with the role of each person marked.
Common Mistakes
- Applying a 25% threshold. Thresholds apply to ownership of companies. Every settlor, trustee, protector and beneficiary of a trust is a beneficial owner.
- Stopping at the trustee. This only satisfies the US rule. Elsewhere you need every category.
- Missing the protector. Even where the law does not name protectors, as in the UK, a protector with veto or appointment powers has control and counts.
- Stopping at a corporate trustee. Look through it to the natural persons who own and control it.
- Treating the file as closed. Class and discretionary beneficiaries must be identified when they become entitled or are selected, so distributions need a trigger.
- Not checking the register. In the UK, collecting a TRS excerpt and reporting material discrepancies is a legal requirement, not good practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the beneficial owner of a trust?
Under the FATF standards, all of the following: the settlor, the trustee, the protector if there is one, each beneficiary or the class of beneficiaries, and any other natural person exercising ultimate effective control over the trust. The EU, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong follow this model, with differences of detail.
Is there a 25% threshold for trusts?
No. Ownership thresholds apply to companies. For a trust, every person in the listed categories is a beneficial owner regardless of the size of their interest.
Is the trustee a beneficial owner of the trust?
Yes under FATF, EU, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong rules. Under the US CDD Rule, where a trust owns 25% or more of a company customer, the trustee is treated as the beneficial owner for the ownership test.
Who are the beneficial owners of a discretionary trust?
The settlor, trustees, any protector and anyone else with ultimate control are identified at the outset. Potential beneficiaries are usually identified as a class, and individuals are identified when they are selected or receive a distribution. Under the EU AML Regulation, objects of a power become beneficial owners as soon as they are selected.
Do I need to check the UK Trust Registration Service?
Yes, for a trust that must register. Before establishing a business relationship, a regulated firm must collect an excerpt of the register or establish that no entry is held, and report material discrepancies to HMRC.
What is a trust protector?
An optional party appointed to oversee the trustees, often with powers to consent to distributions, change the governing law or replace trustees. FATF, EU and Singapore rules name protectors as beneficial owners; in the UK they count where their powers amount to control.
Sources
- FATF Recommendations (Glossary, Recommendations 10 and 25 and their Interpretive Notes)
- FATF: Guidance on Beneficial Ownership and Transparency of Legal Arrangements (March 2024)
- Directive (EU) 2015/849, Articles 3(6) and 31 (consolidated)
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, Articles 57 to 60
- Directive (EU) 2024/1640 (sixth AML Directive)
- Court of Justice, WM and Sovim, joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20
- Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (regulations 6, 28, 30A and 45ZA)
- MAS Notice 626
- Singapore Trustees Act 1967, Part 7
- Trustees (Transparency and Effective Control) Regulations 2017
- Hong Kong AMLO (Cap. 615), Schedule 2
- 31 CFR 1010.230, beneficial ownership requirements for legal entity customers
This article is general information, not legal advice. Requirements change — check the current text with the regulator before relying on it.
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