Revision of the General Information Sheet to Include Beneficial Ownership Information; Securities and Exchange Commission Memorandum Circular No. 17, Series of 2018 (Philippines)

The Memorandum Circular was issued pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) mandate to assist in the implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, as amended, and to ensure adequate information on the beneficial ownership and control of SEC registered corporation in order to prevent their misuse for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes. It requires all SEC registered corporations to disclose their beneficial owners in the corporation's General Information Sheet. A beneficial owner refers to any natural person who ultimately owns or controls the corporation, or has ultimate effective control over the corporation. If the corporation has multiple layers, the intermediate layers of the company's ownership structure should likewise be fully identified and declared in the General Information Sheet which must be accompanied by an ownership chart.