Beneficial Ownership Register

FAQ

A beneficial owner refers to a living person who directly or indirectly owns the company OR who controls at least 10% of the shares or total votes. This excludes nominees, intermediaries, custodians or agents who act on behalf of another person.

A politically exposed person (PEP) is a beneficial owner who has been entrusted with a prominent political function. PEPs include foreign and local political figures and extend to their immediate family members and close associates.

An E&P or Exploration and Production (Public Petroleum Rights) License is a type of license granted by the government to extractive companies which gives them the exclusive rights to explore a specific location and own the resources.

A PSC or Production Sharing Contract is a type of contractual agreement between the government and the extractive company (or operator) in which the government receives a predetermined share of production based on value and profit calculations. Rather than pay royalties and taxes, the operator allocates a percentage of production to recover costs incurred to produce and splits the remaining profits with the government.

The purpose of the beneficial ownership register is to improve corporate trust and promote transparency in oil, gas and mining operations in Trinidad and Tobago by making it clear to law enforcement agencies, regulators, competing businesses, the media and the interested public at large who ultimately owns and controls these extractive companies. This helps to deter money laundering, terrorist financing and other forms of corruption by people who deliberately hide their ownership or control of extractive companies.