What happens during an company 'unwrap' when a corporate shareholder turns out to be a trust?
The platform reads ASIC, flags shareholders held non-beneficially as likely trustees, pauses the unwrap.
easyAML reads ASIC data during the KYB unwrap and flags any shareholder where ASIC records show "beneficially held = false" - meaning the named shareholder is holding the shares on behalf of someone else, typically as a trustee. This is a strong signal that there's a trust sitting behind the shareholding.
What happens next:
- The platform pauses the unwrap at that shareholder and asks for documentation.
- The user uploads the trust deed and uses the automatic trust read to determine the trustees, appointor and beneficiaries (or beneficiary classes). Each unwrapped trust layer is a separate KYB ($35 + GST on Professional).
- KYC links then need to be sent to each individual identified as a controlling person or adult named beneficiary.
The process is manual because trust details aren't externally registered with ASIC or any other public register - the deed itself is the only authoritative source. Our AI trust-deed reader simplifies the process and will pre-fill trustees, appointor and beneficiaries from the uploaded deed (the user reviews and confirms).
Related articles
- What does the KYB unit price include?
- Does AUSTRAC require settlors to be identified and KYC as part of a trust CDD?
- When the customer is a trust, do beneficiaries need to be identified and verified? How does this differ by trust type?
- A KYB failed to identify known UBOs. What's the workaround?
- Can a platform user override the UBOs identified by KYB unwrapping?