Ultimate beneficial owner
Article 8.b) RD 304/2014 provides a fallback rule: the company's director or directors are then treated as the beneficial owner. This is known as titularidad real asimilada.
What matters is what the fallback is not: a shortcut around the check. It applies only after reasonable measures have been taken, and you must still be able to document why no natural person sits above the threshold. The attribution is a legal consequence, not a substitute for the due diligence work that leads to it.
Legal basis: Real Decreto 304/2014, Art. 8.b); Ley 10/2010, Art. 4
Practical tip: In a recent transaction the purchasing party was an SL with more than 50 shareholders, none of whom individually held over 25% of the capital. That is precisely where the fallback rule applies, and the directors were documented as beneficial owners. Establishing that none of the 50-plus shareholders crossed the threshold was itself the due diligence work — not a reason to skip it.
AI-assisted tools were used in preparing these FAQs; the content was subsequently reviewed and approved by the Doxario editorial team. They reflect the general state of the law as at the review date shown and do not constitute individual legal or tax advice. To assess your own case — particularly where complex structures are involved (offshore companies, trusts, foundations, communities of heirs) or where the new EU rules leave room for doubt — we recommend consulting a lawyer specialising in Spanish anti-money-laundering law and, on tax questions, a tax adviser. Doxario is a deal management and compliance platform for estate agents in Spain, operated by Blue Pepper S.L.; we therefore have an economic interest in the solutions described in these FAQs. Doxario accepts no liability for decisions taken solely on the basis of these FAQs.
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