Beneficial ownership filing

What we will need from you

This is the whole list. Most of it you already have, and CIPC supplies the rest from its own records. If something is missing we tell you before we start, not halfway through.

• Your company registration number, and confirmation that you are a current director or member of it
• Every person who owns or controls 5% or more, with full names as they appear on their identity document
• Certified identity or passport copies for each of those people, which the law requires you to hold and produce on request
• The date each shareholder’s shares were issued. For a founder this is normally the company registration date. It is the field that stops most filings
• How many shares are actually issued and to whom, from your share register. CIPC knows how many you are allowed to issue but not how many you have issued
• The share class, ordinary or preference
• For shares held by a trust or another company, the documents that trace through to the actual people: share registers, trust deeds, letters of authority
• A working cellphone and email address, because CIPC sends a one-time PIN that expires in 48 hours
• A signed mandate authorising us to file, which we send you to sign. CIPC requires it to exist and to be producible on request

What you will be asked to swear to: the declaration covers whether anyone holds shares on someone else’s behalf, and whether anyone outside the directors and shareholders can control the company, appoint or remove directors, or materially influence how it is managed. We walk you through those answers before anything is submitted, because a wrong answer here is a false declaration, not a typo. The full wording is in our beneficial ownership guide.

The other register CIPC now shows: the Information Regulator

CIPC’s own company search now shows whether a business has registered its information officer with the Information Regulator. If it has not, the result says the company is not compliant with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), for anyone who looks the company up. Almost every business that keeps a customer’s name or cellphone number needs it.

We register your information officer for you: POPIA information officer registration, R390. Once a year after that, the PAIA annual report is due between 1 April and 30 June.

Update, 2026: what CIPC is checking

In 2026 CIPC has issued notices on beneficial ownership filing compliance inspections, on validating customer profiles to prevent duplicate email addresses and cell phone numbers, and on geolocation for company and close corporation address changes (6 October 2026). Keep your registered details accurate and your beneficial ownership filing up to date (CIPC notices).

Frequently asked questions