A. INTRODUCTION
The recent LinkedIn India case has brought Significant
Beneficial Ownership ("SBO") rules under
the spotlight. The concept of SBO was introduced in India with the
Companies Act 2013
("the Act"), to
promote corporate transparency and uncover ultimate beneficiaries
with significant control over companies. Under the Act, there is a
requirement for the identification of an SBO i.e., an
individual/natural person who meets certain criteria as discussed
below. It's essentially a corporate treasure hunt, where the
objective is to discover who's really calling the shots.
Once an SBO is identified, the SBO and the Indian company
("Company") are required to undertake
related compliances which include the SBO providing a declaration
to the Company within 30 days of acquiring such significant
beneficial interest in the Company i.e., the date on which the
shares were first acquired by the SBO, etc., and consequential
filings to be made by the Company with the
