Letters to shareholders and members for the transparency register. Done in 5 questions.
You get cover letters, a checklist for the board of directors and FAQs, tailored to the company's structure. As PDFs, in the company's name.
Who are you preparing the package for?
Fiduciary professionals, lawyers and advisers choose «clients». One click takes you straight to the next question. No sign-up required.
The documents you get
This is what the result looks like. Depending on the structure, a cover email to the client and in-depth notes on the specific case are added.
Letter to shareholders
In the company's name. Asks the holders of ownership interests for the information needed for the assessment.
Company checklist
For the board of directors and executive management: every step from the ownership structure to the report.
FAQ for shareholders
For natural persons and companies as shareholders, plus in-depth notes depending on the case.
Who the generator is for
Fiduciary professionals
One consistent, professional process for every mandate, with documents in your client's name.
Lawyers and advisers
Clear explanations for clients, without rewriting them every time.
Companies
Write to shareholders and members correctly before the assessment starts.
Your package is ready: 6 documents
EditFor clients · AG · Natural persons and legal entities · 1 holding level · SHA
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✓Checklist for the companyPDFPreview
What changes with the new transparency rules?
From 1 October 2026, Swiss companies are subject to new obligations regarding the identification and reporting of their beneficial owners under the Federal Act on the Transparency of Legal Entities and the Identification of Beneficial Owners (LETA).
It is not enough to simply check ownership percentages. Indirect holdings, acting in concert or special control rights can also be relevant. This checklist helps you prepare the necessary assessments in a structured way.
Define responsibilities
- ☐ Determine who coordinates the process within the company.
- ☐ Clarify which tasks a fiduciary professional, lawyer or other adviser should take on in preparation and execution.
- ☐ Decide who within the company acts as contact person for the adviser and for questions from holders of ownership interests.
- ☐ Make sure the responsible persons within the company are informed about the process.
Important: An external adviser can prepare, structure and support the assessments. Communication with the shareholders takes place in the company's name. The legal responsibility of the competent governing body remains even if tasks are delegated.
Record the ownership and control structure
- ☐ Get an up-to-date overview of all shareholders and their ownership interests.
- ☐ Check whether companies or other legal entities are involved and whether there are further levels of ownership or control behind them.
- ☐ Consider voting rights in addition to equity interests.
- ☐ Check whether special agreements or rights exist, for example shareholders' agreements or voting agreements, veto, consent, appointment or removal rights, convertible bonds or options, fiduciary arrangements, trusts or other relationships that may allow influence over control.
Note: An ownership interest of at least 25% is an important criterion – but not the only one.
Note: Check equity interest and voting rights separately.
Obtain information from shareholders
- ☐ Determine which shareholders need to be contacted.
- ☐ Prepare a clear cover letter and the appropriate information for each holder of ownership interests.
- ☐ Clarify how the required information is to be submitted.
- ☐ In particular, ask whether the interests are held on their own account or on behalf of another person.
- ☐ Obtain the required information on the beneficial owners.
This may include in particular surname and first name, date of birth, AHV number (Swiss social security number), nationality(ies), place of residence and information on the nature and extent of control.
Where legal entities are holders of ownership interests, information on the underlying ownership and control structure may also be required. Also ask about agreements or special rights that could be relevant to control of the company.
Note: The company should clearly explain to its holders of ownership interests why the information is needed and how the process will continue.
Verify the information
- ☐ Verify the information received with the diligence required by the circumstances.
- ☐ Clarify whether the person named is actually a beneficial owner.
- ☐ Request suitable documents or further information where necessary.
The more complex the structure, the more important it is to document the ownership and control relationships in a traceable way. If individual points cannot be clarified, the assessments carried out should still be documented.
Document and retain the result
- ☐ Record which beneficial owners were identified.
- ☐ Document the nature and extent of their control.
- ☐ Record relevant chains of control and special control relationships.
- ☐ Keep the information and supporting documents received in an orderly manner.
- ☐ Also document unsuccessful assessments and the steps taken.
The documentation should make it possible to understand later how the company arrived at its result.
Prepare the report to the transparency register
- ☐ Check which persons and information must be reported to the transparency register.
- ☐ Compile the required reporting data in full.
- ☐ Clarify whether the simplified reporting procedure may apply to the company in question.
- ☐ Make sure the report is made within the applicable deadline.
Important: Preparing the report does not start when the form is submitted. Most of the work lies in collecting, verifying and documenting the ownership and control relationships beforehand.
Note: The simplified reporting procedure may apply to this constellation. The requirements must be fully checked before reporting.
Option: Collection, verification, documentation and preparation of the report can be handled digitally with Konsento's transparency register reporting assistant.
Keep it up to date after the initial report
The process is not complete after the initial report.
- ☐ Make sure changes in ownership interests and control relationships are identified.
- ☐ In particular, check transfers of shares or capital contributions, capital increases, changes in voting rights, new or terminated agreements, changes at holding companies, new or lapsed control rights, conversions of financing instruments and the start or end of fiduciary arrangements.
- ☐ When a change occurs, check whether the documented information needs to be updated and a report of changes submitted to the transparency register.
Well prepared means not compiling ownership and control relationships only for the initial report, but recording, documenting and updating them in a structured way on an ongoing basis.
✓Cover email to the clientPDFPreview
Dear Sir or Madam
We are supporting [Company] in preparing for its obligations under the new transparency legislation (LETA).
To identify the beneficial owners, the ownership and control relationships must be reviewed and, where necessary, additional information obtained from the shareholders.
For communication with your holders of ownership interests, we have prepared the following documents for you:
- a cover letter to your shareholders;
- a questionnaire for the required information;
- the relevant FAQ for your shareholders;
- where applicable, additional information on special ownership or control relationships.
Please send the prepared cover letter together with the relevant documents to the holders of ownership interests concerned.
The information received can then be used for further assessments, documentation and preparation of the report to the transparency register. On request, we can use Konsento's transparency register reporting assistant for this.
We are happy to help if you have any questions about the process or individual responses.
Kind regards
[Fiduciary/adviser]
✓Cover letter to shareholdersPDFPreview
Dear Sir or Madam
Under the new transparency legislation (LETA), we are required to identify the beneficial owners of our company, verify the necessary information and prepare the report to the transparency register.
For this purpose, we need some information about your ownership interest and, where applicable, about further ownership or control relationships.
Please complete or confirm the required information as follows:
[Link / invitation to data entry]
In addition to the size of the ownership interest, agreements with other holders of ownership interests, special control rights or holding interests on behalf of another person may also be relevant.
The enclosed FAQ explains why this information is needed and which information may be relevant in your specific case.
If you have any questions, please contact [contact person / company].
Thank you for your support.
Kind regards
[Company]
✓FAQ for individualsPDFPreview
Why am I being asked about beneficial owners?
The company must identify its beneficial owners, verify the necessary information and prepare the report to the transparency register.
For this, it may need information from its shareholders. The request does not automatically mean that you yourself are a beneficial owner. It may also be relevant whether you hold interests on behalf of another person or whether agreements or special rights exist that influence control of the company.
What is a beneficial owner?
A beneficial owner is always a natural person who ultimately controls a company.
This may in particular be anyone who directly or indirectly holds at least 25% of the capital or voting rights, exercises control together with other persons (acting in concert) or controls the company by other means.
The size of the ownership interest alone is therefore not always decisive. A company may also have several beneficial owners.
What information do I have to provide?
The information required depends on the specific structure.
Typically, information on surname and first name, date of birth, nationality(ies), place of residence and the nature and extent of control may be required.
If you hold interests on behalf of another person or are part of a multi-level structure, additional information on the person behind it or the chain of control may be needed. Special agreements or control rights should also be disclosed if they could be relevant to the assessment.
Does an ownership interest below 25% mean I am not relevant for the report to the transparency register?
No. An ownership interest below 25% does not automatically mean that a person is irrelevant to the assessment.
Acting in concert with other holders of ownership interests, special control rights, an indirect holding or other means of controlling the company may be relevant, for example. The company may therefore need additional information even for smaller ownership interests.
What role do shareholders' agreements, voting agreements or other agreements play?
A shareholders' agreement, voting agreement or other agreement may result in several persons exercising their rights jointly and therefore exercising control together (acting in concert).
What matters is not only whether a written contract exists, but how the arrangement actually works. Joint rules on electing the board of directors, on important business decisions, on exercising voting rights or on distributions may be relevant, for example.
Not every shareholders' agreement automatically leads to joint control.
What does control by other means mean?
A person can also control a company by other means without holding an ownership interest of at least 25%.
Relevant rights may include, for example, the right to appoint or remove more than half of the members of a management or administrative body, to block important decisions or to bring about decisions on distributions or the disposal of material assets.
What matters is the actual effect of the existing rights and agreements.
What applies if I hold interests on behalf of another person?
If you hold interests in your own name but on behalf of another person, it is not sufficient for the assessment to consider only you as the registered holder of ownership interests.
The company may therefore need information on whom you hold the interests for, the extent of the ownership interest and whether further persons or structures are behind it. Depending on the case, documents on the fiduciary arrangement may also be required.
Which documents or evidence may I be asked for?
The company must verify the information with the diligence required by the circumstances. Which documents are needed depends on the specific case.
Examples include proof of identity, commercial register extracts, documents on ownership interests, shareholders' agreements, fiduciary agreements or documents on special control rights.
There is no general list of documents that must be submitted in every case. If no AHV number is available, proof of identity may be required.
Which later changes do I have to report to the company?
Changes may trigger a new review or a report of changes.
Relevant changes include in particular changes to your ownership interest or voting rights, new or terminated arrangements, new control rights, the start or end of a fiduciary arrangement and changes to name, nationality or place of residence.
Please therefore inform the company at an early stage of any changes that could be relevant to beneficial ownership.
What happens to my information?
The information is used to identify the company's beneficial owners, document the assessment and prepare the legally required report.
Certain information is reported to the non-public federal transparency register and retained in accordance with the statutory requirements.
If advisers or software solutions are involved in the process, their data processing is additionally governed by the applicable data protection provisions.
✓FAQ for companies as shareholdersPDFPreview
Why is it not always enough to state only our company as shareholder?
The transparency register is intended to record not only the directly involved companies, but the natural persons who ultimately control the target company.
If a company or other legal entity is involved, a review of the underlying ownership and control structure may therefore be necessary. The beneficial owners of your own company are not automatically identical to the beneficial owners of the target company.
What information on the ownership and control structure may be required?
Depending on the ownership interest, the following information may be required in particular:
- company name or name, legal form and registered office of the legal entity involved
- size of the ownership interest and voting rights
- further levels of ownership or control
- persons who control the legal entities involved
- special rights or agreements
- fiduciary or trust structures
The aim is to make the structure traceable to the extent necessary to identify the natural persons who ultimately exercise control.
How far must the ownership or control structure behind our company be traced?
The ownership or control structure is traced as far as necessary to identify the natural persons who ultimately control the target company.
It is not always sufficient simply to multiply ownership percentages across several levels. What may matter more is who controls an intermediate company and how this control affects the next level.
Not every minority interest within a structure therefore has to be disclosed down to the last level.
Which special control rights or agreements must be taken into account?
In addition to ownership interests and voting rights, special rights or agreements may also be relevant.
These may include in particular shareholders' agreements or voting agreements, appointment or removal rights, veto rights, special rights under the articles of association, financing instruments, fiduciary arrangements or other means of influence.
Such rights do not automatically lead to beneficial ownership. However, they should be disclosed if they could be relevant to the assessment of control.
What information and evidence do we have to provide?
The company may request documents to the extent necessary for a traceable review of the ownership and control structure.
Examples include commercial register extracts, organisation charts, extracts from share registers or registers of members, proof of ownership interests, agreements on special rights and fiduciary or trust documents.
Later changes to the controlling persons, ownership percentages, voting rights, agreements or chains of control should also be communicated to the company at an early stage.
✓Data collection form for your client (Word)PDFPreview
Questionnaire on beneficial owners
Company: [Company]
Please complete this form and return it by [date] to [contact person / company].
1. Information on the holder of ownership interests
- Surname and first name or company name: ______________________
- Address or registered office: ______________________
- Share of capital (%): __________
- Voting rights (%): __________
2. Do you hold the interests on your own account?
- ☐ Yes, on my own account
- ☐ No, on behalf of: ______________________
3. Information on the beneficial owners
Please provide for each natural person who directly or indirectly controls the company:
- Surname and first name: ______________________
- Date of birth: __________
- AHV number (if available): __________
- Nationality(ies): __________
- Place of residence (address): ______________________
- Nature and extent of control: ______________________
Addendum for companies as holders of ownership interests
- Company name, legal form and registered office: ______________________
- Ownership and control structure (please enclose an organisation chart)
- Persons who control your company: ______________________
- Further levels of ownership or control: ______________________
4. Special agreements or rights
- ☐ Shareholders' agreements, voting agreements or other arrangements
- ☐ Special veto, consent, appointment or removal rights
- ☐ Convertible bonds, options or other financing instruments
- ☐ Fiduciary arrangement or trust
- ☐ None of the above
If applicable, please describe briefly and enclose the relevant documents.
5. Confirmation
I confirm that the information is complete and correct and will inform the company of any later changes.
Place, date: ______________________ Signature: ______________________
✓Deep dive: Acting in concertPDFPreview
Several persons may be beneficial owners if they exercise control jointly on the basis of an agreement or actual coordination.
Relevant examples include coordinated exercise of voting rights, joint rules on electing the board of directors, veto rights on important decisions or joint influence on distributions.
A written agreement is not always required. Conversely, not every shareholders' agreement automatically leads to joint control. What matters is the content and actual effect of the arrangement.
✓Deep dive: Control by other meansPDFPreview
Control can also exist without an ownership interest of at least 25%.
In particular, rights or actual possibilities to appoint or remove more than half of a management or administrative body, to block important business decisions or to bring about decisions on distributions or material assets must be examined.
Such means of influence may arise from contracts, the articles of association, financing agreements, fiduciary arrangements or other special relationships. Their actual effect is decisive.
✓Deep dive: Convertible bonds, profit-participating loans, or other instrumentsPDFPreview
Convertible bonds, profit-participating loans, options or other financing instruments do not lead to beneficial ownership merely because they may later be converted into an ownership interest.
However, it must be examined whether the instrument already carries special control, consent, veto or appointment rights before conversion.
If a conversion or exercise takes place later, the ownership and control structure must be reassessed.
✓Deep dive: Fiduciary relationshipsPDFPreview
In a fiduciary arrangement, a person holds interests in their own name but on behalf of another person.
The assessment must therefore examine on whose behalf the interests are held, who makes the relevant decisions, the extent of the ownership interest and whether further persons or structures are behind it.
The role of the registered holder of ownership interests and the person behind them should be documented in a traceable way. Fiduciary arrangements at higher levels of an ownership chain may also be relevant.
✓Deep dive: Trusts in the ownership or control structurePDFPreview
If a trust is part of the ownership or control structure, the relevant roles and means of influence within the trust must be considered.
Depending on the arrangement, the settlor, trustee, protector, beneficiaries or other persons with special control rights may be relevant. If such a role is itself held by a legal entity, it may also be necessary to examine which natural persons control that legal entity.
The trust structure and the roles relevant to control should be documented in a traceable way.
✓Deep dive: Multi-level ownership and control chainsPDFPreview
In multi-level ownership structures, the chain of control must be traced across the companies involved.
For each relevant intermediate level, the following should be examined:
- Who holds the ownership interest?
- Who controls the intermediate company?
- What capital and voting rights exist?
- Are there special control rights or agreements?
- Which natural persons are at the end of the chain of control?
A graphic representation of the structure makes the assessment and later documentation easier.
✓Deep dive: What to do if ownership or control structures are not yet fully clarified?PDFPreview
If ownership or control relationships have not yet been fully clarified, the assessment should not simply be closed.
- Obtain the missing information and documents.
- Clarify contradictory information.
- Document which sources were checked and which persons were contacted.
- Record open points and unsuccessful assessments.
- Check which report must nevertheless be prepared within the applicable deadline.
As soon as new information is available, the assessment must be completed and updated where necessary.
Frequently asked questions about the Communication Generator
Is the Communication Generator free to use?
Yes. The Communication Generator is free to use.
Does every shareholder or member qualify as a beneficial owner?
No. The fact that a company requests information from a shareholder or member does not automatically mean that this person is a beneficial owner. Indirect structures, acting in concert and other means of control may also be relevant.
Does the Communication Generator identify the beneficial owners?
No. The generator supports communication and information gathering. The actual assessment of who qualifies as a beneficial owner and who must be reported to the transparency register takes place afterwards. Konsento’s Transparency Register Reporting Assistant can be used for this assessment.