Back to Open Ownership map: Worldwide action on beneficial ownership transparency

Regions

Asia

Across Asia, countries have made strong commitments to implement beneficial ownership transparency (BOT) through the enactment of legal and institutional frameworks that require legal entities to disclose their beneficial owners. Driven mainly by anti-money laundering initiatives and compliance with Financial Action Task Force recommendations, countries see BOT as a critical reform area in fighting corruption, illicit financial flows, and misuse of corporate vehicles.

While progress remains uneven, momentum is clearly building. In countries that already collect beneficial ownership data (BO), there is evidence of date use especially for law enforcement. Countries such as the Philippines and Armenia are also currently testing and expanding the use of BO data in public procurement and extractives licensing.

As Asian countries continue to refine their approach, the focus is shifting from simple data collection to ensuring that BO data becomes usable and impactful for the countries’ intended policy outcomes.

Open Ownership works with countries like Armenia, Bhutan, Indonesia, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka to help strengthen their legal and policy frameworks, implement or improve BO data collation and interoperability, and promote better BO data use.

Countries in the region