BOVS

Parties (Nodes)

Nodes represent interested Parties, such as Persons, Entities or States, and the things they are interested in, such as Companies or Assets.

Appearance

Parties, Beneficial Owners and Entities in a BOVS Diagram

  • Nodes are drawn as a circle containing an icon.
    • Always draw circles/icons at the same size.
    • Try to space nodes at regular intervals across the diagram.
  • The icon used indicates the type of Party that the node represents.
    • See the Vocabulary for the valid types of Party and the correct icons to use for each.

Labels

Nodes must have a Label underneath, identifying the Party. The Label can either be:

  • The Party’s proper name (if known).
  • A unique Identifier that you create (see below).

For States, the Label may be more specific than the icon. For instance, the icon would identify the governing body (e.g. the UK), while the Label might more specifically identify the “Department of Transport”.

Identifiers

Instead of naming a Party in its Label, you can create an Identifier. Do this when identifying the name is not relevant or is not known. An Identifier is formed from Status + Type + Unique ID:

  Status Type Unique ID
  (if required) The type of Party A unique incrementing letter or number
e.g. Anonymous Person A
e.g.   Entity 2

For each of these parts:

Status Applies only if the Party is Unknown or Anonymous
Type May be any type defined in the Vocabulary
Unique ID
  • Use either only letters or only numbers across an entire diagram.
  • The letter or number must be unique even across different types of Party.
    • For instance, you cannot have Person A and Company A. The Identifiers would need to be Person A and Company B.

So, for instance, a valid set of Identifiers might be:

  • Anonymous Person A
  • Entity B
  • Unknown State C
  • Organisation D
  • Company E

Asset Nodes

Assets in a BOVS Diagram

A special type of node can be used to identify an Asset that a Party has an interest in. Assets are items of property owned by a person or company, regarded as having economic value. For instance, bank accounts and real estate are assets.

Asset Nodes can only ever appear at the end of an interest chain. No interest Arrows can proceed from them.

Asset Nodes are drawn using an equilateral diamond rather than a circle, and illustrated with the Asset icon.

Assets are not currently defined as Entities in the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard (BODS).

Vocabulary and Icons
Relationships (Arrows)