Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO)
Lemonway is a payment institution licensed by the French Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) (French and English Language) to provide payment services in France and the European Economic Area. Under the terms of its license, Lemonway must abide by KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML-TF regulations. (Official EU site)
Further information
If you require more information about a business activity's compatibility with Lemonway's solution, email our experts at 👉 alerte.lcbft@lemonway.com.
Lemonway checks customer business activities (for partners who operate online platforms and hold payment accounts) before entering into a business relationship and during subsequent business relationships.
Note
Lemonway reserves the right to cease a business relationship with clients undertaking the following activities. This list is not comprehensive: it is provided for information only and may be added to by Lemonway at any time as its internal risk classification evolves.
Some activities may also be forbidden under rules imposed by Lemonway suppliers, such as:
- Payment acceptance networks, for example, Visa, Mastercard, Sofort, and so on.
- Partner banks and other financial institutions.
- Payment acceptance networks providing payment methods available via Lemonway may have stricter rules for some products and services.
Users of Lemonway payment services are responsible for checking any restrictions and prohibitions that apply to these payment methods to ensure that their business activities abide by these rules. While Lemonway may agree to provide payment services for a specific business activity, this should not be interpreted as legal advice from Lemonway on the legality of the activity in question.
In any case, the client undertakes to ensure that business activities carried out via Lemonway payment services abide by payment acceptance network rules and by the law in the countries of service origin and supply.
Please note
The following list of prohibited activities is therefore provided for information only and should not be taken as comprehensive or representing Lemonway's risk appetite.
Crowdfunding (donations, loans, investments) and other related activities
| Entity | Example |
|---|---|
| Extremist/ultra-radical/dissident/propagandist movements | Radical religious movements that promote violence to achieve their aims. |
| Sects | A group that promotes certain religious beliefs. |
| Promotion of causes associated with forbidden activities | An individual or group that promotes the legalization of narcotic substances. |
| Funding criminal fines |
Product Sales
| Product | Example |
|---|---|
| Tobacco | Cigarettes, cigars, or any tobacco-based products. |
| Narcotic substances and illegal drugs | Opium and its derivatives, morphine, codeine, and heroin. This also includes synthetic substances. |
| Cannabis-derived products | Cannabidiol-based products. |
| Piracy devices/Spyware | Secret recording or video devices. |
| Counterfeit | Any item that is deemed to be a replica of the authentic original item. |
| Arms | Guns, firearms, explosives, or any lethal weapons. |
| Airsoft/Imitation firearms | Guns, firearms, explosives, or any lethal weapons. |
Service Sales
| Service | Example |
|---|---|
| Unauthorized streaming | Website that streams illegal and non-licensed content |
| Pornography | Services and videos |
| Escort services | |
| Prepaid card issuing | Prepaid international telephone call cards |
| Trading or Forex sites | High-risk and highly regulated sites |
| Currency purchasing | |
| Sites promoting terrorism | |
| Proselytizing sites | |
| Online gambling | Sports betting and poker without a license |
| Sales of followers, views, likes, or comments | Selling your YouTube likes to promote a site or videos |
Some activities that are deemed a risk but not forbidden by Lemonway may also be carefully considered by our Financial Security department in order to decide whether to enter into, refuse, continue, or cease a business relationship with the customer, or to take any additional measures (financial, non-conformity, reputation) to reduce the risk. The list of activities deemed a risk is also continually changing and is confidential.
For example, Lemonway considers activities associated with blockchain or fortune-telling to be a risk.
Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO)
An Ultimate Beneficial Owner or UBO represents the natural person or people who ultimately own or control a company and/or the natural person on whose behalf a transaction is carried out. This also includes people who ultimately exercise effective control over a legal entity or legal structure.
Please note
There is always a UBO for all companies. In addition, all companies registered in the European Union have a legal duty to identify their UBOs.
As a reminder (according to the 4th AML Directive 2015/849, art. 3.6), the UBOs are:
- The physical person who holds or controls directly or indirectly the company (the usual criteria is more than 25% of a company’s share capital or voting rights), or
- The physical person who exercises power over the management, administrative or management bodies or over the general assembly of the partners or shareholders of the legal person, or
- In the absence of identification according to the two preceding criteria, the legal representative(s) of the legal person.
Validate a UBO’s KYC
To identify the UBO(s), you need to provide the UBO register form (each country has a register). If unavailable, provide an official document registering the firm shareholder's declaration. Then send the front and back sides of each UBO identified.
Lemonway is required by law to identify the UBOs of all companies wishing to open a payment account. For listed companies, there is no need to provide the UBO register form.
This official document must mention:
- Company details
- Beneficial owners' personal details
- Role and ownership details
Please send the front and back sides of the UBOs’ ID card or passport and a copy of the UBO official register.