This particular research has examined the perception of different company secretaries
in the private sector of Malaysia in regard to the implementation and declaration of
beneficial ownership (UBO). This research paper explores the relationship between
regulatory Awareness of company secretaries and their general perception of beneficial
ownership declaration. At the same time, the administrative challenges for declaration
of ultimate beneficial ownership also have been demonstrated in which high compliance
cost is one of the significant factors. To successfully complement this research, a survey
has been conducted among 405 participants and the collected data has been examined
through consideration of statistical analysis with the help of the SPSS tool. The result
showed that company secretaries with high regulatory awareness have a better
perception regarding the implementation of ultimate beneficial ownership declaration.
It was also observed that the complex administrative structure of an organisation
reduces the scope of beneficial ownership declaration. Furthermore, corporate
transparency and a good governance structure give a positive perception regarding the
beneficial ownership declaration process for the company secretaries. Also, high
compliance costs might be a key challenge in the ultimate beneficial ownership
declaration process. However high-value assets and good governance structure might
provide a positive perception regarding the implementation of beneficial ownership
declaration to company secretaries.
