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Fisheries Act 1996

International fishing

113BA: Meaning of beneficial owner

You could also call this:

"What it means to be in charge of a fishing vessel"

Illustration for Fisheries Act 1996

When talking about international fishing, you need to know what a beneficial owner is. A beneficial owner is a person who has a lot of control over a vessel. This can be because they own a big part of the company that owns the vessel. You are a beneficial owner if you own at least 25% of the company's shares or have a lot of voting power. This also applies to other types of ownership, like partnerships or trusts. In these cases, you are a beneficial owner if you have a big share of the income or assets, or if you have a lot of control over the partnership or trust. You can also be a beneficial owner if you have effective control over the vessel, but this does not include being the owner, operator, or master of the vessel. To understand what an unlisted company is, you can look at the Companies Act 1993. A person controls a trust if they have the power to make big decisions about the trust. This includes things like disposing of trust property, varying or terminating the trust, or appointing or removing trustees. Some people are not considered beneficial owners, like courts of law or the Crown, even if they have some power over a trust or vessel. Also, people under 18 years old cannot be beneficial owners of a vessel.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1522857.

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Part 6AInternational fishing

113BAMeaning of beneficial owner

  1. In this Part, beneficial owner, in relation to a vessel, means any of the following persons:

  2. if the vessel is owned by an unlisted company, a person who directly or indirectly owns or controls—
    1. at least 25% of the ordinary shares in the company; or
      1. shares that in aggregate carry the right to exercise or control the exercise of at least 25% of the voting power at a meeting of the company:
      2. if the vessel is owned by a body corporate other than a company, a person who directly or indirectly has the right to exercise or control the exercise of at least 25% of the voting power at a meeting of the body corporate:
        1. if the vessel is partnership property, a person who directly or indirectly—
          1. has a beneficial interest in or entitlement to at least 25% of the partnership’s income or assets; or
            1. has the right to exercise or control the exercise of at least 25% of the voting power at a meeting of the partnership:
            2. if the vessel is trust property, a person who directly or indirectly—
              1. has a beneficial interest in or entitlement to at least 25% of the trust property of the trust; or
                1. controls the trust:
                2. in any other case, a person who has effective ownership or control of the vessel (other than by being the vessel’s owner, operator, or master).

                  1. For the purposes of subsection (1)(a), an unlisted company is a company that is not a party to a listing agreement with a stock exchange (as defined in section 2(1) of the Companies Act 1993).

                  2. For the purposes of subsection (1)(d)(ii), a person controls a trust if the person has a power (whether exercisable alone, jointly with another person, or with the consent of another person) under the instrument creating the trust or by law to do 1 or more of the following:

                  3. dispose of, advance, lend, invest, pay, or apply trust property:
                    1. vary or terminate the trust:
                      1. add or remove a person as a beneficiary or to or from a class of beneficiaries:
                        1. appoint or remove trustees or give another person control over the trust:
                          1. direct, withhold consent to, or veto the exercise of, a power referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d).

                            1. Neither a court of law nor the Crown is considered to—

                            2. control a trust as the result of having a power referred to in subsection (3); or
                              1. have effective control of a vessel as described in subsection (1)(e) as the result of having any power in relation to the vessel.

                                1. A person under the age of 18 years is not considered to be a beneficial owner of a vessel in any circumstances.

                                Notes
                                • Section 113BA: inserted, on , by section 21 of the Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 18).