I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 393 

To require the disclosure of beneficial ownership by a foreign person of 

aircraft registration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2019 

Mr. LYNCH (for himself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, and Mr. 

KING of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To require the disclosure of beneficial ownership by a foreign 

person of aircraft registration, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Aircraft Ownership 

5 Transparency Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION OF AIRCRAFT REGISTRATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Before approving a certificate of 

8 registration issued under section 44103 of title 49, United 

9 States Code, with a covered entity, the Administrator of 


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1 the Federal Aviation Administration shall require the cov2 ered entity to— 

3 (1) identify each beneficial owner of the covered 

4 entity by— 

5 (A) name; 

6 (B) current residential or business street 

7 address; 

8 (C) a unique identifying number from a 

9 nonexpired passport issued by the United 

10 States or a nonexpired drivers license issued by 

11 a State or if neither is available, a legible and 

12 credible copy of the pages of a nonexpired pass13 port issued by the government of a foreign 

14 country bearing a photograph, date of birth, 

15 and unique identifying information for the per16 son; 

17 (D) nationality; and 

18 (E) the make, model, and serial number of 

19 the aircraft to be registered; 

20 (2) in the case of a covered entity that is owned 

21 or controlled by more than one entity, identify how 

22 each entity relates to every other entity, including 

23 the extent to which each entity holds an ownership 

24 interest in or exercises control over another entity, 

25 and the relationship of each such entity with the 


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1 beneficial owners who are natural persons; and in 

2 addition to each beneficial owner, identify each trust 

3 grantor, trustee, trust protector, and beneficiary 

4 owner of the covered entity that is a foreign person; 

5 (3) in the case of a trust or association, identify 

6 the chain of control that includes the owner, trustee, 

7 and beneficiary; and 

8 (4) disclose to the Administrator any beneficial 

9 owner of the covered entity that is a foreign person. 

10 (b) TIMING.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall re12 quire a covered entity to provide the information de13 scribed in subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) when sub14 mitting an application for aircraft certification. 

15 (2) UPDATES.—The Administrator shall require 

16 a covered entity to update a submission of the infor17 mation described in subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) 

18 not later than 60 days after the date of any change 

19 in— 

20 (A) the list of beneficial owners of the cov21 ered entity; or 

22 (B) the information required to be pro23 vided relating to each such beneficial owner. 

24 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi25 nitions apply: 


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1 (1) BENEFICIAL OWNER.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘beneficial owner’’ 

4 means, with respect to a covered entity, each 

5 natural person who, directly or indirectly— 

6 (i) exercises control over the covered 

7 entity through ownership interests, voting 

8 rights, agreements, or otherwise; or 

9 (ii) has an interest in or receives sub10 stantial economic benefits from the assets 

11 of the covered entity. 

12 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘beneficial 

13 owner’’ does not include, with respect to a cov14 ered entity— 

15 (i) a minor child; 

16 (ii) a person acting as a trustee, 

17 nominee, intermediary, custodian, or agent 

18 on behalf of another person; 

19 (iii) a person acting solely as an em20 ployee of the covered entity and whose con21 trol over or economic benefits from the 

22 covered entity derives solely from the em23 ployment status of the person; 

24 (iv) a person whose only interest in 

25 the covered entity is through a right of inVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Jan 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H393.IH H393

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1 heritance, unless the person also meets the 

2 requirements of subparagraph (A); or 

3 (v) a creditor of the covered entity, 

4 unless the creditor also meets the require5 ments of subparagraph (A). 

6 (C) ANTI-ABUSE RULE.—The exceptions 

7 under subparagraph (B) shall not apply if used 

8 for the purpose of evading, circumventing, or 

9 abusing the requirements of this section. 

10 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en11 tity’’ means a person, trust, association, copartner12 ship, corporation, or other public or private entity. 

13 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per14 son’’ means an individual who is not a United States 

15 person or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 

16 residence into the United States. 

17 (4) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

18 ‘‘United States person’’ means a natural person who 

19 is a citizen of the United States or who owes perma20 nent allegiance to the United States. 

Æ 


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