I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3544 
To require the disclosure of beneficial ownership by a foreign person of 
aircraft registration, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2017 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Aircraft Ownership 
Transparency Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION OF AIRCRAFT REGISTRATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Before approving a certificate of 
registration issued under section 44103 of title 49, United 
States Code, with a covered entity, the Administrator of 
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the Federal Aviation Administration shall require the cov-
ered entity to— 
(1) identify each beneficial owner of the covered 
entity by— 
(A) name; 
(B) current residential or business street 
address; 
(C) a unique identifying number from a 
nonexpired passport issued by the United 
States or a nonexpired drivers license issued by 
a State or if neither is available, a legible and 
credible copy of the pages of a nonexpired pass-
port issued by the government of a foreign 
country bearing a photograph, date of birth, 
and unique identifying information for the per-
son; 
(D) nationality; and 
(E) the make, model, and serial number of 
the aircraft to be registered; 
(2) in the case of a covered entity that is owned 
or controlled by more than one entity, identify how 
each entity relates to every other entity, including 
the extent to which each entity holds an ownership 
interest in or exercises control over another entity, 
and the relationship of each such entity with the 
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beneficial owners who are natural persons; and in 
addition to each beneficial owner, identify each trust 
grantor, trustee, trust protector, and beneficiary 
owner of the covered entity that is a foreign person; 
(3) in the case of a trust or association, identify 
the chain of control that includes the owner, trustee, 
and beneficiary; and 
(4) disclose to the Administrator any beneficial 
owner of the covered entity that is a foreign person. 
(b) TIMING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall re-
quire a covered entity to provide the information de-
scribed in subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) when sub-
mitting an application for aircraft certification. 
(2) UPDATES.—The Administrator shall require 
a covered entity to update a submission of the infor-
mation described in subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) 
not later than 60 days after the date of any change 
in— 
(A) the list of beneficial owners of the cov-
ered entity; or 
(B) the information required to be pro-
vided relating to each such beneficial owner. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
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(1) BENEFICIAL OWNER.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘beneficial owner’’ 
means, with respect to a covered entity, each 
natural person who, directly or indirectly— 
(i) exercises control over the covered 
entity through ownership interests, voting 
rights, agreements, or otherwise; or 
(ii) has an interest in or receives sub-
stantial economic benefits from the assets 
of the covered entity. 
(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘beneficial 
owner’’ does not include, with respect to a cov-
ered entity— 
(i) a minor child; 
(ii) a person acting as a trustee, 
nominee, intermediary, custodian, or agent 
on behalf of another person; 
(iii) a person acting solely as an em-
ployee of the covered entity and whose con-
trol over or economic benefits from the 
covered entity derives solely from the em-
ployment status of the person; 
(iv) a person whose only interest in 
the covered entity is through a right of in-
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heritance, unless the person also meets the 
requirements of subparagraph (A); or 
(v) a creditor of the covered entity, 
unless the creditor also meets the require-
ments of subparagraph (A). 
(C) ANTI-ABUSE
RULE.—The exceptions 
under subparagraph (B) shall not apply if used 
for the purpose of evading, circumventing, or 
abusing the requirements of this section. 
(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en-
tity’’ means a person, trust, association, copartner-
ship, corporation, or other public or private entity. 
(3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per-
son’’ means an individual who is not a United States 
person or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 
residence into the United States. 
(4) 
UNITED
STATES
PERSON.—The 
term 
‘‘United States person’’ means a natural person who 
is a citizen of the United States or who owes perma-
nent allegiance to the United States. 
Æ 
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