# Europe: Ultimate beneficial owner and Director definitions

Some accounts in Europe will need to provide additional information in order for Stripe to verify the relationship between the business and its ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) or Directors.
UBO and Director verifications in Europe are based on European regulatory requirements which require:
* Relation verification of UBOs or Directors relationship to the legal entity (LE)
* In certain cases, verifying the identity of the UBOs or Directors to meet regulatory standards and safeguard your account.
## Definitions
**Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs)**: The individual(s) who own or control, directly or indirectly, more than 25% of a legal entity, including companies, corporations, LLCs and partnerships.
**Directors**: Members of the board of directors of the business, and/or any other senior person responsible for managing the business. Examples include CEO, COO, President, Managing Director, and Executive Director.
## Which entities have to complete verification of UBOs?
The following table shows the relationships that must be verified for each legal entity type:
- Legal entity type
- Relationships to verify
- Note
---
- Company, corporation, LLC, partnership
- UBOs if they exist, otherwise directors
- UK only: both UBOs and directors
---
- Non-profit
- Directors
- Non-profits don’t normally have UBOs
---
- Government agency, government entity, individual, sole proprietor, publicly traded
- N/A
- Identity verification only
## Verification of UBOs or Directors relationship
Depending on the country, Stripe attempts to verify a person’s relationship to the legal entity by automatically cross-referencing public and government data sources.
In regions where this automatic verification is unavailable, such as Ireland and Croatia, the account holder may need to  provide an [official document](https://docs.stripe.com/acceptable-verification-documents) or sign a digital attestation. This manual verification process also applies in other regions if an automatic digital match wasn't successful.
## Identity verification of UBOs or Directors
Stripe needs to verify UBOs or Directors added to your account. We'll attempt to verify their identity using the information provided on the account. If this fails, individuals may need to:
- Complete selfie verification via Stripe Identity.
- Provide updated information to Stripe, including a new optional National ID number.
- Upload 2 separate documents:
  1. Proof of Identity, such as a passport or a driving licence
  1. Proof of Home Address, such as a utility bill or a bank statement
View the [list of acceptable documents for each country](https://docs.stripe.com/acceptable-verification-documents?country=TH&document-type=identity#select-a-country-to-view-its-requirements).
## What should I do if my business is owned fully or partially by a holding company?
As part of our regulatory requirements, Stripe is obligated to verify the identity of any individual who holds more than 25% ownership in the business entity linked to your Stripe account.
This requirement extends to both direct and indirect ownership. For instance, if your business is partially owned by a holding company, trust, or another legal entity, we are required to identify the individuals who own or control those entities, provided their stake amounts to more than 25% of the company connected to your Stripe account.
Read more about calculating beneficial ownership percentages.