Additional verification documents requested - organization chart etc
Has anyone been through verification before when Amazon has requested an organization chart to show the structure of the business?
The ltd company (subsidiary) I have is 100% owned by my parent company, and I have myself down as the Person of significant control of the subsidiary. The parent company is 100% owned by my wife and I.
So this is likely the cause of why my ‘confirmation statement’ of the subsidiary was rejected today I suspect, even though on the share allotment it states the subsidiary is 100% owned by the parent company.
Really hope that makes sense, just looking for any advice, before I speak to my accountant this weekend. Thanks
Main part of the Email from Amazon:
What type of document do I need to provide?
Provide an organizational chart that displays the entire structure of the registered business and clearly outlines the ownership structure.
Ensure that the document meets the following criteria:
– It must confirm the entire business structure, including parent companies, ultimate beneficial owners in terms of physical persons, and the percentage of shares that they own.
– It must be printed on company letterhead or stamped with a company stamp.
– It must be signed by a legal representative of the registered business, such as the CEO.
– It must be dated within the last 180 days.
If needed, you can refer to the following ownership structure example:
Or provide a letter signed by the general counsel of the company. This letter must meet the following criteria:
– It must confirm the ultimate beneficial owners who own more than 25% of shares, voting rights, and ownership interests of the registered business.
– It must confirm the companies that own more than 25% of shares, voting rights, and ownership interests in the registered business.
– It must confirm a list of companies that are involved in the business structure and provide confirmation that all those companies involved in the business structure are active.
– The letter must be dated within the last 180 days.
The document must be in one of our supported languages. The supported languages are English, Chinese, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, French, Turkish, Polish, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil, Vietnamese, Thai, and Japanese. If the original document is not in a supported language, provide a copy of both the original document and a certified translation.
How do I submit the required documents?
To continue with your account verification, complete the following steps to provide the requested document:
- Go to the “Identity information” section of Seller Central:
https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/sw/SSR/BusinessKYCInfo/spaDashboard - Follow the prompts to upload all required documents.
- Click “Save.”
- Click “Submit for verification.”
Once we receive the required documents, we will continue with your verification.
18 replies
Seller_77IcbQKVGdZo0
Most limited companies selling on Amazon won’t have a parent company. It tends to be the bigger corporate companies that do this. I doubt many other limited company owners on Amazon will have gone through this.
I can see why Amazon are asking. They are required to know who the ultimate beneficial owners of the limited company are. So if your limited company is owned by a parent company they will need to verify the beneficial owners of that company.
Assuming that both you and your wife both have 25% or more shares in the parent company you will both need to be named on the Amazon account and both need to go through verification.
I would personally go for the organisation chart route which should be fairly simple to knock up on letter head paper and you should be able to sign and date it yourself.
I would be prepared for this to be a difficult verification route as it will not be something Amazon handle every day.
You are fairly established seller so has your limited company always been structured this way or is it something new?
Seller_SITNVuZK87zGK
We went through it and it was difficult, mainly down to the fact half they time they don’t simply state what they want.
However as a business we are owned an Ltd owned by a German company who in turn we’re owned by another German company and once you go that high up, the amount we were generating on amazon meant we weren’t known by the board two companies up.
You at lease have the benefit of knowing everyone in your company structure. You’ll need to supply the structure which sounds quite simple for you, and they will likely want proof of address and ID of all beneficial owners next.
Ours took months, but that was mainly down to our own corporate entities not understanding why Amazon wanted the info, yours should hopefully be a lot simpler.
Winston_Amazon
How did it go in the end @Crusader ? Or are you still going through verification?
Winston_Amazon
Good to hear, please do keep us in the loop for developments!
Seller_9DYaWkPMIow10
An update from Amazon, this sounds fairly straight forward, but I do prefer to take my time and take advice before rushing back with a reply @Smiley_Guy @osgood @Winston_Amazon @PeterB
To summarise the below, they want to know the beneficial owners, as I said above my wife is now on the business, in seller central she isn’t at the moment, this isn’t editable as of today. I should have updated this sooner!
They have also asked for a confirmation statement, however I did send them this in my response to their first verification request email, which I wouldn’t have thought would be helpful as it just shows the ownership of the subsidiary as the parent 100% shareholder. Should I really be sending this again?
On Amazons 2nd email, they asked for the organisational chart, which has brought me here to Amazon’s 3rd email asking me to confirm the beneficiaries.
Would you advise I go back to amazon and confirm the 2 beneficiaries (my wife and I), in the way of full names, no need for proof of ID or dob etc?
Should I attach the confirmation statement again, which they had in the first email, seeing as they are requesting it?
Should I consider also/only attaching the organisational chart? Or no attachments and simply confirm the beneficiaries in text?
Thanks again!
Hello,
_To complete the verification process, reply to this email and confirm all relevant beneficial owners of the business. _
Who is a beneficial owner?
Beneficial owners are individuals who meet any of the following criteria:
1) Individuals who directly or indirectly own more than 25% of the shares or voting rights in your business.
2) If you cannot identify beneficial owners via 1), beneficial owners are individuals who control the company through other means.
3) If beneficial owners cannot be identified via 1) or 2), any individual who holds the position of senior managing official is considered a beneficial owner, such as a chief executive officer, chief financial officer, managing or executive director or president.
If you are unable to identify the beneficial owners of your business you may seek independent legal advice.
Also, please provide the latest confirmation statement even though it has not been filed with Companies House yet.
Ensure that you communicate any future change of beneficial ownership to us as soon as possible.
What happens if I do not update the required information?
If you do not provide the requested information, your account will be restricted as follows:
– In 60 days from the date we first reached out. your funds may no longer be disbursed and your account verification on Amazon UK or Amazon European stores could be impacted.
Once you have provided this information, we will continue with the verification of your account.
We’re here to help
If you have any questions, you can contact us at any time:
https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/support
The Amazon Payments team
Seller_9DYaWkPMIow10
Thanks for your reply.
Do you think they are expecting the beneficiary info to just be typed out in an email plain text rather than a PDF?