Beneficial ownership is the right to enjoy the benefits of ownership of an
asset, even if the legal title to the asset is held by someone else. For example, a person may hold the legal title to a property in
trust for another person. In this case, the person who holds the legal title is the
trustee, and the person who enjoys the benefits of ownership is the beneficial owner.
Beneficial assignment is the transfer of beneficial ownership of an asset from one person to another. For example, a person may assign their beneficial
interest in a property to another person. This would mean that the person who was originally the beneficial owner would no longer have any rights to the property, and the person who was assigned the beneficial interest would now have all of the rights to the property.
Beneficial title is the right to enjoy the benefits of ownership of an asset, regardless of who holds the legal title to the asset. For example, a person may have beneficial title to a property even if the legal title to the property is held by a company. This would mean that the person who has beneficial title would have all of the rights to the property, even though the company would be the one who is listed as the owner of the property on the title deeds.
In securitisations, beneficial ownership is often used to refer to the ownership of the underlying assets that are being securitised. For example, a securitisation may be structured so that the beneficial owners of the underlying assets are the investors in the securitisation, even though the legal title to the underlying assets may be held by a special purpose vehicle (
SPV). This allows the investors to enjoy the benefits of ownership of the underlying assets, without having to worry about the day-to-day management of the assets.