What is the US 50% rule from 10 November 2026, and what should UK firms check?

From 10 November 2026, unless the US extends its suspension, a company owned 50% or more by parties on the US Entity List or the Military End User List, or by certain persons on the US Treasury's SDN list, is subject to the same US export restrictions as its listed owners, even though it is not named on any list. A UK firm that supplies items subject to US export rules should find out who owns its customers, consignees and end users.

The rule. BIS's interim final rule "Expansion of End-User Controls To Cover Affiliates of Certain Listed Entities" (90 FR 47201, published 30 September 2025, effective 29 September 2025) applies to entities owned 50% or more, "directly or indirectly, individually or in aggregate", by one or more parties on the Entity List or the Military End User List, or by certain persons on the SDN list covered by 15 CFR 744.8. Such an affiliate takes the most restrictive licence requirement and licence review policy of its owners. The test follows the US Treasury's long-standing 50 percent rule.

The suspension. On 12 November 2025 BIS suspended the rule for one year from 10 November 2025 (90 FR 50857). The suspension "is set to end November 9, 2026, absent a future extension". When we checked the Federal Register on 10 October 2026, no extension had been published.

When you can't tell who owns a company. The rule added Red Flag 29: if you cannot determine the ownership percentage of a foreign company owned by listed parties, you must resolve the red flag, get a licence or find a licence exception before going ahead. BIS also says that significant minority ownership by a listed party, or other ties such as shared board members, call for more due diligence.

What a UK firm can check. For a UK company, the register of people with significant control at Companies House records who owns or controls it, in bands: more than 25% but not more than 50%, more than 50% but less than 75%, and 75% or more. A listed owner in either of the top two bands owns more than 50%; one in the lowest band could hold exactly 50%, and two such owners together could pass it. Follow the chain through any UK holding company. For a foreign owner, ask the counterparty for its ownership or use that country's registers.

What it can't show. Companies House records owners above 25% and stops at a foreign company: it cannot tell you who owns an overseas parent, and it records bands, not exact holdings.

Certaby's export screening checks a UK company by its number: the company and everyone recorded in its ownership against the Entity List, the Military End User List and eight more lists, and says whether a listed party is recorded as owning 50% or more, may do, or controls it, and where the record stops. £1.49 a check. It is a screening record, not a licensing decision, and does not cover owners that Companies House does not record. This guide explains the rule; it is not legal advice.

Source: Federal Register: Expansion of End-User Controls To Cover Affiliates of Certain Listed Entities (90 FR 47201) and its one-year suspension (90 FR 50857)

Last updated 10 October 2026.