Is the G-reg finished?

Peter wrote:

There is no way to control the geographical ownership of a listed company. The Sultan of Oman could probably buy 90% anytime and nobody could do anything about it.

1. Listed companies don’t have to have all their shares in the float (actually tradable on the stock exchange). You can have e.g. 3 shareholders owning 55% nominatively (that is, their name is in the shareholder register maintained by the company itself), and only the other 45% are in the financial system and tradable on the stock exchange.
2. When one goes above owning some threshold of a listed company, one has to issue a tender offer to all shareholders to buy them over, which gives the authorities quite some opportunity to react.

You may argue that people may try to circumvent these rules. That is not wrong, but all people owning or controlling, directly or indirectly, more than a certain percentage (around 5% IIRC) of a listed company must register that fact at the stock exchange where the company is listed, again giving the authorities an opportunity to react. One might try to circumvent that through (illegal unreported) nominee shareholders. Fair enough, but for the arrangement not be caught by the regulator, the regulator must believe these people have the means and interest to buy the airline shares themselves, so it is not like you can round up some palace servants and have them buy up the shares on the stock exchange.

Then you have the additional problem that they must not appear linked to you, or it will raise the authorities’ suspicions.

Still, suppose the Sultan of Oman found enough credible such nominees (does one say “straw men” in English?). Unless he wants to be a passive shareholder, how would he exercise his shareholder votes? You’d have a stable group of people always voting the same way at the shareholder’s meeting (the way the Sultan of Oman told them to).

Peter wrote:

What is “ownership”?

That’s complicated indeed. I’m not sure, but the rules might count only stocks by vote, not by economic rights.

no

Multinational companies will register wherever it is best economically and politically. As for private GA, EASA has made this Annex I in any case where most private planes fits. Most private planes will always be on national register.