E.U (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership ofCorporate Entities) Regulation ?

aindriu80

hi,

the C.R.O just noted that companies are required to have adequate, accurate and current information on their beneficial ownership, including details of the beneficial interests held.

http://www.finance.gov.ie/publications/legislation/statutory-instruments/si-560-2016-european-union-anti-money-laundering

What do they mean by beneficial ownership and do you have to do anything extra? thanks !

GM228

aindriu80 wrote: »

hi,

the C.R.O just noted that companies are required to have adequate, accurate and current information on their beneficial ownership, including details of the beneficial interests held.

http://www.finance.gov.ie/publications/legislation/statutory-instruments/si-560-2016-european-union-anti-money-laundering

What do they mean by beneficial ownership and do you have to do anything extra? thanks !

The beneficial owner is:-

‘beneficial owner’ means any natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls the customer and/or the natural person(s) on whose behalf a transaction or activity is being conducted and includes at least:

(a)in the case of corporate entities:

(i) the natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity through direct or indirect ownership of a sufficient percentage of the shares or voting rights or ownership interest in that entity, including through bearer shareholdings, or through control via other means, other than a company listed on a regulated market that is subject to disclosure requirements consistent with Union law or subject to equivalent international standards which ensure adequate transparency of ownership information.

A shareholding of 25 % plus one share or an ownership interest of more than 25 % in the customer held by a natural person shall be an indication of direct ownership. A shareholding of 25 % plus one share or an ownership interest of more than 25 % in the customer held by a corporate entity, which is under the control of a natural person(s), or by multiple corporate entities, which are under the control of the same natural person(s), shall be an indication of indirect ownership. This applies without prejudice to the right of Member States to decide that a lower percentage may be an indication of ownership or control. Control through other means may be determined, inter alia, in accordance with the criteria in Article 22(1) to (5) of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (29);

(ii) if, after having exhausted all possible means and provided there are no grounds for suspicion, no person under point (i) is identified, or if there is any doubt that the person(s) identified are the beneficial owner(s), the natural person(s) who hold the position of senior managing official(s), the obliged entities shall keep records of the actions taken in order to identify the beneficial ownership under point (i) and this point;

It will enable all the beneficial information for all companies to be eventually held in a central database. Each company will now have a Beneficial Ownership Register which will eventually link to the central database.

aindriu80

Thanks !

Do you know if they (CRO) want any additional documentation every year - when filing company accounts ?

GM228

aindriu80 wrote: »

Thanks !

Do you know if they (CRO) want any additional documentation every year - when filing company accounts ?

I don't believe so, the company is only required to keep the information themselves as the central database is not yet set up or covered by legislation.

aindriu80

GM228 wrote: »

I don't believe so, the company is only required to keep the information themselves as the central database is not yet set up or covered by legislation.

Perfect thanks very much GM228!