Register of Beneficial Ownership – Deadline 22nd November 2019
www.doylefoley.ie
The European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2019 (SI 110 of 2019) (“the Regulations”) were signed into law in March 2019.
Under the Regulations, the company is obliged:
- to obtain and hold details of its beneficial owners in an internal register (this legal requirement was introduced in November 2016 by SI 560 of 2016); and
- to register the company’s beneficial ownership details in the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial & Provident Societies (RBO).
The RBO will be open to accept on-line filings through the RBO website – www.rbo.gov.ie – from 29th July 2019.
The company will have until 22 November 2019 to file the required details of its beneficial owners in the RBO.
If the company fails to complete the required filing by 22 November 2019, the company may be guilty of an offence under the Regulations which may result in the company being prosecuted.
The definition of a beneficial owner includes the natural person(s) who ultimately own or control more than 25% of the shares or voting rights or ownership interest in a relevant entity or through control via other means. Many Companies Limited by Guarantee (CLGs) are unlikely to have persons who will have a sufficient percentage of the voting rights or ownership interest in the CLG. Therefore, the CLG must decide what natural person(s) control the CLG and enter their details in their own internal register and in the RBO.
If, after having exhausted all possible means and provided there are no grounds for suspicion, no natural person is identified as a beneficial owner, the natural person(s) who hold the position of Senior Managing Official(s) (SMO) of the company shall be entered in the internal register and be recorded in the RBO as the beneficial owner(s). The company shall keep records of the actions taken to identify their beneficial owners. The Regulations define an SMO as including a director and a chief executive officer.
The company is reminded of its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018 to protect any personal data they obtain for the purposes of complying with these Regulations and to inform their beneficial owner(s) that they will be sharing their personal data with the RBO.
Further information can be found at www.rbo.gov.ie. If the company cannot find an answer to a question in the FAQs, you can send an e-mail to enquiries@rbo.gov.ie or contact us at info@doylefoley.ie (053-9420247)