Last-minute update regarding the UBO register

The government has decided to postpone the deadline for the provision of accurate details on beneficial owners from 30 November 2018 to 31 March 2019.

 

 

The UBO register: the end of anonymity for shareholders

Published on September 26, 2018

The Royal Decree of 30 July 2018 establishing the operating conditions of the UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner) register implements the emergence of an important obligation for companies, A(I)SBL, foundations, fiduciaries and trusts to provide details on their beneficial owners.

The UBO register is an instrument of the FPS Finance, dedicated to providing adequate, accurate and up-to-date details on the beneficial owners of these entities. It takes part in the European fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

What is a beneficial owner? In practice, these are the natural persons who, given the size of their holdings and the extent of their voting rights for instance, ultimately own or control the legal person. This includes, in particular, the natural person who holds more than twenty-five percent of the voting rights or more than twenty-five percent of the shares or of the share capital of the company.

The details, which are to be collected, namely involves the identity of the beneficial owner, his nationality, his complete address of residence, his percentage of shares or voting rights.

Every citizen shall have free access to this register, but it will be particularly useful to the tax administration which will now have a formidable weapon to ensure proper tax collection.

Entities targeted by the Royal Decree will have to provide the required details no later than 30 November 2018 via the MyMinFin online platform.

Companies, associations and trusts, whose duty it is to provide these details, which do not comply with their legal obligations, risk an administrative fine ranging from 250 to 50,000 euros.

It is therefore of the utmost importance that they should gather all the details concerning their beneficial owners as soon as possible. In addition, they should be careful in the future to report any change in the details communicated within a month of their modification.

For more information on this topic, please feel free to contact Didier CHAVAL  (didier.chaval@cairnlegal.be)

Best regards,

The Cairn Legal team.