Following previous announcements, we would like to inform you that the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law 188(I)/2007 (AML Law) has been amended on the 18th of February 2021 in order to be fully aligned with the EU Directive 2018/243.
As per this amendment, a registry of Ultimate Beneficial Owners of all legal entities has been established. The Registry will be maintained by the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
Starting 16th March 2021, all legal entities have a timeframe of 12 months to proceed with the submission of their beneficial owners’ information to Registrar’s online system. Failure to comply with the deadline could lead to an administrative penalty of €200 plus €100 per additional day of noncompliance with a cap of €20.000.
Entities registered on or after 16 March 2021 (new entities), are required to submit all of the required information in respect of each of their beneficial owners to the UBO register no later than thirty (30) days from the date of their registration.
The responsibility for the accuracy of the information submitted lies with the company and its officers. In case of a change in the information of a beneficial owner, the company and its officers must submit the relevant information to the RoC within 14 days of the change.
During the period from 1 to 31 December of each calendar year, every company or other legal entity must confirm electronically to the RoC the information in relation to its beneficial owners.
The public will need to proceed with a search to the Registrar of Companies, to be able to view the details (Name, Month/Year of birth, nationality and country of residence) of the UBO. Details will not be widely publicly available. In exceptional circumstances, beneficial owners have the right to apply to restrict public access to their information.
In order to be able to comply with the new provisions of the law, all companies need to register to the electronic system of the Registrar and the government portal and then submit the relevant information.
Please get in touch with us for guidance and assistance, in order to ensure your entities’ compliance with the applicable legislation and avoid hefty penalties for late filing