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What is the Beneficial Owner Register?

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…Get on the Register

You may have heard whisperings of a new central register of beneficial ownership being set up in recent years, with official legislation having been confirmed last year and signed into law recently. Improved and modernised legislation on this topic has long been expected, but saw delays due to the new GDPR guidelines as well as the Anti Money Laundering Directive. It is already a legal requirement for companies in Ireland to have an internal register of beneficial owners but it will now be a requirement to have your information on this new central register. The deadline for this will be 22nd November 2019 and registration is now open as of 29th July 2019.

What does this new legislation mean for you and your business, and what do you need to be aware of?

What is a “Beneficial Owner”?

The term beneficial owner refers to the person who holds 25% or more of a company’s shares.

What information is required?

  • Full Name
  • Address
  • Date of Birth
  • Nationality
  • PPS Number
  • A statement of the extent of beneficial ownership (Number of shares held etc.)

A delay was incurred in signing off on the legislation due to the new GDPR guidelines as information will be available to the public. Under the new guidelines, only lower level information will be accessible such as name, extent of ownership, partial date of birth, and country of residence.

Part of the reason for both the implementation of this legislation and the significant delays incurred in signing it in, come from the abovementioned Anti Money Laundering Directive. This directive states that all EU Member States must implement a central register of beneficial ownership information. In the case of Ireland the CRO (Central Registration Office) will be the responsible body.

We recommend taking immediate steps to ensure that your company is compliant with this new legislation and as always we advocate ensuring all your information is correct and collected in advance of any requirements. This will ensure that you avoid incurring the fine of €5000. Filing must be done online via the website: https://rbo.gov.ie and can be done either by the Company in question or an agent working on their behalf.

Should you have any concerns or queries on any business or financial matters, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at EcovisDCA where we are always happy to be of service.

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~ DCA PARTNERS, DECLAN DOLAN & EAMONN GARVEY