24-11-2023
New template of the declaration for announcement of the ultimate beneficial owner in the registers
A new template of the declaration under the Measures Against Money Laundering Act for announcement of the ultimate beneficial owner of trade companies, non-profit legal entities and other entities in the relevant registers has been adopted

Although the newly adopted model maintains the existing structure of the declaration, in practice, the amount of information to be declared is expanded by the incorporation of new elements therein. The previous declaratory regime was based solely on indicating in which category, as defined in § 2 of the Additional Provisions of the Act, the person named as the ultimate beneficial owner falls. After the adopted amendments, the declarants must now justify the applicability of the specific category determining the ultimate beneficial owner quality of the respective person.

 

In particular, the declaration must describe the type and volume of rights that the person designated as ultimate beneficial owner holds. The specific type of information to be provided in this field of the declaration will depend on the legal entity whose ultimate beneficial ownership is disclosed. It is possible, for example, that the beneficial owner’s rights derive from the holding of a number of shares (in the case of a joint-stock company), equity shares (in the case of a limited liability company) or from exercising other types of control.

 

If the declaration is made in regard to a trust or other similar legal form, the declarants should indicate the specific capacity of the person reflected as ultimate beneficial owner – founder, trustee, protector, etc.

 

In order to certify the declared circumstances, when submitting the documents to the relevant registry, the application must be accompanied by documents from which it is evident that the natural persons pointed as ultimate beneficial owners in the declaration fall under the definition of beneficial owner as pert § 2 of the Additional Provisions of the Act.

 

In this regard, an exemplary list of attachments (e.g. certified current excerpt from the shareholders’ book, up-to-date documents establishing the existence of foreign legal persons/legal entities, etc.) is laid down in the declaration whereas, of course, the declarant may enclose other relevant documents not explicitly mentioned.

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