A draft Ordinance on the conditions and procedure for registration of persons carrying out any of the activities referred to in Article 4, item 16 of the Measures Against Money Laundering Act (“MAMLA”) in a new register to be maintained by the Ministry of Justice (“the Register”) has been published for consultation.

In summary, the activities referred to in Article 4, item 16 of MAMLA include the provision of a management address and address of correspondence, an office and/or other similar services for the purposes of the registration and/or operation of companies and other legal entities/formations, as well as the incorporation, registration or organisation of the companies’ activity. Persons, who hold nominal positions in legal entities (directors, managers, partners or shareholders), also fall within the scope of the cited provision.

The Ordinance aims to regulate the new register in which persons obliged under the law will be entered, including the procedure for submitting documents, the grounds for entry and deletion in the register, as well as the amount of information that will be publicly available.

Both the MAMLA and the draft Ordinance foresee that the entry in the Register is a mandatory condition for carrying out the activities referred to in Article 4, item 16 of MAMLA.

In addition, in order for natural or legal persons to be entered in the new register and to continue to carry out the activities referred to in Article 4, item 16 of MAMLA, they should not have been convicted of a deliberate crime of general nature, unless they have been rehabilitated, they should not have been disqualified from holding a position of material responsibility and, on the basis of the information gathered about them, they should not give rise to doubts as to their reliability and suitability.

In addition, the obliged person must not have been in the bodies of a legal entity for which insolvency proceedings have been commenced and unsatisfied creditors have remained in the last two years preceding the date of the decision declaring the insolvency. Moreover, the obliged person shall not fall within the restrictions for holding a senior management position under MAMLA and the Measures against Financing Terrorism Act.

It is envisaged that the obliged persons shall apply for entry in the new Register within two months from the entry into force of the Ordinance.

In the event that a natural or legal person carries out the activities referred to in Article 4, item 16 of MAMLA without being entered in the Register, it shall be subject to a penalty ranging between BGN 2,000 (approx. EUR 1,000) and BGN 50,000 (approx. EUR 25,000) for a single offence, with the amount of the penalty being increased in cases of repetition.

The Ministry of Justice will charge fees for entry in the Register pursuant to a tariff which is yet to be adopted.