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The Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies (the "Central Register") launched on 29 July 2019.
Irish incorporated companies and other legal entities ("Relevant Entities") are obliged by Part 3 of the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 110 of 2019) (the "2019 Regulations") to file details of their beneficial ownership with the Central Register.
Existing Relevant Entities have until 22 November 2019 to file the details of their beneficial ownership with the Central Register. Relevant Entities incorporated after 22 June 2019 must commence providing information to the Central Register within five months of their incorporation. It is expected that separate regulations will be published providing for the establishment of a central register of beneficial owners of Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles ("ICAVs") which will be maintained by the Central Bank.
Relevant Entities must submit their beneficial ownership information through the Central Register's online registration portal - https://www.rbo.gov.ie/. Paper submissions are not accepted and no fees are charged. Relevant Entities should confirm with their service providers which entity will make the filing on their behalf well in advance of the November filing deadline.
The concept of beneficial ownership in the 2019 Regulations remains unchanged from the 2016 Regulations with respect to companies and captures any natural person who, directly or indirectly, has a greater than 25% ownership or controlling interest in a Relevant Entity. Where it is not possible to identify any natural person who, directly or indirectly, has a greater than 25% ownership or controlling interest in a Relevant Entity, the Relevant Entity's beneficial ownership register should be populated with the senior managing officials of the Relevant Entity. In the case of investment funds, this will generally be the directors.
For further information relating the requirements of the 2019 Regulations and the functioning of the Central Register, please consult our previous briefings on the topic here and here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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