Introduction of Dutch UBO register expected in January 2020
On 4 April 2019, the Dutch Minister of Finance submitted a bill to the lower house of the Dutch parliament introducing an obligation for a wide range of legal entities and other organisational forms (collectively referred to as entities) to enter information on their ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) in the Trade Register. Some of the information will be accessible to the general public. The bill, which derives from the Fourth and Fifth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directives, consists of amendments to existing Dutch national legislation such as the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financiering van terrorisme, Wwft) and the Trade Register Act 2007. The obligation to file UBO information is expected to enter into force in January 2020. Entities that are already registered in the Trade Register on the date of the new legislation's entry into effect will have 18 months from that date in which to file UBO information.
The following topics are covered in our newsletter:
- Which entities will be subject to the UBO registration requirement?
- Who is a UBO?
- What are the required details?
- Which details from the UBO register will be publicly accessible?
- Privacy and blocking of access to UBO information
- Additional obligations and sanctions
- What are the implications for you?