Register of Beneficial Owners

Despite missing its initial launch date, the Register of Business ownership has been launched on 29th July 2019, bringing into law the Article 30(1) of the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD).

This law requires that legal entities hold adequate, accurate and current information of their beneficial owner in their own internal register and that information is held in a central register in each member state.

What is a Beneficial Owner?

A beneficial owner is somebody who holds greater than 25% of the company and where they are controlling shareholders

The information that is required to be filed with the RBO in respect of each beneficial owner (who must be a natural person) is as follows:

1. Forename & Surname 
2. Date of birth
3. Personal Public Service Number (PPSN)
4. Nationality 
5. Residential address 
6. A statement of the nature of the interest held by each beneficial owner (e.g. controlling shareholder) 
7. A statement of the extent of the interest held by each beneficial owner (e.g. controller of 26% of shares in company) 
8. The date on which each natural person was entered in the company's own register as a beneficial owner
9. The date of cessation as beneficial owner

If, having exhausted all possible means, no natural persons are identified as beneficial owners, there shall be entered in the register the names and details of the natural person(s) who hold the position(s) of senior managing official(s) of the company/I&P. Relevant entities shall keep records of the actions taken to identify their beneficial owners (Regulation 5(5) of S1 110/2019).

Details of the presenter making the entry in the RBO on behalf of the company, i.e. name, contact details and capacity in which they are filing.

A portal has now been launched and all companies have until November 22nd 2019 to complete the register of beneficial owners.

Companies are required to file the data through the a portal on RBO.

There are no paper forms and no filing fees.

How often do I have to file?

You are only required to file this once. However, if there is a change of ownership, this should be completed within 14 days of the change

What do I do next?

If you are a client of Icon Accounting, we will prepare this on your behalf between now and 22nd November. We will inform you when it’s completed.

For more information please review the FAQ section on the RBO website or email the Icon Accounting Advisory Team on info@iconaccounting.ie