The Belgian law of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing and limitations to the use of cash provides the creation of a unified and centralized register into the Belgian legal order. This UBO register requires companies and other Belgian entities to obtain and hold accurate, adequate and most recent information on their “beneficial owners”.
There are various categories of “beneficial owners” depending on the legal entity to which they belong. The law itself identifies three legal entities, namely companies, a(i)sbl (non-profit-making organization) and foundations as well as trusts and other similar entities. In the following link you can find out who should be recorded as a “beneficial owner”: click here.
Necessary steps to be taken
The Royal Decree on the operating procedures of the UBO register will enter into force on 31 October 2018. The administrative body has until 31st March 2019 to transfer the information about the ultimate beneficial owners to the UBO register. This Royal Decree describes the operating procedures of the UBO register (which information is to be transmitted, who must register this information, who will have access, etc.).
As our client you can already prepare yourself and your legal entity beforehand by taking among others the following measures :
- You have a legal or an authorized representative who has a valid e-ID card and is able to provide all the up-to-date information mentioned in the Royal Decree (online via the platform MyMinFin on behalf of your organisation);
- You identified the ultimate beneficial owner(s) and the category to which they belong;
- You have adequate and detailed information (for instance, accurate percentage of ownership interest or voting rights) on the ultimate beneficial owner(s) of your organisation and every legal entity through which the beneficial owner(s) control(s) your organisation;
- You possess supporting documents establishing the accuracy and adequacy of the provided information;
- Within your organisation you have implemented a method so that every change of information on your ultimate beneficial owner(s) is transmitted to the UBO register within the same month.
For more information, guidelines and questions with regard to this matter, please visit the following websites or contact us at [email protected] :
- UBO Register User Manual (FR/NL)
- Webiste of the Ministry of Finance
- Royal Decree, 30 July 2018.
