In recent years there has been a lot of talk about the introduction of the UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner) register. This was a direct consequence of the implementation of the anti-money laundering guidelines in Belgian law. The modalities of this UBO register were elaborated in the Royal Decree of 30 July 2018, which was amended by the Royal Decree of 23 September 2020.
In the context of the UBO register, there are two important obligations that must be fulfilled no later than 30 April 2021.
1) Addition of supporting documents
Pursuant to the Royal Decree of September 23, 2020, entities obliged to provide information (companies, associations, foundations, etc.) must add supporting documents with regard to the information registered in the UBO register. They decide for themselves which documents they wish to add, but according to the administration, the following documents certainly qualify: extract from the share register, articles of association, shareholders' agreement, notarial deed, ... .
This obligation has been in effect since October 11, 2020. Entities subject to disclosure that had already completed their registration in the UBO register before October 11, 2020, enjoy a tolerance period until April 30, 2021.
2) Annual confirmation of the registered information
The entities obliged to provide information also have an additional obligation to annually confirm the correctness of the information registered in the UBO register. In this way, the accuracy and correctness of the UBO register is guaranteed.
The period for confirmations starts to run from the last change in the UBO register. For registrations that were carried out before April 30, 2020, an automatic confirmation was entered by the administration on April 30, 2020. Entities subject to reporting obligations that had therefore performed their registration in the UBO register before April 30, 2020 must enter the information in the UBO for the first time. -register on April 30, 2021.
In addition to this annual confirmation, it should not be forgotten that there is in any case an obligation to register any change to the registered information in the UBO register within one month after the change.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you would like additional information or assistance with this legal obligation! (stefan.deplus@vsadvocaten.be)
