An amendment to the Czech Public Registers Act entered into force on 1 January 2018. The amendment will require the ultimate beneficial owners of Czech companies to be identified.
All legal entities entered in public registers, in particular trading companies registered in the commercial register, have a new obligation in the Czech Republic from the beginning of this year. With effect from 1 January 2018, information regarding the beneficial owners of Czech legal entities must be registered.
Implementation of this new registration is based on the strengthening of the rules to fight both terrorist financing and the legalization of the proceeds from crime (i.e. money laundering), governed at the European level by Directive (EU) No. 2015/849 of the European Parliament and the Council on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing. (About its future Hungarian implementation WTS Klient Hungary published an article recently.) In the implementation of this Directive, the Czech Republic is to introduce, among other measures, the registration of beneficial owners of Czech companies. In addition, information on trust funds – that have not thus far been registered – will be recorded.
Who is considered to be a beneficial owner in the Czech Republic?
The definition of a beneficial owner is to be found in Act No. 253/2008 Coll., on certain measures against the legalization of proceeds from crime and terrorist financing, as amended.
A beneficial owner shall mean an individual who is in a factual or legal position to exercise, directly or indirectly, a decisive influence on a legal entity, a trust fund or other legal structure without legal personality. It is thus assumed that a beneficial owner of a business corporation (such as a limited liability company) is an individual who:
- either alone or jointly with persons acting in concert has more than 25% of the voting rights in this business corporation or a shareholding in the registered capital exceeding 25%;
- either alone or jointly with persons acting in concert controls a person stated above;
- shall receive at least 25 % of the profits of this business corporation, or
- is a member of the statutory body, representative of a legal entity in this body or in a position similar to that of a member of the statutory body, unless the business corporation has a beneficial owner or the beneficial owner can be determined according to the points above
What information is to be registered?
For practical reasons, registration courts register beneficial owners of Czech legal entities, the registration being governed by Act No. 304/2013 Coll., on public registers of legal entities and individuals, as amended.
The following information should be entered in the register of beneficial owners:
- name and present address (or official residential address, if different);
- date of birth and birth number (if available);
- nationality;
- reasons why the person possesses the status of a beneficial owner, i.e
(1) information on the share in voting rights (if the status is based on direct participation in a legal entity); or
(2) information concerning the share in funds to be distributed (if the status of a beneficial owner is based on the fact of being entitled to receive profit); or
(3) information concerning another fact (if the beneficial owner’s status is established otherwise).
Who has access to the data entered in the register?
The register of beneficial owners is not made publicly accessible as is the case with public registers. Information on beneficial owners is not provided in the form of extracts from registers.
Only selected entities shall be granted remote access to information on beneficial owners, including, without limitation:
- courts for purposes of legal proceedings,
- law enforcement authorities for purposes of criminal proceedings,
- tax administrators,
- intelligence services,
- Financial Analysis Office,
- Czech National Bank,
- Person obliged under Act No. 253/2008 Coll., on certain measures against the legalization of proceeds from crime and terrorist financing in connection with client identification and control,
- public aid providers, etc.
Remote access is granted in such a manner as to allow the identification of specific individuals who access the register of beneficial owners. More
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