On 1 October 2022, a new amendment to the Act on the Registration of Beneficial Owners came into force. The amendment changed the most essential part of the law – the definition of the beneficial owner, which is as follows: a beneficial owner is any individual who ultimately owns or controls a corporation or legal arrangement.
A corporation is ultimately owned or controlled by any individual who directly or indirectly through another person or legal arrangement:
- holds a share in the corporation or a share of the corporation’s voting rights greater than 25%
- has the right to a share of the profits, other own resources, or liquidation balance greater than 25%
- exercises a decisive influence in a corporation or corporations that individually or collectively hold more than 25% share in that corporation, or
- exercises decisive influence in the corporation by other means
We recommend that you contact your legal advisor to verify whether the Amendment changes your beneficial owner status and update the beneficial owner on the register if applicable.
