Register of beneficial owners: Law of 13 January 2019 comes into force

The law of 13 January 2019 establishing a Register of Beneficial Owners came into force on 1 March 2019 and requires legal entities registered in the Luxembourg Business Registers to submit a declaration as to the identity of their beneficial owner(s).

The declaration will have to include a certain amount of information relating – in particular – to their address, identity, date of birth and the nature and extent of the beneficial interests held.

Even though companies have a transitional period of 6 months to comply with this new obligation, after which the information contained therein will be publicly accessible, it is advisable to prepare for this change, bearing in mind the particularly substantial amount of the potential fines in the event of non-compliance with these new obligations (between €1,250 and €1,250,000).

It should be noted that it is nevertheless possible, within the limits of Article 15 of the Law of 13 January 2019, to request limited access to information relating to beneficial owners, in particular in the event of the beneficial owner’s exposure to a disproportionate risk, mainly linked to risks to the beneficial owner’s physical integrity.

Our firm is at your disposal to assist you with these procedures, to ensure that your company complies with its obligations under the new legislation, or to assess the possibility of submitting a request for restricted access.