Further to the announcement of the Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property, the deadline for the submission of beneficial owners’ data in the UBO Registry is extended until 31.07.2022.
In early 2021, the Cyprus government transposed the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive into Cyprus legislation, amending the Law for the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering Activities (“the law”) in order to enhance the framework on the prevention and suppression of money laundering and terrorist financing. Consequently, companies and any other legal entities incorporated in the Republic of Cyprus should enter, as soon as possible, the details of the Beneficial Owner to the Registrar of Companies.
Definition of Beneficial Owner
In accordance with the law, a beneficial owner is defined as any natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls the Obliged Entity and/or the natural person(s) on whose behalf a transaction or activity is being conducted and includes at least:
a) In the case of corporate entities: the natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity through direct or indirect ownership of a sufficient percentage of the shares or voting rights or ownership interest in that entity, including through bearer shareholdings, or through control via other means.
A shareholding of 25% plus one share or an ownership interest of more than 25% in the customer held by a natural person shall be an indication of direct ownership.
b) for trusts: the settlor; the trustee(s); the protector, if any; the beneficiaries, or where the individuals benefiting from the legal arrangement or entity have yet to be determined, the class of persons in whose main interest the legal arrangement or entity is set up or operates and any other natural person exercising ultimate control over the trust by means of direct or indirect ownership or by other means.
c)for legal entities such as foundations and legal arrangements similar to trusts: the natural person(s) holding equivalent or similar positions to those referred to in point (b) above.
Obliged entities
Entities considered as “obliged entities” are the following:
For the procedure of filing to take place, each company must firstly create an account with the Ariadni Portal and then to visit the e-filing system of the Registrar in order to file the BO’s details.
You can find more information and instructions in our article “Register of Beneficial Owners for Cyprus Companies and Legal Entities – Submission of data due by 12 March 2022” by clicking here.
