Last updated: Jun 16, 2022
EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) requires all EU Member States to put into national law provisions requiring corporate and legal entities to obtain and hold adequate, accurate and current information on their beneficial owner(s) in their own internal beneficial ownership register and in a central register in each Member State. The Registrar of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial & Provident Societies (RBO) acts as the central register in Ireland and it was opened to accept filings from 29 July 2019.
It is the legal responsibility of a company’s officers (director(s) and company secretary) to obtain and confirm beneficial ownership information, to keep the company’s own beneficial ownership register current and accurate and to deliver the required beneficial ownership information to the RBO within the prescribed time frames. Failure to comply with these requirements is a breach of statutory duties and a criminal offence which is subject to sanctions.
We file your company's beneficial ownership details with the RBO when you register a company with incorpro and there is no additional cost.
A beneficial owner is an individual who ultimately owns or controls a company, either through direct or indirect ownership of 25% of the shares or voting rights or ownership interest in the company.
Filing of beneficial ownership data can only be made by the company's officers online through a portal on the RBO website at www.rbo.gov.ie. A presenter, such as Incorpro, may file the data with the RBO.
Companies must hold a register of each beneficial owner. The register must contain the beneficial owners’ particulars, including name, residential address, date of birth, PPS Number, date of entry into register and nature and extent of interest. These details must be filed with the RBO.
Existing companies have until 22 November 2019 to file their data with the RBO without being in breach of their statutory duty to file. Companies incorporated after 22 June 2019 have 5 months from the date of incorporation to fulfil their reporting obligations. Thereafter, any changes to the beneficial ownership of a company must be notified to the central register within 14 days.
Each beneficial owner must provide their PPS number (Social Security Number) to the RBO so that their identity can be verified. Those beneficial owners who do not hold a PPS number are obliged to complete and submit a Form BEN2 to verify their name, date of birth, nationality and address. The form must be sworn in the presence of a notary and the signed form uploaded to the online portal.
Unrestricted access to RBO data will be provided to a number of organisations, including An Garda Siochana and the Revenue Commissioners. Restricted access to the name, month and year of birth, nationality, country of residence, nature and extent of interest will be available to the public.
A designated person includes a financial institution, accountants, legal professionals, etc. Designated persons must check the beneficial ownership data held by the RBO before entering into a business relationship with a company. If clients details are not registered with the RBO or if there is a discrepancy in the data registered, then the designated person is expected to file a Non-Compliance Notice with the RBO.
The RBO have a comprehensive list of FAQs on their website and this should be the first place to look. If you need further help or you would like to speak to us about any of your accounting and tax needs, please contact us on +353 1 442 9409 or email info@incorpro.ie. For updates, follow us on twitter.
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