New registration duties related to the ultimate beneficial ownership of companies in Slovakia

If you have a company registered in the Slovak Commercial Register or are planning to establish one, you should be aware of the new obligation imposed by the new amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Act. According to the amendment, almost every Slovak legal entity will be obliged to register its ultimate beneficial owner (“UBO”) with the Commercial Register.

Registration is not subject to a court fee and is achieved by filling out a special form. The data required on the form is as follows:

• full name,
• birth number or date of birth,
• address of residence and citizenship,
• type and number of the UBO’s ID document, and
• information supporting a person’s status as the UBO of the company.

This information will not be publicly available. The data will be transferred to the register of legal persons kept by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. The office will then be able to provide these data to designated public authorities.

The obligation is valid for newly established entities from 1 November 2018. Existing entities must submit the relevant information about their UBOs to the register by the end of December 2019. In relation to the Register of Public Sector Partners (“RPSP”), entities already registered in the RPSP will also be obliged to register information about their UBOs in the Commercial Register.

Moreover, the amendment also obliges companies to maintain up-to-date, accurate information about the UBO as long as the individual has the status of UBO, and for a further five years from the termination of that status. Failure to fulfil this obligation will result in a fine of up to EUR 200,000.

The amendment is the result of the Slovakian government implementing the 4th Anti-Money Laundering EU Directive and aims to assist the EU in fighting against money laundering and terrorist financing. Sanctions for the breach of the provisions are up to 1 million euros (in the case of banks and financial institutions it is 5 million euros).

For further information or if you need support to comply with the new legislation, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.