New EU regulations aimed at tackling white collar crime will mean Irish companies must submit details of all beneficial owners to a central register before the end of November 2019.

Under regulations which went into force on March 22, the Companies Registration Office is setting up a Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial & Provident Societies which will be in place in about three months.

All entities covered by the regulations must register details of their beneficial owners by 30 November 2019 or risk significant fines.

Mason Hayes and Curran corporate governance specialist Nick Metcalfe (pictured) said: “The new regulations form part of EU-wide measures against white collar crime and specifically to counter money laundering. They will require compliance by the majority of businesses in Ireland, who will have until the end of November to submit information on their beneficial owners or potentially face significant fines.

“Under the regulations, when the relevant part comes into force,  existing companies and other bodies corporate will have five months to submit information on their beneficial owners, and newer bodies will have five months from incorporation. 

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“Fines for companies failing to properly keep a register, or to comply with requests from authorities, will be up to a maximum of €500,000, and there is provision for custodial sentencing of up to 12 months for knowingly or recklessly providing false information.”

Each organisation covered is required to provide the Gardaí, the Revenue, the Criminal Assets Bureau and other competent authorities with timely access to information on their internal registers. The Irish authorities can then also share that information with corresponding authorities in other member states of the EU. ‘Competent authorities’ include the Central Bank, the Law Society and the Bar Council, among others.

Organisations obliged to carry out customer due diligence can also request details of the information on a relevant entity’s internal register as part of their due diligence. They will have right of access to information on a beneficial owner including name, country of residence, nationality, month and year of birth and the nature and extent of ownership and control.

Metcalfe concluded: “Some aspects of the regulation need to be clarified before the central register is established. However, it is clear that it will provide significant further powers to authorities and will also provide for further openness and transparency in the business environment in the interests of tackling white collar crime.”

The CRO website had this to say: "The rule setting up the Register of Beneficial Owners (RBO) will come into operation on 22 June 2019. The RBO will begin to accept online filings from June 22, after which there will be five months for companies and I&Ps to file their RBO data without being in breach of their statutory duty to file.

"The office of the Registrar of Beneficial Ownership (RBO) will contact each company and I&P about their filing obligations in the coming weeks."