Introduction
Among other measures designed to combat money laundering and
terrorist financing, the 4th Money Laundering Directive requires
the EU member states to set up registers of the ultimate beneficial
owners of legal entities. It was left up to the individual member
states how to implement the directive, and in doing so, member
states have taken different approaches. To help guide you through
the various regimes, CMS has put together an overview of the
requirements in selected EU member states.
Background
Under the 4th Money Laundering Directive, companies and other
legal entities have to identify their ultimate beneficial owners.
The beneficial owner of a company or other legal entity is
generally a person who owns or controls over 25 % of the shares or
interest in that entity. The member states are required to hold
this information in a central register and provide access, amongst
other, to the competent authorities.
