What is a Beneficial Ownership search?
Ever since European Anti-Money Laundering legislation was transposed into Irish law from 2015
onwards, it has become a requirement for companies, industrial and provident societies, and
Certain Financial Vehicles (CFVs) to (a) maintain an internal register of their beneficial owners
and (b) to file this information with a central register.
In Article 3(6), 4AMLD, a Beneficial Owner is defined as any natural person(s) who either directly or indirectly ultimately (a) owns more than 25% of the company/society’s shares, (b) controls
more than 25% of the company/society’s voting rights or (c) exercises control via other means
such as a shareholders’ agreement, dominant influence, or the power to appoint senior
management.
In Ireland, there are two such registers on which beneficial ownership can be registered. The ‘Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies (RBO) is self-explanatory in its title and is administered by the registrar of the Companies Registration Office.
The Beneficial Ownership Register for Certain Financial Vehicles (CFV) falls under the remit of the Central Bank of Ireland as registrar and includes Irish Collective Asset Management Vehicles (ICAVs), unit trusts and credit unions, investment limited partnerships (ILPs) and common contractual funds (CCFs).
It is against these (access restricted) registers that Ellis & Ellis conduct beneficial ownership
searches.
What will the Ellis & Ellis Beneficial Ownership search result show me?
A search result against the ‘Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies (RBO) will return a limited number of details (to designated persons who access the registers) under the following headers: – Number, Name, and type of the Company/ Industrial provident Society. The current beneficial owners details, i.e., name; year/month born; nationality; country of residence; nature of interest/ control; extent of interest/control (%); extent of interest/control and that ownership if either direct, indirect or both:
With the Beneficial Ownership Register for Certain Financial Vehicles (CFV). there are also restrictions on the information from the register that can be made available to the general public and/ or designated persons. That is, the name of the Certain Financial Vehicles (CFV), the beneficial owner(s), name; nationality; country of residence; month and year of birth; along with the nature of beneficial ownership held.
Use a trusted Law Search provider
Given the significant implications of conducting inadequate or erroneous Beneficial Ownership register searches; it is imperative that you use a trusted law search provider such as Ellis & Ellis. With our blend of a quick and easy-to-use ordering platform at www.ellis.ie , over 130 years of professional know-how, and a quality after-sales experience, we provide clients with a superior searching service.
For added peace of mind Ellis & Ellis provide Professional Indemnity Cover of €10 million.
Why not join the 1000’s of users who trust Ellis & Ellis to deliver them a competitive edge?
Did you find the above information to be of interest? Why not check out one of our other Ellis & Ellis explainers for some related searches below; –
- Register Of Business Names
- Central Bank Registers
- Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicle (ICAV) Registers
- Register Of Credit Unions