The drafting of legislation to establish a central register of beneficial ownership is at an advanced stage and will be concluded soon.

These transposing measures will be in place shortly, the Companies Registration Office has said.

This legislation is expected to assign separate legal responsibility to the Registrar of Companies for the establishment and maintenance of the central register of beneficial ownership of companies and industrial and provident societies (I&Ps). 

There will be an extended time-frame for companies and I&Ps to make their beneficial ownership filings after the launch of the register.

Queries in relation to beneficial ownership can be sent to: aml@finance.gov.ie  

Statutory Instrument No 560 of 15 November 2016, required all corporate and legal entities to hold adequate, accurate and current information on their beneficial owner(s) in their own register.

Further information on the RBO can be found at: www.cro.ie/Registration/Company/Incidental-Obligations/Beneficial-Ownership-Register

The EU’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive EU Directive 2018/843 was adopted by the Council of the EU on 14 May 2018 and came into force on 9 July with an 18-month transposition period. 

The Department of Finance is considering the implications of the directive for the Register of Beneficial Ownership and will provide a further update shortly.