Moneyval report: a reminder to non-trading companies of the need to declare their beneficial owners

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In its evaluation report published on 23 January, MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe's anti-money laundering body, advised the Principality to complete its register of beneficial owners.

To achieve this objective, the Prince’s Government has launched a national action plan which includes a general information campaign, followed by targeted reminders to the companies concerned.

After these reminders, the matter will be referred to the General Court to seek an injunction against the legal entities in question.

Therefore, if your non-trading company registered in the special register of non-trading companies is still not up to date with its declarations of beneficial owners, you are advised to contact the Business Development Agency as soon as possible.

Who are the beneficial owners?

Beneficial owner(s) is/are the person(s) who fall under one of the following criteria:

• They ultimately hold, directly or indirectly, at least 25% of the company's capital or voting rights.
• They effectively exercise the power to control the company by any other means (for example, they can appoint or dismiss the majority of the members of the board of directors).

If none of these criteria is met, it is the person(s) who legally represents the company (manager, managing director, etc.).

Please note:

Where the legal representative is a company, the beneficial owner is the person(s) who legally represents the company.

How do you declare the company's beneficial owners?

The request for entry in the register of beneficial owners must be made to the Business Development Agency

The Business Development Agency

9 rue du Gabian

MC 98000 MONACO

Opening hours: 9.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday

Contact email: contact.rbe@gouv.mc

This is carried out by completing a specific declaration form, accompanied by all the supporting documents required to verify the accuracy of the information provided.

The forms and registration procedures are available on the Monaco Government website: https://monentreprise.gouv.mc/en/themes/starting-and-managing-a-business/starting-a-business/registration-and-statement-of-existence/how-to-declare-a-beneficial-owner

How much does it cost to register beneficial owners?

Registration, amendment or deletion from the register of beneficial owners is completely free of charge.

More details on how to determine and declare beneficial owners

Details of the procedures for determining and declaring beneficial owners are set out in Act no. 1.362 of 3 August 2009 as amended, in particular, Section V - Beneficial owners: https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/loi/2009/08-03-1.362

Also in Sovereign Order 2.318 as amended, in particular in chapters "III - Identification of beneficial owners" and "XVIII - Register of beneficial owners": https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/ordonnance/2009/08-03-2.318@2022.11.06/