Moneyval Report: companies reminded of obligation to declare their beneficial owners

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

In order to meet this objective, the Prince’s Government has undertaken a national action plan. This includes a general information campaign and then follow-up directed at the companies concerned.

After this follow-up, cases of legal entities whose legal status is irregular will be referred to the Court of First Instance.

Consequently, if your company registered in the Trade & Industry Register is not up to date with its declarations of beneficial owners, please contact the Business Development Agency as soon as possible.

Who are beneficial owners?

A beneficial owner is an individual who meets one of the following criteria:

• They are the ultimate owners, directly or indirectly, of at least 25% of the capital or voting rights of the company.

• They exercise effective control of the company by any other means (for example: they can appoint or dismiss the majority of members of the executive bodies).

If none of these criteria are met, then the beneficial owner(s) is (are) the person(s) who legally represent(s) the company (administrator, managing director, etc.).

Please note

When the legal representative is a company, the beneficial owner(s) is (are) the individual(s) who legally represent(s) this company.

How to declare the beneficial owners of a company?

The application to add a company to the register of beneficial owners must be made through the Business Development Agency:

Business Development Agency

9 Rue du Gabian
MC 98000 MONACO

Hours: open from 9.30 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday

Telephone: (+377) 98 98 98 00
Telephone 2: (+377) 98 98 98 02 – Trade & Industry Register

Fax: (+377) 92 05 75 20

Source: Government Portal