Amendments regarding UBO registrations

On 1 January 2022, new legal provisions[1] concerning the registration of ultimate beneficial ownerships amending Law No 129/2019 (“AML Law”) entered into force, to the following effects:  The obligation to file an annual ultimate beneficial owner statement is cancelled for all but a few types of legal entities. The obligation to file an annual UBO statement is maintained for companies whose shareholding structure includes entities registered or which have their tax residency in:

► a non-cooperative jurisdiction for tax purposes, or

► in jurisdictions with a high risk of money laundering and/or terrorist financing, or

► in a jurisdiction under scrutiny by relevant international institutions for money laundering/terrorist financing risk

For the above-mentioned cases, the annual statement shall be submitted within 15 days of the approval of the annual financial statements. Legal entities registered with the Trade Registry prior to the date of entry into force of Law no. 129/2019 (excluding certain state-owned entities), are required to update their ultimate beneficial owner statement whenever a change of the circumstances previously registered occurs.

 

[1]       Law No 315/2021 amending Law No 129/2019 on preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, No. 1240.