Danish Parliament Strengthens Registration Requirements of Ultimate Beneficial Owners

Published 2 May 2019

PrintCategory: Corporate Regulation

On 2 May 2019, the Danish Parliament adopted amendments to the Danish Companies Act, which implements part of the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive concerning the registration of ultimate beneficial owners.

The new rules make it mandatory for capital owners, and others with direct or indirect control, to provide the company with information necessary to identity their ultimate beneficial owners and further makes it mandatory for companies to supply this information to persons and companies which are required to carry out KYC procedures. Insufficient registrations or lack of documentation for the registrations (or lack of registrations) may be grounds for compulsory dissolution of the company. Further, companies are obligated to make a yearly assessment of whether there are any changes of the ultimate beneficial owners, the results of which are to be presented on the meeting where the central management approves of the annual report.

Next Steps: The new rules enter into force on 10 January 2020.

See the adopted act (in Danish) here.

Tags:  Beneficial OwnershipComplianceDanish RegulationDisclosure RequirementsKYC / AML


Also tagged ‘Beneficial Ownership’

13 Mar 2019Corporate RegulationFinancial Regulation

Proposal to Strengthen the Registration of Ultimate Beneficial Owners

On 13 March 2019, the Danish Government presented a proposal for an amendment of various acts including the Danish Companies Act which implements part of the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive concerning the registration of ultimate beneficial owners.

Beneficial OwnershipComplianceDanish RegulationDisclosure RequirementsKYC / AML
26 Feb 2019Taxation / VAT

EU Court of Justice Issues Ruling in Danish Beneficial Ownership Cases

The CJEU judgments will likely have a big impact on international group structures and will also contribute to the interpretation of the anti-abuse principles of EU law and the "beneficial owner" concept.

Beneficial OwnershipDanish Regulation

Other updates

27 Mar 2023Impact and ESGUpdates

New ESG KPI Report by Invest Europe

Invest Europe, the trade association representing Europe’s private equity and venture capital sector, has published its first ESG KPI report with data from 2021.

GovernanceVenture Capital
21 Mar 2023Taxation / VATUpdates

New countries have been added to the EU tax blacklist

On 14 February 2023, the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, the Marshall Islands, and the Russian Federation have been added to the EU tax blacklist by the EU Council.

Cross-BorderGovernance
20 Mar 2023Financial RegulationUpdates

EU Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCA) impending

The EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) is expected to be passed in April 2023 according to the European Parliament’s legislative updates.

Crypto-assetsMiCA
20 Mar 2023ELTIFsUpdates

ELTIF 2.0 now published in the OJEU

The amendments include a broader scope of eligible assets, a simplified definition of ‘retail assets’, which include lighter retail investor requirements, and an increased market capitalization threshold.

Retail Investors
8 Mar 2023Impact and ESGUpdates

Thematic review of sustainability disclosures for funds with sustainable investment as the objective

On 3 February 2023, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (“DFSA”) published a thematic review of sustainability disclosures for eight funds with sustainable investments as their objective.

ComplianceDisclosure RequirementsSustainability
8 Mar 2023ELTIFsUpdates

ELTIF 2.0 Adopted

On 15 February 2023, the European Parliament has voted in favour of an update to the EU’s Regulation for Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIFs), also known as ELTIF 2.0.

Retail Investors