Danish Parliament Strengthens Registration Requirements of Ultimate Beneficial Owners
Published 2 May 2019
Category: 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’
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 / AMLEU 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 RegulationOther updates
The NIS2 Directive now applies to designated IT suppliers to financial companies as appointed by the Danish FSA
As of today, the NIS-2 Directive (“NIS2”) applies to the most important IT suppliers to the financial sector.
DORANIS2National versions of guidelines on funds’ names now published
On 21 August 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published their guidelines on funds’ names (the “Guidelines”) in versions translated into all the official EU-languages.
ESMASustainabilityRegistration of “sustainability auditors” is now possible
On 1 June 2024, the new rules on requirements to companies’ sustainability reporting (entailed by CSRD) entered into force.
CSRDSustainabilityMeasures to support corporate sustainability reporting
In July, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published measures to support corporate sustainability reporting.
CSRDESMAESRSSustainabilityESMA opinion on sustainable investments: Facilitating the investor journey
On 24 July 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published an opinion: “Sustainable investments: Facilitating the investor journey – a holistic vision for the long term” setting out ESMA’s long-term vision on the functioning of the Sustainable Finance Framework.
ESMASustainabilityThematic review of pension funds subject to SFDR article 8
The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority initiated an inspection of three pension funds’ disclosing pursuant to SFDR article 8 in November 2023.
ComplianceDisclosure RequirementsSustainability