LEGAL NEWS IN THE SPOTLIGHT | “Register of Beneficial Owners” becomes operative

Newsletter n. 89 – October 2023

LEGAL NEWS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

“Register of Beneficial Owners” becomes operative

With the Ministerial Decree dated 29 September 2023 published in the Official Journal of 9 October 2023, the Italian Ministry of Enterprise and Industry (Ministero delle Imprese e del Made in Italy) has certified the operation of the system to report data and information relating to the beneficial owner(s) of companies with legal personality, private legal persons, trusts and assimilated entities. The main scope of the “register of beneficial owners” is to promote transparency in the ownership of legal entities and to prevent and combat the use of the economic and financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes, by making information on beneficial ownership accessible to persons subject to customer due diligence obligations under Legislative Decree No. 231/2007 (Anti-Money Laundering Decree). The beneficial owner or owners must be communicated to the Commercial Register of the territorially competent Chamber of Commerce within the following deadlines (a) for existing companies, trusts and similar entities, 60 days after entry into force of the Ministerial Decree (i.e., by 11 December 2023), and (b) for incorporated companies/trusts and similar entities created following the entry into force of the Ministerial Decree, 30 days after registration in the respective registers. Failure to comply with the reporting obligations on beneficial ownership will result in the application of the sanction provided for in Article 2630 of the Italian Civil Code.