Detailed below are the steps required to be taken in order to determine beneficial ownership by the company and its directors.
Step 1: Initially a letter needs to be sent out by the company under Regulation 6 of European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2016 which requests the known members of the company to confirm whether they are beneficial owners or not. See an example letter below:
Mr Iam Big
Any number
Any street
Any county
XYZ 123
Date: 01/12/2016
Dear Mr Big
Notice issued under Regulation 6 of the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2016
Interests in Small Enterprises Limited
The Directors of Small Enterprises Limited (Company No 123456) has reasonable to believe that you have a beneficial ownership in the company. The term ‘Beneficial Owner’ is defined in Section 2 (1) of SI 560/2016 with reference to the 4th EU Anti Money Laundering Directive Regulation 6 which sets out as follows:
6 ‘Beneficial owner’ means any natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls the customer and/or the natural person(s) on whose behalf a transaction or activity is being conducted and includes at least:
(a) | in the case of corporate entities:
|
The Directors of the company are formally issuing you notice under Regulation 6 of the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2016. Regulation 6 requires that you respond within a calendar month of the date of this notice.
Your requirements are as follows:
- Confirm that you are, or are not a Beneficial Owner of Small Enterprises Limited with reference to the definition included above
- If you are a beneficial owner you must furnish Small Enterprises Limited with the particulars requested below and confirm that they are correct.
Name | |
Address 1 | |
Address 2 | |
Address 3 | |
Post Code | |
Date of Birth | |
Nationality | |
Details of ownership/controlling interest |
As set out above you are required by Regulation 6(3) to comply with this notice no later than one month beginning with the date of this notice and it should be pointed out that non-compliance is a criminal offence.
Please return your response to
Company Name,
Address 1,
Address 2,
Address 3.
Yours faithfully
Mr Com Pliance
Director
Step 2: Where there is a suspicion that a member has knowledge of who the beneficial owners are, then under Regulation 8, the company can write out to this party asking them to confirm whether they know who the beneficial owners are. See example letter to such and individual below:
Mr Iam Big
Any number
Any street
Any county
XYZ 123
Date: 15/11/2016
Dear Mr Big
Notice issued under Regulation 8 of the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2016
Interests in Small Enterprises Limited
The Directors of Small Enterprises Limited (Company No 123456) has reasonable to believe that you have information concerning the beneficial ownership of the company. The term ‘Beneficial Owner’ is defined in Section 2 (1) of SI 560/2016 with reference to the 4th EU Anti Money Laundering Directive Regulation 6 which sets out as follows:
6 ‘Beneficial owner’ means any natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls the customer and/or the natural person(s) on whose behalf a transaction or activity is being conducted and includes at least:
(a) | in the case of corporate entities:
|
Regulation 8 goes on to set out the requirements for a person believed to have information concerning beneficial ownership.
8 (1) The notice referred to in paragraph (2) of Regulation 7 is a notice, addressed to the person referred to in that paragraph, that requires the addressee
(a) to state whether or not the addressee knows the identity of
(i) any natural person who is a beneficial owner of the server of the notice, or
(ii) any person (whether a natural person or not) likely to have that knowledge, and
(b) if so, to supply any particulars of any such person that are within the addressee’s knowledge, and state whether or not the particulars are being supplied with the knowledge of each of the persons concerned.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)—
(a) a reference to knowing the identity of a person includes a reference to knowing information from which that person can be identified, and
(b) a reference in subparagraph (b) of it to particulars is a reference
(i) in the case of the natural person referred to in paragraph (1)(a)(i) — to the particulars referred to in Regulation 4(2)(a) and (b), and
(ii) in the case of the person referred to in paragraph (1)(a)(ii) — to any particulars that will allow the person to be contacted by the relevant entity.
The Directors of the company are formally issuing you notice under Regulation 8 of the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2016. Regulation 8 requires that you respond within a calendar month of the date of this notice.
Regulation 8 requires that you to:
- State whether you know an Individual (Natural Person or other legal entity) who is a beneficial owner (as defined by Regulation 6) of Small Enterprises Limited; or
- State whether you know an individual or any person likely to have knowledge as to who is a beneficial owner.
If you have such information as required by Regulation in relation to (i) and (ii) immediately above, please complete the table below with as much detail as you can provide for all such owners that are known to you. In providing the particulars of any such person that are within your knowledge please state whether or not the particulars are being supplied with the knowledge of each person concerned.
Name | |
Address 1 | |
Address 2 | |
Address 3 | |
Post Code | |
Date of Birth | |
Nationality | |
Details of ownership/controlling interest | |
Are these details supplied with the knowledge of the person entity named in row ‘Name’ |
As set out above you are required by Regulation 8(3)(b) to comply with this notice no later than one month beginning with the date of this notice and it should be pointed out that non-compliance is a criminal offence.
Please return your response to Company Name, Address 1, Address 2, Address 3.
Yours faithfully
Mr Com Pliance
Director
Step 3: If the directors believe that there is a change in beneficial ownership details then they have the power to write out to the relevant person requesting full details of who this was transferred to. This requirement is laid out in Regulation 10 of the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2016, and requires the person to write back confirming if they have ceased to be a beneficial owner or if they have been any changes in previously provided information to inform the company of this. See below an example letter in this case.
Mr Iam Big
Any number
Any street
Any county
XYZ 123
Date: 01/12/2016
Dear Mr Big
Notice to natural person to confirm occurrence of change issued under Regulation 10 of the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2016
Interests in Small Enterprises Limited
The Directors of Small Enterprises Limited (Company No 123456) has reasonable to believe that there has been a relevant change in your beneficial ownership in the company. The term ‘Relevant Change’ is defined in Section 2 (1) of SI 560/2016 with reference to the 4th EU Anti Money Laundering Directive Regulation 9 (2) which sets out as follows:
(2) For the purposes of this Regulation, a relevant change occurs if— |
(a) the natural person referred to in paragraph (1) ceases to be a beneficial owner of the relevant entity, or |
(b) any other change occurs as a result of which the particulars (stated in the foregoing register) in relation to the natural person are incorrect or incomplete. |
The Directors of the company are formally issuing you notice under Regulation 10 of the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2016. Regulation 10 requires that you respond within a calendar month of the date of this notice.
Your requirements are as follows:
- Confirm whether or not you have ceased to be a beneficial owner of Small Enterprises Limited
- State whether there has been a relevant change in the particulars of your beneficial ownership and if so, advise the date and details of the change by amending the table below:
- Confirm or correct the particulars included in this notice and supply any that are missing from the notice
Current | Amendments | |
Name | Mr Iam Big | |
Address 1 | Any number | |
Address 2 | Any street | |
Address 3 | Any county | |
Post Code | XYZ 123 | |
Date of Birth | 31 March 1971 | |
Nationality | Irish | |
Details of ownership/controlling interest | 1) Shareholding of 25% plus one share
2) Voting rights of more than 25% |
As set out above you are required by Regulation 10(3) to comply with this notice no later than one month beginning with the date of this notice and it should be pointed out that non-compliance is a criminal offence.
Please return your response to
Company Name,
Address 1,
Address 2,
Address 3.
Yours sincerely
Mr Com Pliance
Director