Act on registration of Ultimate Beneficial Owner of trusts and funds for joint account adopted by the Dutch senate

On 23 November 2021, the act on registration of the ultimate beneficial owner of trusts and funds for joint account (the "Act") was adopted by the Dutch senate.

The intention of the Act is to implement the obligation to maintain and centrally register information about the ultimate beneficial owner (the "UBO") of trusts and funds for joint account (in addition to the act regarding the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing for companies and legal entities. UBO’s of trusts and funds for joint account of which the trustee is established or resides in the Netherlands, or of which the trustee enters into a business relationship or acquires real estate in the Netherlands can be identified with this register.

The UBOs of a trust and funds for joint account are the settlors, trustees, protectors, individuals exercising control over the trust and all beneficiaries that have an interest of at least 3%. In case there is no individual that can qualify as a UBO on the basis of economic interest, the beneficiaries will be defined as a group.

The UBOs of a fund for joint account has not been defined. However, the fund manager (beheerder), the legal title holder (bewaarder) will qualify as UBO, in any event. In practice this will mean that the UBOs of the manager (a legal entity) and the legal title holder (a legal entity) will qualify as UBOs of the fund for joint account. To be a UBO of a legal entity, the UBO must have an interest of more than 25%.

The Dutch Chamber of Commerce should act as administrator of the register and should monitor the functionality and the accessibility of the register. The register will be made publicly available, subject to payment of an administration fee. The trustee itself will be responsible for submitting the registration to the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and to ensure to correct data is kept at all times.

It is expected that the Act will become effective on 1 January 2022. Trusts and similar legal constructions must register their UBOs within 3 months after the implementation, which means that the UBOs must be registered by 31 March 2022.

In case you have any questions regarding the Act or your corporate governance? Please contact us: Carmen.bosman@computershare.nl.