Academic Scientific JournalsBeneficial Owner Central Registry as a Tool to Fight Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
Keywords:
AML, UBO, central registries of beneficial ownersAbstract
This article deals with the effect of the central registry of beneficial owners in terms of money laundering and terrorist financing. The main purpose of the article is to provide a comprehensive overview of the functioning of central registries of beneficial owners both at the national and European levels. The author focuses mainly on the issue of the European Central Platform as well as on the Centralized Registry of Bank Accounts. This article aims to confirm or refute the hypothesis that the current legislation is insufficient and that the established legal framework has certain gaps that may affect the original intent and goals of the central registry of beneficial owners. Within the application issues, we also deal in more detail with the question of whether the central registry of beneficial owners can be seen as reliable and whether it contains up-to-date information/.
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References
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Legal Acts
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/369 of 1 March 2021 establishing the technical specifications and procedures required for the system of interconnection of central registers referred to in Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC.
Directive (EU) 2017/1132 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 relating to certain aspects of company law.
Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU.
Directive (EU) 2019/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 laying down rules facilitating the use of financial and other information for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of certain criminal offences, and repealing Council Decision 2000/642/JHA.
Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 Text with EEA relevance.
Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC.
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Zákon č. 315/2016 Z. z. o registri partnerov verejného sektora a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov [Act 315/2016 Coll., Registry of Public Sector Partners (current version)].
Zákon č. 530/2003 Z. z. o obchodnom registri a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov [Act 530/2003 Coll., Commercial Registry Regulation (current version)].
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Other Official Documents
Dôvodová sprava k návrhu novely zákona č. 297/2008 Z. z. o ochrane pred legalizáciou príjmov z trestnej činnosti a o ochrane pred financovaním terorizmu a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov v znení neskorších predpisov [Explanatory Memorandum to the Draft Amendment to Act 297/2008 Coll., Protection Against Money Laundering and Protection Against Terrorist Financing and Amendments to Certain Acts].
FATF Best Practices on Beneficial Ownership for Legal Persons, France: Paris, 2019.
FATF guidance. Transparency and beneficial ownership, France: Paris, 2014.
FATF International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism & Proliferation, France: Paris, 2012.
Financna spravodajska jednotka. Konečný užívateľ výhod. Stanovisko z pohľadu ustanovení § 6a a § 10a zákona č. 297/2008 Z.z. [Financial Intelligence Unit. Beneficial Owner. Opinion in terms of the provisions of Sections 6a and 10a of Act 297/2008 Coll].
G20 High-Level Principles on Beneficial Ownership Transparency, Australia, 2014.
Národná banka Slovenska. Metodické usmernenie Národnej banky Slovenska, útvarov dohľadu nad finančným trhom z 29. apríla 2019 č. 3/2019 k ochrane banky a pobočky zahraničnej banky pred legalizáciou príjmov z trestnej činnosti a pred financovaním terorizmu [National Bank of Slovakia. National Bank of Slovakia Guideline #3/2019 from 29 April 2019—Financial Market Supervision Division—on the Protection of a Bank and a Branch of a Foreign Bank Against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing].
Report from the Commission to the European parliament and the Council on the interconnection of national centralised automated mechanisms (central registries or central electronic data retrieval systems) of the Member States on bank accounts COM(2019) 372 final.
Internet Resources
European Banking Federation: Lifting the Spell of Dirty Money. Available at: https://www.ebf.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/EBF-Blueprint-for-an-effective-EU-framework-to-fight-money-laundering-Lifting-the-Spell-of-Dirty-Money-.pdf, accessed: 21st August 2021.
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Zápis údajov o konečnom užívateľovi výhod do ORSR. [Registration of beneficial ownership data with the SR CR]. Available at: https://www.slovensko.sk/sk/oznamy/detail/_zapis-udajov-o-konecnom-uzivat, accessed: 21st August 2021.
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