On 7th May 2019 amendments in the Measures against money laundering act were published, based on which the scope of the legal entities which need to declare their ultimate beneficial owners was reduced.
As a result of the amendment, legal entities registered in Bulgaria do not need to declare their ultimate beneficial owners in cases when they have as shareholders or sole owners legal entities and it is clear from the lots of the legal entities part of the chain of ownership who are the natural persons - ultimate beneficial owners. The obligation to submit a declaration remains, if the natural persons - ultimate beneficial owners, are not entered in the Commercial register and register of NPLE in the lots of the legal entities part of the chain of ownership. Ultimate beneficial owners must also be declared if the legal entities parts of the chain of ownership are foreign legal entities.
The end term for submitting a declaration for declaring the ultimate beneficial owners remains the same – 31st May 2019. Any legal entity who fails to declare the required information in time is threatened with a penalty of 1,000 BGN to 10,000 BGN. For companies, such as banks, insurers, leasing companies and other, the penalty is from 2000 BGN to 20,000 BGN. The law also provides that the penalty is not one-time penalty; the legal entity will continue to be sanctioned each month until the information is entered.
For more information contact our team.
