Last October, we informed you that the Federal Public Service for Finance (“FPS Finance”) had extended the initial deadline to comply with the Royal Decree of 30 July 2018 introducing a UBO register in Belgium from 31 November 2018 until 31 March 2019. On 13 February 2019, the FPS Finance announced that the deadline has been extended yet again, this time until 30 September 2019.
There are two main advantages to this second extension. On the one hand, this second extension gives the FPS Finance more time to clarify essential practical issues not covered by the current version of the FAQ or the applicable legislation (e.g. available exemptions from the filing obligation, identification of the UBO(s) of a Belgian company ultimately owned by a Dutch stichting administratiekantoor, calculation of the shareholding in the event of a separation of the attributes of ownership, etc.). In addition, Belgian entities (i.e. Belgian companies, non-profit associations, foundations, trusts, fiduciaries and similar structures) have more time to accurately identify their UBO(s), gather the requisite information and file it with the UBO register.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the FPS Finance only recently made available, on 16 January 2019, the application that allows a natural or legal person from outside a company (e.g. an auditor, tax advisor, legal advisor, natural or legal entity) to enter information in the UBO register on the company's behalf.
The company's legal representative can grant such an authorisation to an external party using the application available here, where explanatory videos (demos mandats/demo’s mandaten) and a user guide (aide en ligne/help online) can also be found, in French and Dutch.
It is hoped that an updated FAQ and a user guide or practical guidelines will be issued by the end of February, in order to allow Belgian entities to move forward with registration.
