All companies are required to update information about their final beneficial owners

On December 6, 2019, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine No. 361-IX (hereinafter referred to as “the Law”), which obliges all legal entities to submit to the state registrar updated information about ultimate beneficial owners (hereinafter referred to as “the UBO”) and ownership structure of the company. The Law will come into force on April 28, 2020.

Information about the UBO must include: surname, name, patronymic, date of birth, country of citizenship, series and number of passport of Ukrainian citizen or passport of foreigner, place of residence, taxpayer’s registration number (if any), and the full legal name and identification code (for the resident) of the founder of the legal entity in which that person is the UBO, nature and extent of the beneficial ownership.

The Law also stipulates obligation to disclose information about the UBO during state registration of a legal entity as well as during state registration of changes to the information about the legal entity, by submitting to the state registrar additional documents, namely:

• ownership structure in form and content that are defined in accordance with legislation;
• excerpt, extract or other document from the commercial, banking, court register, etc. that confirms registration of the foreign legal entity in the country where it is located;
• notarized copy of the document that identifies the person who is the UBO.

Moreover, upon entry into force of the Law, companies will be required to confirm information about UBO annually within 14 calendar days starting from the next year from the date of the state registration of the legal entity by submitting of the abovementioned package of documents and relevant application to the state registrar.

Also, according to the Law, legal entities are obliged to keep information about UBO and ownership structure up to date, to actualize it and notify state registrar about changes within 30 business days from the day of their occurrence.

Companies that were registered at the time of entry into force of the Law are obliged to submit updated data on their UBO and ownership structure within three months from the date of approval of the relevant form and content of the ownership structure by an authorized state body.

For failure to submit or late submission to the state registrar of information about UBO or absence thereof, or documents to confirm information about the UBO, the Law prescribes a fine imposed on the director of the legal entity in the amount of UAH 17 000 to UAH 51 000.

How GOLAW may assist:

• to analyze corporate structure of the company;
• to update the necessary information about the UBO in accordance with the requirements of the Law;
• to provide comprehensive clarification and advice on compliance with the requirements of the Law to avoid penalties.