The Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property (DRCIP) informs that on 06/12/2024, the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering (Amendment) (No.2) Law of 2024, Law No. 141(I)/2024, was published, and the main amendments are analyzed below:
- Fines will only be imposed on companies or other legal entities that refuse, fail, or neglect to fulfill their obligations to submit information about the ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) as required by the provisions of Law 188(I)/2007 and its related Regulations.
- Fines will no longer be imposed on every director and secretary individually.
- However, a company director or managing director who refuses, fails, or neglects to fulfill the obligations regarding the submission of information on UBOs will be jointly and/or severally liable with the company for the payment of the fine imposed on the company.
- Fines have been revised as follows:
- €100 for the first day of non-compliance.
- €50 for each additional day of non-compliance.
- Maximum total fine: €5,000 per company or other legal entity.
- Introduction of new provisions granting the following powers to the Registrar of Companies:
- To issue Regulations (Administrative Decision – AD) establishing the procedure for administrative review and/or submission and review of appeals against decisions imposing fines.
- To strike off a company or other legal entity from the business registry for refusing, failing, or neglecting to update the UBO information, following the procedures set out in Article 327 of the Companies Law or subsection (5) of Article 57 of the Partnerships and Trade Names Law.
- To request a court order compelling any person to comply with the obligations set out in Article 61A of Law 188(I)/2007 and its related Regulations.
- Extension and Withdrawal of Fines:
Taking into account the high fines, the size of companies in Cyprus (which are mostly Small and Medium Business), the high compliance rates achieved, and the compensatory measures included in the aforementioned amendment, the executive authority, in consultation with the House of Representatives, decided to grant an extension for the submission of UBO information for all Companies and Other Legal Entities until 31 January 2025.- To implement this decision, the Registrar of Companies issued Amendment Regulation AD423/2024 on 16/12/2024.
- The same Regulation also extends the deadline for completing the verification of information for the year 2024 until 31 March 2025.
- As of 1 February 2025, non-compliance with UBO information submission will result in the imposition of administrative and other penalties, as provided in Law 188(I)/2007, as amended and enacted on 16/12/2024, and Regulation AD112/21, as amended and in force.
- Withdrawal and Refund of Fines Imposed Since 01/04/2024:
- Fines imposed since 01/04/2024 are withdrawn, and payments already made will be refunded as follows:
- For online payments made via JCC, the amount will be refunded directly to the card used, without further action required by the affected party.
- For payments made at the Registrar’s Office, the amount will be refunded to the applicant’s bank account upon submission of Form KE1, accompanied by the authorization form for payments via FIMAS, a copy of the payment receipt, and the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) to be credited, as outlined in the Authorization Form.
- Electronic UBO Register:
- The UBO Register is electronic, and updates must be made exclusively via the online portal: https://ubo.meci.gov.cy.
For any questions or further information, interested parties may contact the following email address: info@landaslaw.com
