On 16 December 2020 the Council of Ministers has taken the decision (i) to designate the Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver of the Republic of Cyprus as the competent authority for the maintenance of a central Register of Beneficial Ownership of companies and other legal entities, and (ii) to authorise the Registrar to proceed with the collection of information in relation to the UBOs of companies and other legal entities through the interim solution that has been implemented for this purpose.
The establishment of the UBO Register forms part of the Government’s transposition of the EU 5th AML Directive and serves as an interim step towards the ultimate implementation of a software platform, which will be developed later in the year. The starting date for the collection of the relevant information from companies and other legal entities has been set for 18 January 2021 and will last for a period of 6 months (i.e., until 19 July 2021). Access to the information on the UBO Register for H1 2021 will be granted exclusively for competent authorities, following the making of a request to the Registrar of Companies, whereas for H2 2021, such access will be regulated by the provisions of the EU 5th AML Directive.
Companies and other legal entities affected by the implementation of the UBO Register are advised to liaise with their Administrative Service Providers (ASP) and Corporate & Legal advisers in order to prepare for and ensure compliance with the new legislative framework.

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