Yiota Georgiou and Ioannis Sidiropoulos, associates of our firm, have published an article in the December/January issue of the STEP magazine discussing the creation of a register of ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) in Cyprus. The article may be found in the following link.
The UBO Register is a system devised to provide transparency and a stable and up to date database where every company, or any other legal entity incorporated in Cyprus, shall be required to maintain adequate information on its beneficial owner(s). The article presents important relevant provisions of the currently applicable European framework in Cyprus (the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive). Moreover, the article provides an insight into the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive which requires Member States to make significant enhancements to the requirements surrounding UBO Registers such as, for example, the provision of public access to the registers.
According to the latest unofficial information available, it is now expected that the relevant bill for the introduction of the register in the Cyprus legal order will be forwarded to the Parliament this summer following the conclusion of the relevant consultation process. Upon its approval implementation regulations will be issued later this year and we will be closely following up all developments and providing with updates as soon as these become available.
For further information on this matter, please contact Yiota Georgiou or Ioannis Sidiropoulos or your usual contact at Elias Neocleous & Co LLC.
