Amendments regarding the form of company ultimate beneficial owner statements

25 Sep 2020

In brief

Law 208/2020 amends and supplements various provisions in several normative acts, including those in Law no. 129/2019 regarding the ultimate beneficial owners of companies. The new law enters into force on 26 September 2020. The amendment to Law no. 129/2019 refers to the form of the ultimate beneficial owner statement.

In detail

The following amendment has been approved:

Law no. 129/2019, article 56, paragraph (5) has been amended. The possibility to issue the own liability statement regarding the ultimate beneficial owners under simple signature has been eliminated. The own liability statement regarding the ultimate beneficial owner can only be given in one of the following forms: in front of the trade registry clerks, by bearing a certified date notarisation or being certified by a lawyer. Such statements can be submitted to the trade registry either personally or through an authorised person.

Source: [Law no. 208/2020 regarding the amendment and supplementing of certain normative acts, published in the Official Gazette no. 869 dated 23 September 2020]

The Takeaway

Law no. 208/2020 introduces important amendments to certain provisions regarding company ultimate beneficiary owners:

The possibility for the own liability statement regarding the ultimate beneficial owner to be given in a simple form (established in July 2020) has been eliminated;
The own liability statement regarding the ultimate beneficial owner needs to bear a certified date notarisation, be certified by a lawyer or given in front of the trade registry clerks;
It should be noted that, by derogation from the above rules, until 1 November 2020 the ultimate beneficial owner statement may be given under private signature or electronic form and submitted to the trade register office with no further formalities, by electronic means, with an electronic signature, or by postal and courier services. The ultimate beneficial owner statement may also be issued in notarised form, certified by a lawyer or given in front of a trade register office representative.