Launch of the final version of the electronic system of the Cyprus Beneficial Ownership Register
Following its announcement on “Notification for registration of beneficial ownership data in the Beneficial Ownership Register (the BO Register) and imposition of fines” dated 1 September 2023, the Cyprus Department of the Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property has declared the start of the implementation of the final version of the electronic system of the BO Register, effective 14 November 2023.
This will be implemented in its entirety in 2024 and will be divided into three phases as follows:
Period A: 14 November 2023 – 31 December 2023
All companies incorporated or registered under the Companies Law, Cap. 113, all European Public Limited Liability Companies, and all Partnerships (hereinafter referred to as Organisations), or their officers/partners, shall proceed to update/re-register their BOs, even if they have already done so in the interim solution system. For re-registration purposes, the last submission of the interim solution's details will be presented in the "interim system information" tab for reference.
Period B: 1 January 2024 – 29 February 2024
The Organisations or their officers/partners who have not updated/re-registered their BOs during Period A in the final system, even if they have already done so in the interim solution system, will incur a financial penalty. The penalty will apply from 1 January 2024 until the date the final system is updated/re-registered with the BO details. After the above Organisations have paid the resulting penalty, they will be able to update/register without any further financial penalty.
Period C: from 1 March 2024 onwards
During Period C the following actions will be available:
- Update of the BO Register
- Confirmation of BO details
- Online search of the BO Register
- Request for disclosure exemption
- Request for access to minor's data
- Calculations of financial penalties, where applicable
Should you have any questions regarding the information provided above, please feel free to reach out to the authors or your usual Harneys Fiduciary contact.
