Trust Register Issues

Information to Authorities

A trustee of a trust shall provide any member of the Garda Síochána, the Revenue Commissioners, a regulator or the Criminal Assets Bureau with timely access, on request, to the trust’s beneficial ownership register.

They may disclose the information in a beneficial ownership register to any corresponding regulator of another Member State in the event of there being a request made of a body or other person covered corresponding authority for disclosure of such information, the request shall be complied with in a timely manner.

Trustee with Designated Business

Where a trustee of a trust, acting as trustee, enters into an occasional transaction with a designated business (covered by money-laundering obligations) or forms a business relationship with such a, the trustee shall –

• inform the designated business in writing that it is acting as trustee,
• provide, in addition to information about the legal ownership of the trust, information on the beneficial ownership of the trust to the designated business when the designated business is taking customer due diligence measures in accordance with,
• on request from the designated business, provide the designated business in a timely manner with information identifying all the beneficial owners of the trust (which, in the case of a class of beneficiaries, may be provided by specifying the class of persons who are beneficiaries or potential beneficiaries under the trust),
• notify the designated business of any change to the beneficial ownership register of the trust that occurs which is relevant to the occasional transaction or that occurs during the course of the business relationship formed, and the date on which it occurred within 14 days from the date on which the trustee or, if more than one, any one of the trustees of the trust, became aware of the change.

Failure to comply is an offence subject on summary conviction, to a class A fine, or on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €500,000.

Notice to Possible Beneficial Owners

A trustee of a trust shall give to any individual whom the trustee has reasonable cause to believe to be a beneficial owner of the trust the  following notice. The notice is  addressed to the individual concerned, and requires the addressee –

• to state whether or not he or she is a beneficial owner of the trust, and
• if so, to confirm or correct any particulars of his or hers that are included in the notice, and supply any that are missing,

and such a notice is referred to subsequently in this Regulation as a notice under this Regulation.

The notice shall state specifically that it is made under the regulations. It shall set out the relevant information to the best of the person who serves its knowledge. It shall also state that the addressee is to comply with the notice by no later than the end of the period of one month beginning with the date of the notice.

A trustee is not required to give a notice if the trustee has already been informed of the status of the individual as a beneficial owner of the trust and been supplied with all the required particulars and the information and particulars were provided either by that individual or with his or her knowledge.

A trustee who fails to comply with this obligation on of this Regulation commits an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a class A fine.

Steps to establish Beneficial owners

A trustee of a trust may give to any person (whether an individual or not) the  following notice referred if the trustee has reasonable cause to believe that the person has the knowledge or information concerning beneficial ownership

The notice is a notice, addressed to the person concerned, that requires the addressee   to state whether or not the addressee knows the identity of any individual who is a beneficial owner of the trust, or) any person (whether an individual or not) likely to have that knowledge, and if so, to supply any particulars of any such person that are within the addressee’s knowledge, and state whether or not the particulars are being supplied with the knowledge of each of the persons concerned,

The notice is the state specifically that it is made under the regulations and that  that the addressee is to comply with the notice by no later than the end of the period of one month beginning with the date of the notice.

A person addressed is not obliged to disclose any information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

Duty to keep up to date

The information on the trust’s beneficial ownership register is to be kept up to date. There is a change if the person concerned ceased to be a beneficial owner or there is any other change in the registered particulars. Where this is the case, the trustee is to give notice to the individual if he knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a change has occurred.

The notice shall be given by the trustee as soon as reasonably practicable after the trustee learns of the change concerned or first has reasonable cause to believe that the change concerned has occurred.

Notice of  Occurrence of Change

The notice referred is to be addressed to the individual concerned and requires the addressee to confirm whether or not the change concerned has occurred, and if so

• to state the date of the change, and
• to confirm or correct the particulars included in the notice, and supply any that are missing from the notice

A notice shall  state that it is given under “Regulation 13 of the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Trusts) Regulations 2021”, and

it is the set out certain information known to the person giving the notice. This includes

that which  to the knowledge of the server are, or with reasonable cause are believed by it to be, the relevant particulars as they now stand in consequence of that change, or) in the absence of such knowledge or belief (on its part as respects a relevant particular) indicate, by leaving a space in the appropriate place, that that particular is not given in the notice.

A notice shall also state that the addressee is to comply with the notice by no later than the end of the period of one month beginning with the date of the notice.

A trustee is not required to give a notice under this Regulation if  the trustee has already been informed of the change concerned, and that information (including, as the case may be, the relevant particulars were provided either by the individual concerned or with his or her knowledge.

A trustee who fails to comply commits an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a class A fine.