An UBO investigation, how do you do that?

Companies that must comply with the AMLD (Anti Money Laundering Directive) are also obliged to find out the ultimate beneficial owner of a company. The ultimate beneficial owner is often referred to as the Ultimate Beneficial Owner or UBO. Finding a UBO can be a complicated process, but fortunately there are several tools available in the CDD On Demand solution; the Chamber of Commerce UBO register and the UBO investigation.

The UBO register of the Chamber of Commerce

Since September 27, 2020, many companies are obliged to register the UBO(s) in the UBO register of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. Companies established in 2020 or later must register immediately and for older companies there is a transitional arrangement of 18 months. Via the CDD On Demand solution you can search directly in the UBO register of the Chamber of Commerce without leaving the CDD On Demand application. You can easily search for a Chamber of Commerce number or company name. Searching the UBO register costs three credits.

Because not all companies have yet registered in the UBO register due to the transitional arrangement, it may be that the search option via the UBO register of the Chamber of Commerce sometimes does not offer a solution. To this end, SCOPE CDD On Demand also has a UBO study based on extracts from Chamber of Commerce extracts.

The UBO investigation based on extracts from the Chamber of Commerce

If you cannot find the UBO via the UBO register of the Chamber of Commerce, CDD On Demand also has the UBO research as a solution. Here too you search by Chamber of Commerce number or trade name. The independent UBO investigation then requests the Chamber of Commerce registration of the company concerned and also the legal entities that may be linked to this organization. This makes the entire company structure transparent. For example, a Holding may act as a director of a BV.

The UBO research based on Chamber of Commerce extracts will then automatically link these companies together and select the correct UBO or suspected UBO. If the investigation does not reveal a UBO, CDD On Demand indicates who would probably know who the UBO is.

Who is an Ultimate Beneficial Owner

According to the Dutch tax authorities, an UBO is anyone who:

• has an interest of more than 25% in the capital of the legal entity;
• Can exercise more than 25% of the voting rights in the general meeting;
• Beneficiary is more than 25% of the assets of the legal entity.

It is therefore possible that a company has several UBOs. An UBO or UBOs can also be hidden behind a holding company. An investigation can therefore be complicated and take a lot of effort. All UBOs should be registered on March 27, 2022 of the companies that have a registration obligation (a number of company forms are excluded, for example an association of owners). Until then, the UBO register may not be complete. The UBO research based on Chamber of Commerce extracts do not depend on the UBO register to identify a UBO or possible UBO and can always be used.

Why should an UBO investigation be carried out?

An institution subject to AMLD is obliged to find out the identity of the UBO. The identity must be established in order to prevent (unconsciously) doing business with persons who have the wrong intention, for example money laundering, or hides behind a shadow company. Once the identity has been established, a compliance check must be performed. The compliance check indicates, among other things, whether someone is a PEP, is on sanction lists or is a (tax) resident of a high-risk country.

After the UBO check of CDD On Demand, an automatic compliance check can be performed of the UBO (s) found. Based on the compliance check, a PDF report is generated for the administration. After the compliance check, a person can be placed on the monitor list. On the monitor list, a person is checked daily and a warning is given if anything has changed.

Try CDD On Demand for free

Performing a UBO check via CDD On Demand is easy and saves a lot of valuable time. After performing a UBO check, you can immediately continue with other AMLD obligations, such as performing a compliance check and monitoring relationships.