Due to the transposition of Directive (EU) No. 2015/849, Law No. 83/2017 was created, which aims to add new mechanisms to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, through the implementation of the Central Legal Regime of the Effective Beneficiary (RCBE ).
According to Law No. 83/2017, the effective beneficiaries of corporate entities are all natural persons, who, ultimately, hold ownership or control, directly or indirectly, of a percentage of a certain legal person, including associations, cooperatives and foundations.
In practice, this law requires companies to keep an updated record of the identification details of the partners, with the respective breakdown of shareholdings and who, in any way, holds direct or indirect control of the companies.
For example, a company based in Faro is owned by a company based in Lisbon. In turn, this company in Lisbon is owned by a company based in Amsterdam (Netherlands). Ultimately, the company based in Amsterdam is owned by a company based in George Town (Cayman Islands). With this obligation, Law No. 83/2017, which is fulfilled through of filling out this declaration, makes it necessary to indicate who is the person who is the beneficial owner/beneficiary of the company based in the Cayman Islands.
As a rule, the partners of the companies share the business plans with their Accountants, in order to obtain the best advice in tax and accounting terms, which can allow a business decision with a higher level of success, and, consequently, the Certified Accountants they end up receiving “inside” information from the partners of the companies and even knowing the income and assets of the partners of the companies in detail.
To corroborate this statement, it is enough to note that, often, the IRS statement of the partners is included in the agreement that the Accountant charges companies...
Although this new obligation is related to the effective control of legal persons, that is, to the governance and ownership of companies, this communication is not a duty of Certified Accountants.
Given the content of this obligation, it should be noted that the Portal “suggests” endorsements to lawyers, solicitors and notaries, not to Certified Accountants. However, companies and Certified Accountants who have a robust team will be able to meet this new obligation of companies, but, like any request for extra service, it should be added to the fee.
What if the Certified Accountant includes filling out this new business obligation in the fee that he already charges and makes a mistake? Will the entrepreneur complain to the Accountant for a “free” service?
This obligation must not be neglected and, in the short term, it could create greater control and transparency in the capital flows of company partners.
In summary, the Legal Regime of the Effective Beneficiary is a business obligation and not an accounting one.
Author Miguel Luzia
Certified Accountant No. 92184
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