The register of beneficial owners became operational 1 March 2019 and forms part of an EU crackdown on money laundering and financing of terrorism.

A 31 August initial deadline for registering, was extended to 30 November when it became clear a week before than only 61% of Luxembourg entities (129,000) had filed the registration paperwork.

According to the justice department, just 47% of registrations had been completed with a further 25,025 still being processed. The ministry said in a statement that it was a “significant figure due to the mass influx of applications in the last week of August.”

By the end of August, 65% of entities had filed or completed the process.

75.76%

According to the 11 December press release, 105,622 or 75.76% are now registered. The ministry said that if one subtracts non-active firms, who have not filed with the commercial register for ten or more years, then some 87% of entities have been registered.

The beneficial owners register is managed by the Luxembourg Business Registers, which will forward the list of entities that have not complied to the public prosecutor’s office.

Starting January 2020, the LBR will delete entities which have not filed for ten years from the trade and companies register, in line with the law on trade and companies register. Some 18,508 entities are thought to fall into this group. They will be informed in advance.

Entities which fail to complete a declaration could incur a fine ranging from €1,250 to €1.25m. The same applies to entities which do not report a change in beneficial ownership within 30 days.