Central Shareholders’ Register Act
(Wet centraal aandeelhoudersregister)
The Dutch legislative proposal for the Central Shareholders’ Register Act (Wet centraal aandeelhoudersregister) has been under consideration with the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) for a considerable period of time and there is no anticipated implementation date. The objective of the proposal is to increase transparency regarding ownership of shares in Dutch private companies with limited liability (BVs) and non-listed Dutch public companies (NVs) by establishing a central register of shareholders with the aim to prevent and combat financial and economic crime.
The register will be held by the Royal Professional Organisation of Civil Law Notaries (Koninklijke Notariële Beroepsorganisatie). Information from the register can only be accessed by tax authorities, certain designated public bodies and authorities, civil law notaries and institutions required to investigate their clients in accordance with the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financiering terrorisme).
Key changes
| Topic | Key changes |
| Registration | Certain notarial deeds must be registered in the central shareholders’ register by the civil law notary. |
| Registration details | Registration includes details regarding shares, shareholders, usufructuaries and pledgees. |
| Access | Information from the register can be obtained:
1. for the purpose of performing their statutory task by: - national tax authorities; - designated public bodies and authorities; - civil law notaries, 2. for the purpose of performing client screening, by institutions as referred to in Section 1, subsection 1, of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act (Wwft). 3. insofar as the data concerns them, by a shareholder, usufructuary or pledgee. |
