August 2023
Law n°1.549 of July 6th 2023 amending provisions of the laws on the fight against money laundering, terrorism financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, was published on July 14th, 2023 in the Journal de Monaco (the “Law”).
As preliminary remark, please note that various provisions are awaited to further implement the provisions of the Law, as well as its date of entry into force, at the latest on September 30th, 2023.
We would like to focus particularly on the specific amendments made to the ultimate beneficial owners regulations, as well as the “ultimate beneficial owner – companies and economic interest groupings” (the “Register”), as per the Law.
For further general information on the Law, we invite you to reach for our previous note :
As regards the ultimate beneficial owners, their definition is now in compliance with the F.A.F.T.’s guidelines, taking into account the persons who ultimately exercise effective control over a legal person or legal entity. The regulations now also apply to foundations and associations for their ultimate beneficial owners.
The designation of a “person in charge of the elementary information and the information on the ultimate beneficial owners” is now mandatory and notified to the competent authority within a month. It collects, updates this information and assists the authorities. It stores this data for ten years (instead of the previous five) following the termination of the business relationship or the dissolution of the legal entity.
In case of wrongdoing identified during an inspection, a formal notice is issued by the Economic Development Department to the entity in question to rectify the situation, such being recorded in the Register. The entity may submit its observations within the time limit set to regularise the situation. If it fails to do so, it is liable to an administrative fine of up to 5,000 €, which may be increased if the breach persists, leading to the matter being referred to the President of the Court of First Instance.
Access to the Register is restricted to the provisions of the Law for certain authorities, and without limit for any authorized agent of the Monegasque Financial Security Authority, any authorized personnel of the judicial authorities, any authorized officer of the Public Security (“Sûreté Publique”) and any authorized agent of the service for the management of assets and seized or confiscated assets under the authority of the Judiciary Services Department (“Direction des Services Judiciaires”).
Professionals may access it to carry out their due diligence measures, with simultaneous information to the legal entity concerned. Legal entities have access only to the information they have declared. Finally, the persons in charge of the elementary information and information on ultimate beneficial owners only have access to the information declared by the persons who have designated them.
Our team remains at your disposal to assist you and answer your questions on the matter.
A.L.F.A. MONACO