Legal framework
The EU AML legislation includes a sixth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (6th Directive) and an EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (Regulation). The 6th Directive replaces the current (amended) fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive.
A relevant aspect of an EU Directive is that each member state must implement the rules as set out in the Directive into national legislation. Each Member State has thus at this time implemented the (amended) fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive in its own way. In view of that, differences arise in the implementation and application of the Anti-money laundering legislation between Member States. In order to harmonize the Anti-Money Laundering legislation, part of the rules for the identification and registration of UBOs is now included in a Regulation. An EU Regulation has direct effect; meaning that it does not need to be implemented into national legislation, thus ensuring that the same rules apply in all Member States. The 6th Directive and Regulation are expected to apply as of 9 July 2027.
The 6th Directive includes the obligation for Member States to maintain a UBO-register. It also outlines who has access to the UBO-register and when UBO-information can be shielded. Dutch legislation governing these matters will need to be adjusted to comply with the 6th Directive.
The new Regulation includes the obligation for ‘legal entities’ and ‘legal arrangements’ to identify and register their UBOs. Legal entities are all corporate and other legal entities that are already required to identify and register their UBOs. Legal arrangements include trusts and similar legal arrangements. The Regulation also contains the UBO-definition.
Changes
The 6th Directive and Regulation introduce several changes to the current UBO-legislation. The main changes for legal entities are the following.
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