Serbia's Law regarding the Central Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBO) came into effect on 8 June. It introduces a completely new obligation for legal entities in the country; registering their Ultimate Beneficial Owners in a public register.

The move is closely connected to local Anti-Money Laundering (AML) legislation, and the requirements of the Fourth and Fifth AML Directives. The UBO law forms part of Serbia's obligation to harmonise its AML legislation with that of the European Union.

Who is affected?

The UBO law impacts the majority of legal entities in Serbia. In particular:

  • companies
  • branches of foreign legal entities
  • representative offices of foreign legal entities operating in Serbia, creating an obligation of registration of UBO(s).

What do legal entities need to do?

Those affected should immediately start collecting the necessary documentation and other information on their UBO(s), so that when Serbia's Central Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners is functional, the required details can be entered.

Key Serbia UBO Register dates

  • Legal entities should make their documentation and information available to record by 8 July 2018.
  •   The latest date by which the entity information should be recorded on the UBO Register is 31 January 2019.

Penalties

The penalties for individuals and entities that do not submit their UBO information for the register, or provide late or untrue information can be severe. Individuals can face a prison sentence of between three months and five years. While entities can be penalised with fines of between €5,000 and €20,000.

Talk to us

TMF Serbia's local compliance team can provide guidance, and help you in the process of registering the necessary information for your company/legal entity in the local UBO register by deadline through our corporate secretarial services..

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.