Guidelines for reporting potentially false information about the beneficial owner to the Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia
The purpose of the Guidelines is to establish a uniform approach to the actions of all Subjects of the Law, as well as control and supervisory authorities, in cases where it is established that the information on the beneficial owners recorded in the registers kept by the Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia may be false.
Terms used in the Guidelines
| Register of Enterprises | Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia |
| AML/CFT Law or Law | Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism and Proliferation Financing |
| Foreign entity | Foreign legal entity registering a branch or representative office with the Register of Enterprises |
| Legal arrangements | A type of legal entity not recognised in the Republic of Latvia, whose trustee (manager) - a natural person - is a resident or whose trustee (manager) - a legal person - is registered in Latvia, or whose trustee (manager) has no relations with a Member State of the European Union, enters into a business relationship or acquires of immovable property on behalf of the legal arrangement |
| Subjects of the Law | Subjects of the Law as defined in Section 3 of the AML/CFT Law |
| Identified beneficial owner | Pursuant to Section 18 of the AML/CFT Law, the beneficial owner of a customer or of a person who has expressed a wish to enter into a business relationship with a subject of the Law or to execute an individual transaction, who has been identified during the course of the customer due diligence |
| Beneficial owner | Natural person under Section 1(1)5 of the AML/CFT Law |
| Registered warning | In accordance with Section 18 (3.2) of the AML/CFT Law, a warning registered by the Register of Enterprises that the registered information on the beneficial owner may be false |
| Registered beneficial owner | The beneficial owner of a legal person, foreign entity or legal arrangement registered in the registers kept by the Register of Enterprises |
| Control and supervisory authorities | Control and supervisory authorities under Section 45 of the AML/CFT Law |
I Introduction
1. The Guidelines have been developed based on the laws and regulations of the Republic of Latvia and the European Union (in particular Section 18(31) - (35) of the AML/CFT Law), as well as taking into account the guidelines of international organisations.
2. The Guidelines shall be applied by Subjects of the Law as well as by Control and supervisory authorities, in accordance with Section 18(31), (33) and (35) of the AML/CFT Law, in situations where the information on the beneficial owner established during the customer due diligence does not correspond to the information recorded in the registers kept by the Register of Enterprises.
3. Failure to comply with the guidelines should be taken into account that it will not be possible to ensure compliance with the deadlines set out in Article Section 18(31) and (32) of the AML/CFT Law.
II Conditions for choosing the type of notification
4. If the Subject of the Law or the Control and supervisory authority discovers that the identified beneficial owner (also if it is not possible to identify the specific beneficial owner) does not correspond to any of the registered beneficial owners (is essentially another person) or is not registered as a beneficial owner, both the Subject of the Law and the Control and supervisory authority must submit a notification to the Register of Enterprises using the web-based beneficial owner reporting solution of the Register of Enterprises, plg.ur.gov.lv.
5. Until the technical solution is developed, but no later than the 31st of March 2025, the notification of the beneficial owners of the legal arrangement on the web-site plg.ur.gov.lv shall be submitted to the Register of Enterprises in accordance with the procedure established by the Law on Submission.
6. The notification mentioned in paragraph 4 of these Guidelines shall not be submitted if the Subject of the Law or the Control and supervisory authority has identified and verified the ultimate beneficial owner in accordance with Section 18(7) of the AML/CFT Law, but there is a note in the registers maintained by the Register of Enterprises stating that “the beneficial owner is a stockholder in such joint stock company the stock whereof is listed on a regulated market, and the manner of exercising control over the legal person stems only from the status of the stockholder”.
7. The notification mentioned in paragraph 4 of these Guidelines shall not be submitted if the Subject of the Law or the Control and supervisory authority has identified and confirmed that the ultimate beneficial owner is a stockholder in such a joint-stock company the stock of which is listed on a regulated market, and the manner of exercising control over the legal person stems only from the status of the stockholder, but there is a note in the registers maintained by the Register of Enterprises stating that “the beneficial owner is a stockholder in such joint stock company the stock whereof is listed on a regulated market, and the manner of exercising control over the legal person stems only from the status of the stockholder”.
8. If the Subject of the Law or the Control and supervisory authority finds that the information about the identified beneficial owner does not match the information about the registered beneficial owner (due to a clerical error, including insignificant differences in identifying information such as information in identity documents, which do not create certainty that the registered beneficial owner would be another person), the subject of the Law or the control and supervisory authority shall inform the Register of Enterprises thereof by sending information about the identified discrepancy to the email: kluda@ur.gov.lv.
III Access to the plg.ur.gov.lv website
9. Access to the website plg.ur.gov.lv, where it is possible to submit the notifications referred to in paragraph 4 of these Guidelines, as well as to view the registered warnings, is provided only to the Subjects of the Law, Control and supervisory authorities, Law enforcement authorities, and the Financial Intelligence Unit of Latvia[1].
10. Access as specified in paragraph 9 of these Guidelines is provided to an individual who has authenticated using the authentication means available on the website plg.ur.gov.lv and is included in the list submitted by the control and supervisory authority to the Register of Enterprises, in which the control and supervisory authority indicates:
10.1. Regarding representatives of the supervised subjects of the Law:
10.1.1. for natural persons - name, surname, personal identification number and contact information (phone number and e-mail);
10.1.2. for legal persons - registration number, name, as well as the name, surname, personal identification number and contact information (telephone number and e-mail) of the senior management or persons responsible for compliance with the anti- money laundering, terrorism, and proliferation financing requirements.
10.2. if necessary, the name, surname, personal identification number and contact details (telephone and e-mail) of the representative of the control and supervisory authority.
10.3. The list is prepared in a standardised format (CSV) with the following structure: latvian_identity_number; forename; surname; phone_number; email; registration_number; legal_name.
11. The Control and supervisory authority shall notify the Register of Enterprises of the name, surname, personal identification number, and contact information (phone number and email) of the individual who will update the data of the representatives of the supervised Subjects of the Law mentioned in paragraph 10.1 of these Guidelines on behalf of the Control and supervisory authority.
11.1. The Register of Enterprises grants administrative rights to this individual appointed by the Control and supervisory authority for updating the data of the representatives of the supervised Subjects of the Law mentioned in paragraph 10 of these Guidelines on the website plg.ur.gov.lv.
11.2. The representative of the Control and supervisory authority with administrative rights ensures the timely import of the updated list mentioned in paragraph 10 of these Guidelines in a standardized format (CSV) on the website plg.ur.gov.lv, no later than two working days after the list has been updated.
11.3. The procedure for receiving information about the entities supervised by the State Revenue Service is agreed separately between the Register of Enterprises and the State Revenue Service.
12. Persons mentioned in paragraph 10 of these Guidelines, who are granted access to the plg.ur.gov.lv website, may add additional users by providing the name, surname, personal identification number, and contact information (phone number and email) of the individual. The persons who add additional users ensure that the added users have the right, in accordance with regulatory enactments, to submit notifications regarding potential false information about beneficial owners to the Register of Enterprises, as well as to access registered warnings.
13. If a person is removed from the list submitted to the Register of Enterprises by the Control and supervisory authority mentioned in paragraph 10 of these Guidelines, or if there is a change in the senior management of the person or the person responsible for compliance with the requirements of preventing money laundering, terrorism, and proliferation financing, access to the plg.ur.gov.lv website is revoked for all additional users created in accordance with paragraph 12 of these Guidelines.
14. Law enforcement authorities are provided access to the plg.ur.gov.lv website in view-only mode to ensure access to registered warnings.
15. The Law enforcement authority notifies the Register of Enterprises of the name, surname, personal identification code, and contact information (phone number and email) of the person requiring access to the plg.ur.gov.lv website.
IV Content of the notification
16. When submitting the notification mentioned in paragraph 4 of these Guidelines, the following should be indicated:
16.1. details of the legal person or branch or representative office of the foreign entity for which the notification is made:
16.1.1. registration number;
16.1.2. name (firm);
16.1.3. The registered beneficial owner (including the registered status “it is not possible to determine the beneficial owner of the legal person” or “the beneficial owner is a stockholder in such joint-stock company, the stock of which is listed on a regulated market, and the manner of exercising control over the legal person stems only from the status of the stockholder”) that does not correspond to the identified beneficial owner. The Register of Enterprises provides the option to select and indicate whether the notification is submitted for one or more already registered beneficial owners (or statuses), or to submit a confirmation that the information registered in the Register of Enterprises about the beneficial owner (or status) is incomplete (other persons (or statuses) have been identified as the beneficial owners of the legal person or branch or representative office in accordance with Section 1(1)5 of the AML/CFT Law).
16.2. details of the identified beneficial owner(s):
16.2.1. name;
16.2.2. surname;
16.2.3. personal identity number or the date of birth;
16.2.4. additional information (not mandatory to indicate)
16.2.4.1. information on personal identification document:
16.2.4.1.1. number;
16.2.4.1.2. date of issue;
16.2.4.1.3. issuing country;
16.2.4.1.4. issuing authority
16.2.4.2. information on the person’s nationality;
16.2.4.3. information on the person’s country of residence.
16.3. If the Subjects of the Law or Control and supervisory authority find that the registered beneficial owner (including the registered status “it is not possible to identify the beneficial owner of the legal person” or “the beneficial owner is a stockholder in such joint-stock company, the stock of which is listed on a regulated market, and the manner of exercising control over the legal person stems only from the status of the stockholder”) does not match the information identified in the customer due diligence, but specific information about the beneficial owner cannot be provided, a declaration (to be indicated in the notification) shall be submitted.
16.4. If the Subjects of the Law or Control and supervisory authority find that, in addition to the registered beneficial owner (including the registered status “the beneficial owner is a shareholder in a joint-stock company whose shares are listed on a regulated market, and the manner in which control over the legal person is exercised arises solely from the shareholder status”), the legal person has at least one more beneficial owner who has not been previously registered, a declaration (to be indicated in the notification) and the information specified in paragraph 16.2 shall be provided. If it is not possible to provide information about the beneficial owner, the declaration specified in paragraph 16.3 shall also be submitted.
16.5. Explanation (free text field) on the process of identifying and ensuring the identified beneficial owner.
17. The website plg.ur.gov.lv does not provide the option to attach additional documents.
18. When submitting a notification regarding a legal person, the provisions stated in paragraphs 16 and 17 of these Guidelines apply.
V Submission and withdrawal of a notification
19. The information provided by the notifier in paragraph 16 of these Guidelines can be corrected until the moment of submission of the notification to the Register of Enterprises.
20. After submitting the notification as indicated in paragraph 16 of these Guidelines to the Register of Enterprises but before the registration of the registered warning, the notifier can delete the submitted notification on the website plg.ur.gov.lv.
21. After the registration of the registered warning in accordance with Section 18(33) of the AML/CFT Law, the notifier can withdraw the submitted notification on the website plg.ur.gov.lv.
22. If the notifier wishes to amend or withdraw the notification, regardless of whether the Register of Enterprises has already registered the warning regarding the legal arrangement, the notifier informs the Register of Enterprises by sending an email to plgzinotajs@ur.gov.lv.
VI Availability of registered warnings
23. In the view mode on the plg.ur.gov.lv website, a list of registered warnings is available, including information such as the date of inclusion of the registered warning. Additionally, the following information about the legal person or branch or representative office of a foreign entity for which the registered warning has been filed is registered:
23.1. name (firm);
23.2. registration number;
23.3. registered information (including previously registered (historical)) about the beneficial owner for whom the notification and registered warning have been filed:
23.3.1. name;
23.3.2. surname;
23.3.3. personal identification number or date of birth.
23.4. If the registered information about the beneficial owner is true but incomplete, the registered warning will reflect all the registered information about the beneficial owner and a confirmation that the registered information is incomplete.
24. Registered warnings can be downloaded in list format in .xls format, as well as individually in .pdf format.
25. Registered warnings for legal arrangements will be issued upon request until the technical solution is adapted.
VII Closing remarks
26. The Guidelines for reporting potentially false information about the beneficial owner to the Register of Enterprises, dated November 19th 2020, are deemed obsolete.
27. The updated version of the Guidelines for reporting potentially false information about the beneficial owner to the Register of Enterprises has been approved and will be effective from 30th of May 2024.
[1] With the role "Reporter Viewer", which provides access to the data of users of the reporting solution (except users with the roles "UR Administrator" and "UR Notary").
Drafted and approved by:
Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia
Approved: 30.05.2024.
Version: 3