Private Register
The Curaçao UBO-register is a closed register. This means that the register is not open to the public or accessible to service providers such as lawyers, accountants or tax advisors. The UBO-register is only accessible to competent authorities such as the Public Prosecution Service, the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, the Financial Intelligence Unit Curaçao, and the Tax Inspectorate. By granting these authorities access to the UBO-register, it is intended that this will enable them to more effectively investigate money laundering and terrorist financing.
Determining the UBO
A beneficial owner is defined as a natural person who (in)directly holds at least 25% of the profit or voting rights, or the person who has actual control over an entity. If it can be demonstrated that the entity does not have a UBO, alternatively, a so-called pseudo-UBO should be registered. In practice, the directors of the entity will be registered as pseudo-UBO(s).
Registration and transitional law
The National Decree entered into force on June 8, 2024. The CoC will initially include the already available information of entities registered in the trade register in the UBO-register before January 1, 2025. This will probably be the information which is now included on extracts of the CoC for a particular entity. As the CoC in principle does not avail over UBO information, all entities shall be obliged to dispose information on their UBO(s) before July 1, 2025, to complete their registration. Newly established companies must register their UBOs in the UBO-register within two weeks after incorporation.
If you wish to receive more information about these policy changes, please feel free to contact Rootz Tax Lawyers at info@rootz.tax.
