The Transparent Shareholder -‒ A Register of Beneficial Owners (Beneficial Owners Register Act / BORA)
On 18 October 2017, an “early bird” event was held at the premises of Binder Grösswang in Vienna. The topic was "Die gläsernen Gesellschafter ‒ Ein Register für wirtschaftliche Eigentümer (WiEReG 2017)" (The Transparent Shareholder ‒ A Register of Beneficial Owners [Beneficial Owners Register Act, BORA]).
The Beneficial Owners Register Act (BORA/WiEReG 2017) will come into force on 15 January 2018. In accordance with EU requirements, it obligates all legal entities in Austria to identify their beneficial owners and enter this information in a “transparency register” created especially for this purpose. Violations will be sanctioned with fines. Entries have to be made for the first time by 1 June 2018. However, timely preparation is advisable, particularly for groups.
At this “early bird” event, Binder Grösswang partners Johannes Barbist and Gottfried Gassner present a compact overview of the new law, in particular the obligations that concern all Austrian companies, cooperatives, associations, foundations, etc., including examples of cases with complex corporate structures.