19th October, 2021
Trustees should be aware of their obligations to register details of the beneficial ownership of their trust with the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts (CRBOT) on or before 23 October, 2021.
That deadline is fast approaching and trustees should be reviewing their internal registers and preparing to register if they have not already done so.
The obligation to register with CRBOT was introduced under the 4th and 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directives, which require each EU Member State to establish a Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts. Legislation was introduced on 23 April 2021 (Statutory Instrument 194 of 2021) to transpose those requirements into Irish law.
The purpose of this legislation is to provide transparency both in Ireland and the EU around who ultimately owns and controls Irish trusts. This will help to identify and tackle circumstances where trusts are being used to fund criminal and terrorist organisations. The legislation also assigned the responsibility for CRBOT to the Office of the Revenue Commissioners.
Trustees (or their agents, advisors or employees) can register for the CRBOT through the ‘Trust Register’ portal on Revenues Online Service (ROS). For individual trustees who do not have ROS access, the ‘Trust Register’ is available on MyAccount.
Revenue.ie also contains a series of Frequently Asked Questions which should assist trusts and their agents, advisors or employees to determine whether they are obliged to register and how they can meet their obligations. Further information can be accessed from the Revenue website.
Any queries regarding the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts (CRBOT) can be sent via MyEnquiries on ROS or MyAccount.
Note on Trusts from Holland Condon Solicitors of Castlecomer County Kilkenny
