Registration obligation in the transparency register in Germany

The transparency register in Germany was created in 2017 through the German Money Laundering Act (GwG). The purpose of this register is to record availably to vision the actual beneficial owners of a company (so-called legal entities subject to transparency in accordance with art. 20, 21 GwG) or an organization, which simply means that everyone can inspect this register.
The previous regulation indicated that entries into the transparency register are only necessary if the information on the beneficial owner did not result from existing, electronically accessible entries in other registers, such as the trade register or the register of associations. This notification feature no longer exists and the transparency register becomes a full register. The entry of the beneficial owner in the transparency register is now absolutely required.

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Unless the companies have already been obliged to be entered in the transparency register for other reasons, this information must now be provided for

1. stock corporations, SE and limited partnerships based on stocks - until 31. March 2022
2. Limited Liability Companies, Cooperatives and European Cooperatives - by 30. June 2022
3. in all other cases - by 31. December 2022

respectively.
The information that is required to be reported is listed in art. 19 (1) of the GwG. The entry of beneficial owners in the transparency register is only possible via the register's website and is subject to an annual fee. Non-profit organizations that are recognized by the German tax office to be exempt from tax can apply for a fee exemption in accordance with art. 24 of the GwG in conjunction with the Transparency Register Fee Ordinance (TrGebV).

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