UBO register for unitholders
As of 1 November 2022, the ‘Implementation Act on Registration of Ultimate Beneficial Owners of Trusts and Similar Legal Arrangements’ (hereinafter: Implementation Act) entered into force. The following is a brief explanation of implications that may be relevant to (prospective) unitholders of funds managed by Apple Tree Capital Partners. For more information and background, please refer to the website of the Chamber of Commerce which will manage the register and the webpage of the UBO register; for the full text of the law, please refer to the publication in the Staatsblad .
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Purpose and scope
The Implementation Act stems from European legislation and is intended to help prevent money laundering, corruption, fraud, tax evasion and terrorist financing.
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The Implementation Act covers ‘trusts and similar legal arrangements’. For the Netherlands, as far as ‘similar legal arrangements’ are concerned, these are joint account funds (FGR), a common legal form for investment funds. This means that the funds under management of Apple Tree Capital Partners are also subject to the Implementation Act.
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Registration
In essence, the Implementation Act means that ‘ultimate beneficiary owners’ (UBOs) of a fund must be registered in a central register. The register includes certain personal information of the UBOs. UBOs include a fund's unitholders. This way, the UBO register makes it clear who has a (financial) interest in a fund and thus contributes to making it more difficult for criminals to hide behind legal arrangements. Apple Tree Capital Partners, as manager, is responsible for timely and complete registration of the UBOs of the funds that it manages in the UBO register.
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The Chamber of Commerce will manage the UBO register on behalf of the commissioning ministries of Finance and Justice & Security. The entry into force of the Implementation Act means that UBOs must be registered with the Chamber of Commerce no later than three months after the effective date of the law, which is 31 January 2023.
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Registered data – public versus private
The UBO register is divided into a public and private section.
Public data
In addition to the name, country and year of birth, nationality, and country of residence of the UBO, the nature and extent of the economic interest is also revealed. A unitholder's beneficiary ownership is expressed in ranges of 0% – 25%, 25% – 50%, 50% – 75% en 75% – 100%.
This data will become available to everyone (for a fee), although it is not yet known when the register will be accessible (at least not immediately on 1 November 2022).
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Private data
The private section includes the UBOs' Citizen Service Number (BSN) or tax identification number, day, place and country of birth, e-mail address and residential address. Any documentation (such as the identity document of a UBO) that was used to verify which the data (public and private) is also available in this section.
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The private data can only be accessed by competent authorities, such as the Finance Intelligence Unit (‘FIU’), the Financial Markets Authority (‘AFM’) and the Financial Supervision Office (‘BFT’).
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Practical implications for (prospective) unitholders
Apple Tree Capital Partners, with the assistance of its administrator AssetCare, will ensure that the necessary data and documents of the UBOs are delivered to the UBO register in a timely manner. In any case, this means that all unitholders listed as such in Apple Tree Capital Partners' records in January 2023 will be registered over the course of January. Further information and/or documentation may be required to complete the registration; in that case, AssetCare will contact the unitholder. After registration, UBOs receive a formal notice by mail or e-mail.
After January 2023, new unitholders will be registered and, where relevant, periodic updates will be transmitted to the register for existing unitholders. This includes the deregistration from the register of unitholders who withdraw their money entirely from a fund and are therefore no longer UBOs. In the event of any material changes, UBOs will receive a confirmation.
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Should you have any questions or comments after reading this information, please feel free to contact us or AssetCare:
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Apple Tree Capital Partners: +31-680122641, of info@appletreecp.com.
AssetCare: +31-20 244 00 92, of info@assetcare.nl.
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Disclaimer
Although this publication has been compiled with great care, Apple Tree Capital Partners B.V. and its affiliates accept no liability for the consequences of using the information contained in this publication without their cooperation. The information offered is for general information and cannot be considered advice.