Bill calls for registration of businesses' actual owners, beneficiaries
With its new bill, Estonia's Ministry of Finance plans on getting companies' hidden owners and actual beneficiaries registered.
The bill, which has been sent on a coordination round, is derived from an EU directive which must be adopted by June this year, writes daily Äripäev (link in Estonian).
According to the paper's information, there is no solution yet regarding how to ensure the disclosure of information, however they hope that this will help prevent European-wide money-laundering and expose the financing of terrorists as quickly as possible.
The Ministry of Finance's Entrepreneurship and Accounting Policy Department adviser Sören Meius explained that banks, for example, must currently know its clients' actual beneficiaries.
The new bill, however, would expand the pool of liable entities and establish a place where this data can be verified.
Editor: Aili Vahtla