The transparency register in the 4th AML directive in Italy

The current legal basis of the Italian Transparency Register is Legislative Decree 231/2007 and subsequent amendments and integrations implementing EU Money Laundering Directives ("Italian Decree").

The Directive was implemented by Legislative Decree 125/2019 (which amended and integrated the Italian Decree)

Yes.

Pursuant to article 22 of the Italian Decree.

Shareholders of a legal entity are requested to provide the relevant information on the beneficial owner proactively or upon specific request of any director of the company (unless such information is available from certain public records or from the company’s records).

UBOs only have to provide information upon request.

Yes.

Pursuant to article 22 of the Italian Decree, each legal entity is responsible for identifying its beneficial owners.

The legal entity.

5. Are there exemptions to the filing obligation?

Yes.

Pursuant to article 21 of the Italian Decree, only the following legal entities have an obligation to notify:

  1. Undertakings having legal personality which are required to be recorded in the Registry of Companies;
  2. Private legal entities which are required to be recorded in the Registry of Private Legal Entities;
  3. Trusts that produce legal effects that are relevant for tax purposes as well as similar legal arrangements ("istituti giuridici affini") established or resident on the territory of the Republic of Italy.

Entities other than the ones listed above are not obliged to file with the register

6. What is the due date for the initial filing? Is there an obligation to update the filing?

No deadline yet for legal entities to provide information regarding their beneficial owners to the respective database. The specific national decree concerning modalities and terms of communication to the competent Registry of Companies has yet to be issued by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development.

7. What are the sanctions in case of a breach of the transparency obligation?

Pursuant to article 21 of the Italian Decree, failure to provide the information is punished with a fine of between EUR 103.00 and EUR 1,032.00.

8. Is the Transparency Register established as a separate register or part of an existing one?

Pursuant to article 21 of the Italian Decree, the respective legal entity must  communicate and register its beneficial owners with the Italian Registry of Companies. The information is registered in a specific section of the Registry of Companies and the filing may only be made electronically.

9. Notable amendments (including through the Directive)

Improving transparency on the real owners of:

  • undertakings and private legal entities: access to the competent register is now allowed to the general public;
  • trusts and similar legal arrangements: access to the competent register is now allowed to private persons who have a legally protected interest that justifies such access. 

Under exceptional circumstances, on a case-by-case basis and after a previous evaluation, access may be denied if it exposes the UBO to a disproportionate risk of fraud, kidnapping, blackmail, extortion, harassment, violence, or intimidation or where the UBO is legally incapable or a minor.