Register of Beneficial Owners – Accelerated Alignment with EU Law
In our News No. 7/2025 we informed you that, according to case law, the Czech legislation on the register of beneficial owners (RBO) is in conflict with EU law. Among other things, this meant that registering persons, in particular business companies, did not have to worry about penalties or proceedings for irregularities in relation to the RBO.
This situation will now change.
Making the RBO Unavailable to the Public and Restarting Mandatory Entry
The Ministry of Justice has decided not to wait for legislators and for the long process of amending the RBO Act.
It has decided that it will make the RBO unavailable to the public on 17 December 2025. This means that the option of public viewing of ‘partial extracts’ from the RBO will end. The register will continue to be available only to certain public authorities, ‘obligated persons’ pursuant to the AML Act and possibly persons who can prove a legitimate interest in viewing it. After logging in through their data box, business companies will be able to obtain an extract of their own registered data.
In the Ministry of Justice’s opinion, this administrative and technical alteration will bring Czech practice into line with EU law. As a consequence, the duty to make entries in the RBO and update them when the registered data change will again apply to all registering persons, in particular business companies.
Renewed Threat of Penalties
After 17 December 2025, it will no longer be possible to rely on no penalties being imposed in the Czech Republic for missing or incorrect entries. There will also be a renewed threat of proceedings for discrepancies in a RBO entry. At the same time, private law penalties will also be “renewed”, in particular in the form of the invalidity of decisions of a general meeting or sole shareholder, as well as a prohibition against the payment of profits and the exercise of voting rights in a situation where an entry in the RBO has not been made.
In addition, further developments in RBO legislation are possible in the future, in connection with the EU’s new AML Regulation, which should replace existing national legislation in the middle of 2027.
Best regards,
Team WTS Alfery, Alfery Hrdina Advokáti