WiEReG Compliance

In an increasingly regulated business world, the identification and reporting of beneficial owners is far more than a formal obligation. The Beneficial Owners Register Act (WiEReG) confronts companies with complex challenges in which attention to detail and up-to-date legal knowledge decide the difference between liability and compliance.

As a law firm with many years of expertise in WiEReG compliance, we support companies, private foundations and international groups in meeting their transparency obligations reliably and efficiently. Correctly determining the beneficial owners often requires an expert look into nested shareholding structures, some of which are located abroad. Our advice covers the entire spectrum of registration obligations:

Structural analysis & identification: Precise determination of beneficial owners in accordance with the 4th and 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directives – including in complex trust arrangements, foundations or international holding structures.
Reporting & monitoring: Filing of initial and change reports as well as the annual review of the data to avoid automatic penalties imposed by the register authority.
Compliance management: Establishing internal processes to make the statutory duty of care for obtaining and retaining documents audit-proof.

The WiEReG is not a static law. Through the ongoing case law of the ECJ and the interconnection of the European registers (BORIS), the requirements for disclosure and data protection are constantly changing. Incorrect or omitted reports not only lead to substantial fines, but can also damage a company’s reputation and its ability to act vis-à-vis banks.