KYC – registration of the beneficial owner
Preventing money laundering is an obligation we take very seriously. According to the German Money Laundering Act (§§ 10 ff GwG), credit and financial service institutions are obliged to identify and document beneficial owners. This is a necessary action to prevent money laundering. For this reason, we as a bank need to identify who is, resp. are the beneficial owner(s) of our contractual partner or their contributed assets.
In order to comply with this legal obligation, we ask you to complete and sign the "Declaration of Beneficial Ownership". You will find it below. Please note that the registration form is only available as an electronic version. Please fill it out on a PC and send it as a PDF file to the email address below. Thank you very much for your support.
Who is the beneficial owner?
Based on § 3 (1) GwG, the beneficial owner is the natural person having the ownership or control of the company, or initiates transactions, or establishes business relationships.
In the case of legal entities (with the exception of legally capable foundations), the beneficial owners include any natural person who directly or indirectly holds more than 25 percent of the capital shares, controls more than 25 percent of the voting rights (e.g. by voting shares) or exercises control in a comparable manner (1st level). If other legal entities have indirect or multi-level shareholdings (2nd level and subsequent) in your company, the beneficial owner(s) will only be determined if they hold more than 50 percent of the capital or exercise more than 50 percent of the voting rights.
In addition, on the basis of the 4th EU German Money Laundering Act (Section 3 (2) GwG), which came into force on 26 June 2017, the following legal requirements apply to the determination of the beneficial owner(s):
Even if no beneficial owner can be identified after comprehensive examinations have been carried out, the (fictitious) beneficial owner is the legal representative (e.g. board member, managing director), managing partner or partner of the contractual partner. Please always state a fictitious beneficial owner if there is no actual beneficial owner.
Which regulation applies to foundations, public institutions or companies listed on regulated markets?
In the case of foundations with legal capacity or comparable legal structures with which assets are administered or distributed on a fiduciary basis or the administration or distribution is commissioned by third parties, there are extended requirements for determining the beneficial owners in accordance with the GwG. If you belong to this group, we will be happy to provide you with the necessary information. Simply approach us.
Public authorities and institutes under public law as well as companies listed on regulated markets and their fully consolidated subsidiaries are excluded from the regulation.