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Denmark’s National Central Beneficial Ownership Register: A Model of Transparency and Accuracy

In 2016, Denmark took a significant step towards promoting transparency and combatting financial crimes by introducing its national central beneficial ownership register. This register has been operational since May 23, 2017, and offers users the ability to search for companies’ ultimate beneficiaries.

Accessing the Register

The register is free of charge and can be accessed online through the Central Business Register (CVR) website at http://www.CVR.dk.

Requirements for Corporate Entities

To ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the information held in the register, corporate and legal entities are obliged to:

• Obtain and hold adequate, accurate, and current information on their beneficial owners.
• Keep records of attempts to identify beneficial owners for five years after the ownership ended or identification was attempted. These records can be accessed by authorities such as:
  • Danish Business Authority
  • SPSEIC (Danish Financial Intelligence Unit)
  • Danish Tax Agency

Consequences of Non-Compliance

Failure to comply with these requirements can result in severe sanctions, including:

• Fines
• Striking off the company’s registration
• Compulsory dissolution

Implementation and Relevance

The act on registration of beneficial ownership is implemented through Article 30 of the 4th Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive. The relevant national law can be found at https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2016/262.

Denmark’s transparent and accessible register has set a high standard for other countries to follow in promoting good governance and combating financial crimes.