Article 17 of the Law on the Centralized Records of Beneficial Owners (The Law) stipulates that all registered entities, established until 31st December 2018, must record the beneficial owners data in the Central Record of Beneficial Owners at the latest until 31st January 2019.

These subjects, as well as the legal entities established after 31st December 2018, on the basis of Articles of the Law have the obligation to record stated changes, within 15 days from the day of the founding or changes of the ownership structure, organ members and other changes on which basis the conditions of the beneficial owner of the registered subject can be estimated.

What are the consequences of failing to record beneficial owner of a legal entity in Serbia?

The consequences of failing to fulfill the obligation of recording are stipulated by Article 13 and the Article 14 of The Law.

In accordance to the Article 13 of the Law, who, in order to conceal the beneficial owner of a legal entity in Serbia, does not enter into the Central Registry information about the beneficial owner of the registered entity, submits false information about the beneficial owner of the registered entity as true, change or delete the true information about the beneficial owner of the registered entity, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of time between three months and five years.

As an violation, Article 14 stipulates non-registration of data on the beneficial owner within 15 days from the date of establishment or change of ownership structure, members of the bodies of the registered entity and other changes on the basis of which the conditions for acquiring the property of the beneficial owner of the registered entity and non-possession and the non-preservation of relevant, accurate and up-to-date information and documents on the basis of which the beneficial owner of the registered entity is registered.

Fines for not fulfilling the obligation

For the stated violations, a registered entity shall be fined – a legal entity with a fine of 500.000,00 to 2 million dinars, and a responsible person in legal entity with a fine of 50,000 to 150,000 dinars.

Therefore, if you want to register a company in Serbia bear in mind that you will have these obligations towards Serbian Business Registers Agency. Also, if you already have ownership in Serbian legal entity or you are beneficial owner of a legal entity in Serbia, and you did not fulfill this obligation feel free to contact us and ask for advice or our assistance.