Česky

Anticorruption barometer

Transparent and effective public investment — #116 Exemptions from the ownership structure disclosure rule

Exemption should be granted only to companies whose shares are traded on the stock market (stocks are trade too fast for anyone to be able to monitor the owners and it is not technically possible neither) as well as for banks and insurance companies (their ownership structure is controlled by Czech National Bank and all shareholder change is subject to its approval).

Justification and sources

Update history

date	reason	effectiveness	progression
10/2016 current	The exception from the requirement of disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners of companies for those owners which acquired their interest via stock markets (regulated markets) is not being dealt with either in the new Act on public procurement, which entered into force, nor in the proposal of law amending the Act on public registers, which is in the Lower Chamber of the Parliament. Nevertheless, the exception can be possibly applied if read in conjunction with the definition of the beneficial owner contained in the EU Anti-money Laundering Directive. The exception for banks and insurance companies whose ownership structures and ultimate beneficial owners are under surveillance of the Czech National Bank, is not foreseen.	Effectiveness 25%	Progression 90%	More
04/2016	The exception from the requirement of disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners of companies for those owners which acquired their interest via stock markets (regulated markets) is not being dealt with either in the new Act on public procurement, which was approved, nor in the proposal of law amending the Act on public registers, which is in the Lower Chamber of the Parliament. Nevertheless, the exception can be possibly applied if read in conjunction with the definition of the beneficial owner contained in the EU Anti-money Laundering Directive. The exception for banks and insurance companies whose ownership structures and ultimate beneficial owners are under surveillance of the Czech National Bank, is not foreseen.	Effectiveness 25%	Progression 80%	More
03/2016	The exception from the requirement of disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners of companies for those owners which acquired their interest via stock markets (regulated markets) is not being dealt with either in the proposal of Act on public procurement, which is in the Upper Chamber of the Parliament, nor in the proposal of law amending the Act on public registers, which is in the Lower Chamber of the Parliament. Nevertheless, the exception can be possibly applied if read in conjunction with the definition of the beneficial owner contained in the EU Anti-money Laundering Directive. The exception for banks and insurance companies whose ownership structures and ultimate beneficial owners are under surveillance of the Czech National Bank, is not foreseen.	Effectiveness 25%	Progression 70%	More
10/2015	The exception from the requirement of disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners of companies for those owners which acquired their interest via stock markets (regulated markets) is not being dealt with either in the proposal of Act on public procurement, which is in the Lower Chamber of the Parliament, nor in the proposal of law amending the Act on public registers, which is in the Government. Nevertheless, the exception can be practically applied if read in conjunction with the definition of the ultimate beneficial owner contained in the proposal of law amending the Act against money laundering. The exception for banks and insurance companies whose ownership structures and ultimate beneficial owners are under surveillance of the Czech National Bank, is not foreseen.	Effectiveness 50%	Progression 60%	More
08/2015	The exemption from the requirement of disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners of companies for those owners who acquired their ownership interest through stock exchanges (regulated markets) is not a part of the proposal amending the Act on public register nor in the proposal amending the Act against money laundering, however, it can be practically applied since it is foreseen by the fourth EU Anti-money laundering Directive and certain but unspecified exemptions are foreseen in the Action plan and Conception for fighting corruption.	Effectiveness 50%	Progression 30%	More