Strengthening Beneficial Ownership Register (PT0015)

What is the problem addressed by the commitment? The lack of transparency about the beneficial owner allows resources from corruption, bribery, money laundering, tax evasion, or even other criminal activities, such as terrorism and trafficking of drugs, and people to be hidden. Thus, there is a need to increase transparency around the ownership and control of companies, funds, or other legal entities. The Beneficial Owner Central Register has been implemented in Portugal since November 2019, and by January 2021, around 490,500 entities complied with this registration. There are some difficulties in obtaining declarations from entities required to do so and dysfunctionalities in the model for access to the information provided, which requires the adoption of international standards on "beneficial ownership transparency". Ignorance of the Beneficial Owner Central Register itself, its rationale, and objectives, as well as the registration procedures, pose a barrier to its widespread implementation.

What is the commitment? Contribute to the increased awareness and efficient implementation of the Beneficial Owner Central Register: ● Stimulating initiatives that increase awareness and notoriety of its existence; ● Disclosing the support in the realization of the same; ● Contributing to the identification of other public data sources to create intelligence and alarms; ● Adopting procedures to encourage greater transparency and public scrutiny.

How does the commitment contribute to solving the problem identified? The increased notoriety and efficacy of the Beneficial Owner Central Register, promotes transparency and public scrutiny, while enhancing legal compliance.

Why is the commitment relevant to the values of the OGP? The commitment contributes simultaneously to greater transparency and accountability, as it complies with the rights of access to information and allows direct scrutiny of beneficial owners.

Description of expected results ● Strengthening the alignment of the Beneficial Owner Central Register with international standards and good practices, namely the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard; ● Increased public awareness of the definition of beneficial ownership and its implications; ● Increased compliance of entities required to collect and record registration data with greater or full autonomy; ● Diversification of links to other public data sources, such as the Public Procurement Portal (Base.gov).

Macro activities Start date Completion date 1. Implementation of the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard, or similar, to ensure that access to the Beneficial Owner Central Register is in accordance with international best practices on access to information of a public nature and open data. September 2021 March 2022 2. Develop an awareness campaign aimed at obliged entities on the indispensability of registering their beneficial owners, informing them of the social usefulness of the Beneficial Owner Central Register and instructing them on the functioning of the registration mechanism so that all entities are able to do so as autonomously as possible. January 2022 June 2022 3. Establish the connection of the Beneficial Owner Central Register with other public data sources, such as the Public Procurement Portal (Base.gov). September 2022 July 2023

Action Plan Review

Commitment 7: Enhance transparency by strengthening the central register of beneficial owners

Results Report

Commitment 7. Enhance transparency by strengthening the Central Register of Beneficial Owners

Commitment 7 aimed to develop and strengthen the Portuguese Central Register of Beneficial Owners (RCBE) following international best practices. Civil society organizations proposed the commitment, and both the Institute of Registries and Notary (IRN) and TI Portugal were responsible for its implementation. It was built around three milestones: adopting the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard, raising awareness among private entities obliged to provide information to the register, and connecting the Central Register to the Public Procurement portal and other public data sources. ^[47]

The implementation of this commitment was heavily affected by the judgment made by CJEU ^[48] on 22 November 2022. Until then, Portugal had enabled public access following digital authentication, providing an indication of interest and access one legal entity at a time. This remained the same after the CJEU ruling, according to a representative from the Registry. ^[49] They said that any evolution of the register, such as adopting the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard and interconnecting it with other databases, was canceled and would be determined by the sixth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive currently under discussion and its transposition at a national level. ^[50]

The awareness-raising component of the commitment was implemented, with activities including making the RCBE guide language more accessible and increasing the topics in frequently asked questions available online. The IRN and TI Portugal jointly held several meetings and participated in workshops, which both entities considered was positive as it significantly contributed to information accessibility (for instance, by reviewing the manual on how to communicate to the public) and strengthened their collaboration on another project related to beneficial ownership transparency. ^[51] IRN also carried out publicity campaigns in the media, involving professional bodies (notaries, lawyers, and solicitors), competent authorities, and obliged entities. ^[52]

The fallout from the CJEU decision severely limited the completion of this commitment and its potential results. The response to the decision curbed the extent of activities conducted by IRN and TI Portugal since the other major objectives of the commitment could not be realized. The meetings between implementing entities also stopped after the CJEU ruling. However, the commitment was a positive example of collaboration between civil society and government that could be further encouraged.