No more hiding behind his company. A new European regulation aimed at combating
money laundering obliges all companies located in Belgium to disclose to the tax authorities the identity (surname, first name, date
birth, nationality, percentage of ownership in the company) of their "final beneficiaries",
that is, people who hold at least 25% of the shares. And that, by registering on the famous
new UBO register (for ultimate beneficial owners, in English). However, according to figures from the FPS Finances,
barely 142,293 companies and associations (out of nearly 680,000, according to estimates by the Ministry of
Finances, about 20%) have fulfilled their duty. More than 500,000 of them are therefore still not
in order. The registration deadline has been set for September 30. Companies that will not be in good standing
risk a fine of between 250 and 50,000 euros.