At the period of 1 February 2019 and until 31 May 2019, the commercial companies and the non-profit legal entities (Associations, Foundations) were obliged to file, under their registration in the Commercial Register and the register of the non-profit legal entities in Bulgaria, data regarding their ultimate (actual) owners according to the requirements of the Law for the Measures against Money Laundering. Non-profit legal entities like Associations and Foundations, re-registered after January 31, 2019 in the Registry Agency, declare data on their actual owners within 4 months as of the re-registration.
Nowadays, a newly incorporated company has 7 days to announce its beneficial owner.
Companies obliged to apply are those in which: 1. A partner is another legal entity whose beneficial owners are natural persons, with at least 25 percent (25%) participation, or 2. When another legal entity executes control over the company. Control exists if this other legal entity holds more than half of the votes in the General Assembly or has the right to appoint more than half of the members of the management body.
There is no obligation to apply for ultimate owners for sole owner companies, with the sole owner of the capital an individual, as evidenced by the company’s registration already filed and visible in the Register.
The application shall be filed in the Commercial Register and register of the non-profit legal entities, electronically or in paper form. The application may be filed by the representative of the Company or an explicitly authorised Attorney-at-law. The data for the ultimate owners are entered on the basis of a notarised declaration from the representatives of the Company and the non-profit legal entities, according to a template model in accordance with Appendix No. 3 to Art. 38 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Measures against Money Laundering Act.
When the Company does not have a physical person holding at least 25% (twenty-five percent) of the capital and does not fulfil the condition of the legal definition of an ultimate owner, a contact person (individual) with permanent residence on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria should be registered, who gives explicit consent, with another notarised declaration, to be registered as such and to be responsible for the Company in front of the competent control authorities. The application for that filing is created under form B7.
The declaration has public character. If the legal entity has an obligation by law to file a declaration of ultimate owner(s) but has not done so within the term given, there is a penalty of between BGN 1,000 and BGN 10,000, and the penalty may be calculated every month until the completion of this obligation.