WiEReG
Austrian Beneficial Owners Register Act
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Austrian act on the register of beneficial owners kept by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Legal entities report their beneficial owners via the Business Service Portal and review the information at least once a year. Documents can be filed as a compliance package.
In practice
In practice, the annual review is the moment to check the whole structure: shareholdings, fiduciary arrangements, the board of any private foundation and its beneficiaries. Reports can be made by the entity itself or by a professional representative such as a tax adviser or lawyer, who can also file a compliance package. The family office keeps the confirmation of each report and the register extract in the file of the entity.
Distinctions and common mistakes
Some legal entities are exempt from reporting because their beneficial owners are taken over automatically from other registers, but the exemption ends as soon as a person exercises control in another way. A common mistake is to rely on such an exemption although a fiduciary arrangement or voting agreement exists.
Relevant in: Austria
Related terms
- Beneficial owner under Austrian law
- The Austrian term for the beneficial owner under the Beneficial Owners Register Act (WiEReG) and the Financial Markets Anti-Money Laundering Act (FM-GwG).
- Compliance package (Austria)
- Documents filed in the Austrian register of beneficial owners that obliged entities such as banks can access.