Register of Beneficial Owners (IT0059)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Italy Action Plan 2019-2021
Action Plan Cycle: 2019
Status: Active
Institutions
Lead Institution: Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) – Marco Maceroni
Support Institution(s): Ministry of Economics and Finance (MEF), Unioncamere
Policy Areas
Anti-Corruption, Beneficial Ownership, E-Government, Gender, Marginalized Communities, Private SectorIRM Review
IRM Report: Italy Design Report 2019-2021
Starred: Pending IRM Review
Early Results: Pending IRM Review
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information
Implementation i
Completion: Pending IRM Review
Description
Background and objectives
The fight against money laundering and international terrorism are common objectives for all the world’s democratic countries. Not only the EU, but also the OECD (hence the most industrialized free market economies ) have set rules to make the life of money launderers and terrorists difficult. In particular, the latest EU Anti Money Laundering Directive (5th AMLD) focused on the transparency of data regarding beneficial owners. Full visibility must be given to the physical person who is the final beneficiary of transactions carried out. This is a major evolution of the system towards greater transparency for the market (meaning either consumers, businesses, or the entire economic system wishing to do business on ethical terms both as an administration and fiscal, investigation and judicial authority) and, at the same time, for professionals (including banks, insurance companies, professions, etc.) that, according to legislation, have to identify the beneficial owner before the requested transaction is carried out. Within the Italian legislation a special section of the register of companies was created. The register will include all beneficial owners of limited liability companies that, by definition, are included in the register of companies. The same register will also include the beneficial owners of private legal persons (included in prefectural registers) and trusts.
The main innovation is that the section can be accessed by anyone. There are no more limitations (as envisaged in the 4th AMDL) for entities holding specific functions (i.e. Police forces, magistrates) or interests (professions, banks). Anyone will be able to access the section on the Register of companies, out of personal curiosity, to “become familiar” with their contractor, because they are obliged by law (professions), for investigation. Clearly, transparency runs parallel to market protection and data sharing. The only exception is trusts’ beneficial owners. The Directive foresees a more traditional level of knowledge: open for those who have to investigate and cooperate; otherwise, the request is limited to those who can prove a legally protected interest.
The regulation of this complex systems ensures that the market can make fully informed choices thanks to the transparency offered by open government.
According to legislation, a beneficial owner is one or more natural persons who are the final beneficiaries of the transaction. For the purpose of implementing the above register, the legislation defines the various categories of potential beneficial owners, following a scrolling criterion. Firstly, these are the natural persons who own shares of the share capital (directly or through subsidiary or trust companies) amounting to over 25%; if no one reaches this limit, the beneficial owner is the person who controls the majority of votes in the ordinary shareholders’ meeting; if this is not the case, the person who controls enough votes to have a dominating influence, based on the existence of specific contractual provisions. If none of these conditions exists, it is assumed that it is the CEO (absolute presumption).
The main objectives to be achieved include:
- uploading the many data on beneficial owners in the section. Data are very complex due to the heterogeneity of requirements (companies already included in the Register of companies; legal persons already included in Prefectural Registries, unrecorded trusts);
- preliminary stocking of data in the section; the regulation sets a deadline for the addressees of the legislation (firstly, limited liability companies and cooperatives) listed in the register of companies have to communicate the name of the beneficial owner using the special digital forms developed in accordance with art. 20 of Legislative Decree 231 (see above). These data are uploaded in the relevant section of the register and are the starting point of the register itself at time t0. That is the beginning of the operational phase of the section of the register of companies that will be implemented following the modalities mentioned below:
- maintaining data already included in the section, updating them every time ownership changes;
- ensuring that the action is proportioned to the purpose (maximum transparency without imposing too many bureaucratic burdens on the obliged entities).
Commitments
This action aims at providing transparency on beneficial owners, to counter money laundering and prevent corruption. This action is implemented through:
- the adoption of technical standards and implementing regulations;
- establishing the register and constantly updating it.
While recalling that both the 4th and 5th AMLDs focus on customer’s responsibility as a key factor to verify beneficial owners, necessarily the content of the section has to meet the same principles. This implies that the system needs to have an internal control (at least for companies) to ensure consistency with the information contained in the register of companies. This is true for the number or responses obtained (while feeding the information) compared to the group of potential beneficial owners (information known to the office); information on proprietary assets is then crosschecked (the register of companies at least for limited liability companies contains updated information on beneficial owners holding over 25% of shares; this is more complicated for joint stock companies where the list of shareholders is a picture taken when the balance sheet is produced – art.2435 of the Civil Code – a picture which is doomed to rapid obsolesce).
The latest census by Unioncamere (31 December 2018) shows that in Italy 22% of companies is run by women. This figure is slightly growing compared to the past but is very telling. We should consider that this percentage (in absolute terms 1,337.000 business women) includes all Italian companies of all types, and all product markets. During implementation, we will collect data on the presence of women among the beneficial owners in the Register.
It would be pretentious to believe that this action is part of a policy to support female entrepreneurship. However, it will be interesting to assess (when the uploading phase is over) a new gender indicator which can provide new evaluation tools for economic policy-making and for gender equality in the business sector.
Lead Administration
Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) – Marco Maceroni
Other administrations involved
• Ministry of Economics and Finance (MEF), Unioncamere Monitoring contact person from the Open Government Forum Transparency International – Italia – Davide Del Monte
IRM Midterm Status Summary
3. Register of beneficial owners
For details of this commitment, see Italy Design Report 2019-2021.Commitments
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Open Data
IT0057, 2019, Access to Information
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Transparency
IT0058, 2019, Access to Information
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Register of Beneficial Owners
IT0059, 2019, Anti-Corruption
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Support to Participation
IT0060, 2019, Capacity Building
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Regulation of Stakeholders
IT0061, 2019, E-Government
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Culture of Open Government
IT0062, 2019, E-Government
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Corruption Prevention
IT0063, 2019, Access to Information
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Simplification, Performance, and Equal Opportunities
IT0064, 2019, E-Government
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Digital Services
IT0065, 2019, Capacity Building
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Digital Citizenship and Skills
IT0066, 2019, Capacity Building
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Shared National Agenda for the Enhancement of Public Data
IT0023, 2016, Access to Information
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Opening Data on Mobility Through Opentrasporti
IT0024, 2016, Access to Information
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Istat Linked Open Data
IT0025, 2016, Access to Information
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Access and Reuse of Data from the Education System
IT0026, 2016, Access to Information
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OpenCUP Portal – National Registry of Public Investment Projects
IT0027, 2016, Access to Information
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Firenze Open Data
IT0028, 2016, Access to Information
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FOIA: Implementation and Monitoring
IT0029, 2016, Access to Information
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(More) Transparent Administration
IT0030, 2016, Capacity Building
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Social Networks for Transparency in PA
IT0031, 2016, Capacity Building
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Transparency of Data on Penitentiaries
IT0032, 2016, Capacity Building
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Consip Tenders’ Dashboard
IT0033, 2016, Anti-Corruption
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Transparent Milan: Public Registry of Elected and Appointed Representatives
IT0034, 2016, E-Government
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Open Administration Week
IT0035, 2016, Public Participation
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Strategy for Participation
IT0036, 2016, Capacity Building
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Public Works 2.0
IT0037, 2016, Capacity Building
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Rome Cooperates
IT0038, 2016, Access to Information
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Bologna Decides and Transforms
IT0039, 2016, Capacity Building
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Supporting and Protecting Whistleblowers
IT0040, 2016, Anti-Corruption
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Follow the UBB
IT0041, 2016, Access to Information
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Opencoesione Plus
IT0042, 2016, Access to Information
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OPENAID 2.0
IT0043, 2016, Access to Information
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Anticorruption Academy
IT0044, 2016, Anti-Corruption
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Network of Digital Animators
IT0045, 2016, E-Government
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Schoolkit: a Strategy to Value Best Practices in Education
IT0046, 2016, Capacity Building
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Monitor the Education Reform “La Buona Scuola”
IT0047, 2016, Capacity Building
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Transparency Registry of the Ministry for Economic Development
IT0048, 2016, Capacity Building
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Roma Capitale - Transparent Agenda
IT0049, 2016, Capacity Building
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Transparent Milan: Public Agenda of Meetings of Public Decision-Makers
IT0050, 2016, E-Government
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Italia.It
IT0051, 2016, Capacity Building
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Deployment of SPID to Support Innovation
IT0052, 2016, Access to Justice
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Observatory on Digital Rights
IT0053, 2016, Capacity Building
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Lecce - Start-Up in the City
IT0054, 2016, Capacity Building
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Promoting Digital Skills
IT0055, 2016, Capacity Building
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Becoming Digital Citizens
IT0056, 2016, Capacity Building
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Open public procurement data
IT0067, 2016, Access to Information
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Transparent regulations
IT0068, 2016, E-Government
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Digitalize administrative processes
IT0069, 2016, Access to Information
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Environmental evaluations portal
IT0070, 2016, E-Government
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Digital system for waste managment data
IT0071, 2016, E-Government
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Guidelines for Senate consultations
IT0072, 2016, Public Participation
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Participa!
IT0017, 2014, E-Government
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Equip Public Administrations (PA) for Participation
IT0018, 2014, Capacity Building
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TransPArenti+1
IT0019, 2014, Access to Information
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Open Data Portal
IT0020, 2014, Access to Information
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Follow the Money (Soldipubblici)
IT0021, 2014, Access to Information
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Digital Citizenship
IT0022, 2014, Capacity Building
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Transparency Portal
IT0001, 2012, E-Government
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Better Regulatory Framework Against Corruption Within the Public Administration
IT0002, 2012, Anti-Corruption
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Information System on the Status of Actions Falling Under the Unitary Regional Planning
IT0003, 2012, E-Government
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Cost Measurement and Reduction
IT0004, 2012, Public Participation
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How To... (Initiative to Promote Transparency on Public Authority’S Websites)
IT0005, 2012, E-Government
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Quantitative and Qualitative Development of Relations with Citizens and PA Stakeholders
IT0006, 2012, Legislation & Regulation
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Facilitate Publication and Reuse of Public Data
IT0007, 2012, Legislation & Regulation
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Enhancing the National Open Data Portal (Www.Dati.Gov.It)
IT0008, 2012, Access to Information
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Promoting National Open Data Standards
IT0009, 2012, Access to Information
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National Open Data Contest
IT0010, 2012, Access to Information
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Preparation of the National Plan for Smart Communities
IT0011, 2012, Subnational
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Public Consultation on New Policies and New Legislations
IT0012, 2012, Public Participation
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Enhancing Participation and Collaboration in Territorial Innovative Actions
IT0013, 2012, Public Participation
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Opening up of New Areas for Public Service Development and Delivery
IT0014, 2012,
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ICT Infrastructure Enhancement in Public Administrations
IT0015, 2012, E-Government
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Cloud Computing Strategic Plan, Creation of PA Data Centres Within a Public-Private Partnership
IT0016, 2012, E-Government