Transitional periods for entry in the transparency register expire

Despite its creation just over 5 years ago on October 1, 2017, the Transparency Register is often unknown or ignored by companies. This stepmotherly treatment of the Transparency Register can mainly be attributed to the fact that many companies were exempt from the obligation to register due to the notification fiction (Section 20 of the old version of the German Money Laundering Act [GWG]).

However, this fiction has come to an end since August 1, 2021, meaning that the registration obligation applies to all companies entered in a register, registered associations and foundations, trusts and comparable legal structures (hereinafter "legal entity") without exception.

If a legal entity fails to comply with its registration obligation or if the registration is incorrect, it may be subject to a fine. The violation of the registration obligation constitutes an administrative offense. Fines of up to 150,000 euros can be imposed for minor infringements and up to 1.0 million euros for systematic, serious or repeated infringements.

In order to implement the amendment to the law, the legislator has granted transitional periods of varying lengths for companies that benefited from the notification fiction until July 31, 2021 to make up for the entry in the transparency register. Until the end of the respective transitional period, the provisions on fines are or were only suspended for these companies.

The transitional periods are currently for

  • Stock corporation, SE, KGaA until 31.03.2023,

  • GmbH, cooperative, European cooperative, partnership until 30.06.2023, and

  • all other legal forms (such as KG, OHG) until 31.12.2023.

All other legal entities are subject to the provisions on fines and should already be correctly entered in the transparency register. With the expiry of the first transitional period on March 31, 2023, it is also to be expected that the Federal Office of Administration will carry out a systematic review of the accuracy and completeness of the transparency register.

Entrepreneurs and companies should therefore have it checked now whether they are entered in the Transparency Register and whether the entry corresponds to the facts.

Status: 13.06.2023