Luxembourg has established a Register of Beneficial owners of fiduciary arrangements and Trusts

On 13 July 2020, the law implementing a register of Beneficial owners of Luxembourg fiduciary arrangements and Trusts was published.

The Law applies to fiducies and express trusts with a fiduciaire or trustee established in a third country if the fiduciaire or trustee enters into a business relationship in Luxembourg with a professional (e.g. credit institutions, professionals of the financial sector, notaries and real estate agents), or acquires real estate in Luxembourg. 

All legal arrangements having a structure or function similar to that of a fiducie or trust fall within the scope of the Law.

All trustees and fiduciaires covered by the Law must obtain and hold information regarding the identity of the beneficial owners of the trust or fiducie. The following are considered beneficial owners:

• the settlor(s);
• the trustee(s) or fiduciaire(s);
• the protector(s) (if any);
• the beneficiaries or class of beneficiaries; and
• any other natural person exercising effective control over the trust or fiducie.

In principle, all trusts and fiducies must be registered with this central register. In addition to the identification number of the trust or fiducie, information relating to each beneficial owner must be submitted to the register, such as the name and address for natural persons and the company name and identification number for legal entities. For each beneficial owner, the nature and extent of the interest effectively held must be described. Moreover, trusts and fiducies must disclose whether they control, directly or indirectly, any legal entity incorporated outside the EU.

The access to the register is as follows :

1. by any national authorities, in the exercise of their missions, without any restrictions
2. by any self-regulatory bodies, in the exercise of their supervisory role in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism
3. by professionals, in applying customer due diligence measures in accordance with the AML Law of 2004
4. by any natural or legal person who introduces a written request to access the information on a trust that holds or has a controlling interest in a company or other legal entity incorporated outside of the EU Member States, by direct or indirect ownership, in particular by means of bearer shares or by means of control by other means
5. by any natural or legal person who demonstrates a legitimate interest in preventing the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing

A number of administrative sanctions, including a fine of up to EUR 1,250,000, can be imposed for violation of the Act.