The last date on which German legal entities must submit details of their ultimate beneficial owners to the new national register is 30th October, somewhat later than the date set by the European Union.

The new German Money Laundering Act, the Geldwäschegesetz or GwG, came into force on 26 June and contains new provisions found in the fourth EU Money Laundering Directive. Germany's online Transparency Register, built to collect information about the beneficial owners of legal entities, became active on that date. The register is to be found at www.transparenzregister.de

Only the parties mentioned in s20 para 1 and s21 GwG - known as obligors - must send their reports in to the register. Corporate entities (the latter section) are all legal persons under civil law, such as firms with the suffix GmbH, AG and SE, plus partnerships listed in the commercial register, ending in GmbH & Co and KG. Section 20 para 1 covers trusts, unincorporated foundations with vested interests and other types of legal arrangements with a similar structure or function.

Beneficial ownership (ownership by a human being of more than 25% of the capital and/or voting shares or 'comparable control') information must include first name and surname, date of birth, place of birth and the nature and extent of his beneficial interest. Beneficial owners of foundations with legal capacity and other legal entities are natural persons who act as trustees, and/or who are members of the board of the foundation, and/or who are appointed as beneficiaries for whose benefit the trust assets are administered and/or who dominate the trust's assets in any other way. Entries on the register - whether accurate, misleading or non-existent - will have no effect on the legal situation of any entity.