The amendments to the Measures Against Money Laundering Act (ЗМИП), published in Issue 37 of 7 May 2019 of the Official Journal, introduced important changes affecting the obligation to submit the Declaration under Article 63(4) of the ЗМИП for beneficial owners. The changes also affect the deadlines for drawing up new or updated Internal Rules for the control and prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Expansion of the scope of persons exempt from submitting a declaration

The new wording of Article 63(5) of the ЗМИП expands the scope of legal entities and other legal arrangements which will not be obliged to submit a declaration of beneficial owners. The law provides that, if the partners or sole owners of the capital of a given company are legal entities, the company will not submit a declaration under Article 63(4) provided that the natural persons who are its beneficial owners are already entered in the files of the legal entities participating in the chain of ownership that are established in Bulgaria.

If, however, the chain of ownership includes legal entities or legal arrangements that are not established on the territory of Bulgaria, a declaration of beneficial owner under Article 63(4) of the ЗМИП must, without exception, be submitted.

Extended deadline for drawing up and updating the internal rules

The amendments to § 6 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the ЗМИП extend the deadline for drawing up new internal rules or bringing existing ones into compliance with the requirements of the law. Persons for whom the obligation to apply measures against money laundering arose before the entry into force of the new ЗМИП must update their internal rules within 6 months of the publication of the results of the national risk assessment on the website of the State Agency „National Security“ (ДАНС).

The same deadline applies to persons for whom an obligation to apply measures against money laundering arises under the new ЗМИП.

Change in the procedure for approving the internal rules

Under the new amendments, the requirement for the internal rules to be sent to ДАНС for approval is abolished. This significantly simplifies the process of implementing internal rules for the control and prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Should you require assistance with drawing up and submitting the declaration under Article 63(4) of the ЗМИП, please contact us on tel.: 0887550706, e-mail: [email protected]