The Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic sets the standard of professional care for verifying the identity of the ultimate beneficiary in the RPVS. The opinion explains why a public sector partner’s affidavit is not sufficient on its own and why the authorized person must exercise the same level of due diligence as during the initial registration.
Is it sufficient for the authorized person to verify that there have been no changes to the data recorded in the register and, if no changes have occurred, to have this confirmed by a sworn statement from the public sector partner? In that case, we believe it is not necessary to require additional documents to verify the identity of the ultimate beneficial owner (i.e., for example, to request the current version of the articles of association or the memorandum of association again, provided that no changes have been made to the articles of association or the memorandum of association).
OPINION OF THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC:
The procedure for verifying the identification of the ultimate beneficial owner is a matter for the authorized person. In our opinion, however, it is not sufficient—particularly in light of the duty to act with professional care—for the authorized person, in order to demonstrate that the information regarding the registered beneficial owner has not changed, by merely requesting a simple affidavit from the public sector partner. In other words, if verification events occur pursuant to Section 11(2) of the ZRPVS, the authorized person must exercise the same degree of professional care when verifying the identification as was exercised during the initial registration of the public sector partner. Otherwise, it may happen that, in proceedings concerning a substantiated complaint, the burden of proof cannot be met by acting with professional care.
