What is the procedure if the ownership structure of a public sector partner includes a public administration entity of another country? Who will be considered the ultimate beneficiary if this entity is the only entity that meets the criteria set out in Section 6a(1)(a) of the Act on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing?
We believe that in the case of a public administration entity, i.e. an entity that does not generate profit as such, it is not possible to identify any natural person who would meet the criteria set out in Section 6a(1)(a) of the Act on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. In the above case, the final beneficiaries should therefore be considered to be persons pursuant to Section 6a(2) of the Act on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, i.e. members of the senior management of the public sector partner.
OPINION OF THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC:
In this case, the ZRPVS does not recognize any exception or different regime for determining the ultimate beneficiary. Even in the case of entities that are “public administration entities of another state,” it is necessary to verify whether there are any natural persons within that entity who would enjoy a certain economic benefit through the participation of the public administration entity in the public sector partner. Of course, we assume that in most cases it will not be possible to identify a natural person under Section 6a of Act No. 297/2008 Coll. and therefore the top management of the public administration entity will be registered as the final beneficiary.
