From April 2021, Designated persons as defined in the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010must perform a search of the Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO) of all new clients prior to establishing a business relationship and download the relevant RBO report. This check aims to ascertain whom the entity has listed as its beneficial owners.

Whilst performing this check, a designated person cannot solely rely on the RBO report for the purposes of ascertaining the beneficial ownership in an entity. If, following a review of the RBO and the information the entity must hold in its internal register of beneficial ownership, the designated person identifies a discrepancy in beneficial ownership, they shall notify the Registrar in a timely manner of the nature of this discrepancy in accordance with Regulation 20(3)(b) of SI 110/2019.

In order to do this a designated person must appoint an RBO Liaison Officer(s) who will be responsible for coordinating and authenticating reports of discrepancies to the Registrar on behalf of the ‘designated person’ and liaising with the RBO on day-to-day operational matters.

What is a Discrepancy/Discrepancy notice?

A discrepancy notice is a formal notification to the RBO of a discrepancy found between the information held on the RBO and other information available to the designated person or competent authority/relevant person.

What is a ‘designated person’?

A ‘designated person’ is defined by S. 25, Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, as amended.Only a ‘designated person’ as defined in Section 25, 2010 Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act, as amended, is entitled to report a discrepancy to the Registrar.

For more detail on designated persons please see Section 25 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts 2010 to 2021.

What is the role of an RBO Liaison Officer?

The RBO Liaison Officer/Deputy Liaison Officer(s) for the “designated person” is responsible for:

1. coordinating and authenticating reports of discrepancies and non-compliance to the Registrar on behalf of the abovenamed “designated person” as required by Regulation 20(3), SI 110/2019, and
2. liaising with the RBO on behalf of the abovenamed “designated person” on day-to-day operational matters.

Steps to Appoint RBO Liaison Officer

1. Request BEN3A Form from RBO by emailing [email protected]
2. Complete BEN3A Form

• This must be signed by a person who can authorise the RBO Liaison Officer e.g. MLRO, Practice Partner, Director of the Company etc

1. PDF the Completed form and send it back to [email protected] and ensure the authoring person is CC 
2. Upon receipt of the completed BEN3A, the RBO will provide the appointed RBO Liaison Officer(s) with a DN2 form and details on how to upload the DN2 to the RBO Sharefile Account.

• Guidance on the use of the Sharefile Account will be supplied by the RBO.

Once in place, the RBO Liaison Officer can then upload the DN2 to the ‘designated person’s secure folder in the RBO Sharefile Account.

What happens once I file a Discrepancy report?

For the Discrepancy report, DN2, you will be notified of the outcome after the RBO has concluded its investigations.

Where a discrepancy report has been filed by a ‘designated person’, the Registrar will serve a notice on the relevant entity concerned which –

(i) states that the foregoing notice has been received, and

(ii) specifies the particulars as respects which the foregoing discrepancy exists, and requests the relevant entity to deliver to the Registrar, within a period specified in the notice and in such manner as the Registrar determines –

1. a submission as to why the relevant entity considers the opinion of the designated person concerned not to be well-founded, or

1. if the relevant entity considers the opinion of the designated person concerned to be well founded, such amended particulars (for entry in the central register) as are required where the relevant entity is satisfied that the delivery of such is the appropriate means by which the discrepancy can be resolved,

and such a request shall be complied with by the relevant entity accordingly.

Will the entity be aware I filed a DN2?

The RBO will not disclose the identity of the person/person(s) who reports a non -compliance.

Do I have to file if there is non-compliance?

Having searched the beneficial ownership details and the person searching has found no details have been filed they can notify the Registrar that the entity in question appears to have failed to file with the RBO in accordance with Regulations 20 and 21 of SI 110/2019.

NCNs can be found on the RBO portal and should be completed and emailed to RBO.3

The RBO Liaison officer is not required to submit the NCN.

What happens once I file a Non-Compliance report?

For the Non-Compliance report, NCN you will be notified of the outcome after the RBO has concluded its investigations.

The RBO will not disclose the identity of the person/person(s) who reports a discrepancy or a non – compliance notice.

If you have any questions, or if you require any assistance, please get in touch with the OmniProCorporate Consultants Team on 053 910 0000.

The contents of this article are meant as a guide only and are not a substitute for professional advice. The authors accept no responsibility for any action taken, or refrained from, as a result of the material contained in this document. Specific advice should be obtained before acting or refraining from acting, in connection with the matters dealt with in this article.