Unless an upcoming hearing in Parliament fails against all expectations, the new online Register of Ownership will be open for registrations as per 15 December 2014. This means that both new and old A/S, ApS, P/S and IVS companies are obliged to register all shareholders of the company who own 5% or more of the shares. Furthermore, any pledges on more than 5% of the company’s shares must also be registered.
The Register of Ownership will be open for the public as per 15 June 2015.
Currently, these provisions do not apply to K/S companies, but this may change at a later date.
Apart from the above, owners of bearer shares who own less than 5% of the capital or voting rights in non-listed companies must register their ownership in a separate part of the Register of Ownership which is not open to the public.
The Register of Ownership is established as a consequence of the Companies’ Act adopted in May 2009 and the purpose is to create more transparency and openness about the ownership of Danish companies.
However, the public Register of Ownership must not be confused with the register of shareholders which the company is still obliged to keep for all shareholders.
For companies established before 14 December 2014 the deadline for carrying out registrations is 15 June 2015. However, changes to ownership or pledges that occur after 14 December 2014 must be registered within 2 weeks.
Companies established on 15 December 2014 or later must register ownership to their shares within 2 weeks.
Any breaches of the duty to register shareholder and any pledges are punishable by a fine.
If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call.
You are most welcome to contact us for any further queries and you may contact Jacob Christian Dyrvang, assistant attorney at law, by e-mail jcd@lundelmersandager.dk.