June 2019
UBO – Ultimate Beneficial Ownership
You, as a Belgian company/non-profit association, had until 30 September 2019 to register you ultimate beneficial owners (UBO’s) in the UBO register. There will be no further extensions, but the administration will apply a tolerance policy until 31 December 2019, during which time no sanctions will be applied. The UBO register is the electronic register managed by the FPS Finance. The UBOs of all companies, (international) non-profit organisations, foundations, trusts and legal entities governed by Belgian law, comparable to a trust or a fiduciary, must be entered there. The partnerships are also targeted. The aim of this is to make it clearer to the [...]
Second chance for entrepreneurs: new rules on corporate insolvency
On 6 June 2019, the European Council approved the Directive on preventive restructuring systems, debt cancellation and professional prohibitions, as well as measures to improve the efficiency of restructuring, insolvency and debt cancellation proceedings. The general objective of the Directive is to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market and to remove obstacles to the exercise of fundamental freedoms, such as the free movement of capital and the freedom of establishment, resulting from differences between Member States in restructuring and insolvency regimes. In addition, the objective is also to promote a "rescue culture" within the European Union based on the principle of [...]
May 2019
Creation of an electronic database accessible to the public on judgments and decisions
The Law amending the Code of Criminal Investigation and the Judicial Code with regard to the publication of judgments and rulings was published on 16 May 2019. The main innovation: the creation of an electronic database of judgments and court decisions accessible to the public. Namely that the data allowing the identification of the parties involved in the case will of course be scrupulously omitted. However, the Law of 5 May 2019 only enters into force on a date to be determined by the King and no later than 1 September 2020. The modalities of this database will also have to be defined by [...]