As we had explained in previous articles, a mechanism has been created in Costa Rica with the intention of allowing tax fraud and money laundering in the country to be fought against. We are talking about the “Transparency and Final Beneficiary Registry Regulations” or known by its acronym in Spanish as RTBF. If you are interested in knowing what this is about, you can check our previous article: WHAT IS THE SHAREHOLDERS ‘REGISTER? and if you want to learn about the Update Final Beneficiaries Registry and registration procedure, you can consult our article: PROCEDURE FOR REGISTRATION IN THE SHAREHOLDERS ‘REGISTRY.

Following the course of events regarding the aforementioned procedure, the Ministry of Finance, jointly with the Costa Rican Institute on Drugs, issued the resolution DGT-ICD-R-74-2019, where there are some changes in the process, in relation to the Update Final Beneficiaries Registry.  Know the changes are those changes.

The most important change is in Article 1 of the original resolution (DGT-ICD-14-19), which specifies who is required to comply with the RTBF.

First Change

In first instance, it had been resolved that certain members of the companies or corporations should be responsible for carrying out the registration. For example, in the case of Corporations, it was established that the representative should be the person with the position of President; in the case of Limited Liability Companies, it must be the Manager.

Now, it was resolved that any Attorney General who, according to the bylaws of the company, has sufficient representation within the company, may carry out the procedures of the RTBF. In this way the process is made more flexible for corporations and their representatives.

Second Change

When the bylaws of the company establish that the representatives must act jointly, then the representative before the process must record in the agreement of use and the affidavit, that he/she has the authorization of the other members of the company in the moment of completing the registration. This prevents the completion of additional procedures with Notary Publics.

Third Change

Article 1 established that one of the obliged persons or entities to carry out the RTBF were the branches of Foreign Corporations, but due to its ambiguity it was decided to exchange it for Foreign Corporations with a national legal ID. This means that all those foreign companies that have managed the appointment of attorneys in the country are now also included in the group of companies required to register in the process.

If you are part of a corporation in Costa Rica remember that you have until January 31, 2020 to comply with the RTBF obligation without a penalty being applied to the Company. Avoid imposing high fines, and if in case you have any doubts, do not hesitate to contact us that we will gladly assist you in the process.