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The National Directorate of Registries of the Supreme Court of Justice informed through Circular No. 008-2021, that as of April 19, 2021, the implementation of the Registry of Beneficial Owners of Commercial Companies and the cycle for the declaration and updating of the information of the beneficial owner of the companies will begin.

Pursuant to the Circular, the filing and updating cycles will be carried out in alphabetical order according to the initial letter of the company’s name and/or corporate name, as follows:

• Companies incorporated after April 19, 2021: 30 calendar days.
• From letter A through H from April 19, 2021 to October 18, 2021.
• From letter I to Z from October 19, 2021 to April 18, 2022.

To comply with the new obligations derived from the Beneficial Ownership Register, corporations must:

1. Update the basic information in the Commercial Registry.
2. Designate a natural person, national or resident in Nicaragua, to be in charge of registering the beneficial owner in case the declaration cannot be made by the Legal Representative. The power of attorney must be registered.
3. Create user account (Business Profile) and request login credentials for the Beneficial Ownership Registry.
4. Declare the information of the Final Beneficiary within the established deadline according to the established criteria, completely in the respective form (in the same act).
5. Correctly identify the Final Beneficiary.
6. Attach supporting documents to the beneficial owner’s declaration.
7. Provide the information required by the competent authorities in due time.
8. Retain for a period of not less than 5 years, documents, files and correspondence that adequately accredit or identify the final beneficiaries.
9. Companies that are dissolved and liquidated must also keep their documentation for the same period.
10. Update the information of the beneficial owner when there is any change, including the change of the person designated to make the declaration.

The updating of the information in accordance with the Regulation for the Operation of the Beneficial Owner Registry must be carried out every 12 calendar months on an ordinary basis, and on an extraordinary basis when any change occurs that modifies or amends the articles of incorporation of the company, affecting the basic information and the determination and identification of the beneficial owner.

This updating and declaration process is mandatory, and all companies must comply with it since failure to comply may subject them to administrative sanctions.

Penalties may range from the publication of the non-compliance, fines from one hundred to one thousand five hundred fine units up to the immobilization of the commercial register traffic.

Dania Navarrete Chávez
Senior Associate
García & Bodán
Nicaragua