If you are setting up a limited liability company or a joint stock company, you must not forget the obligation to register in the register of beneficial owners (the register of beneficial owners). This register of beneficial owners is used to establish who is the beneficial owner or controlling person of the company. The registration can be automatic, but often has to be done manually – otherwise there are heavy fines.
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The Register of Beneficial Owners (sometimes referred to as the Register of Beneficial Owners or Register of Beneficial Owners) is an information system that collects data on the beneficial owners of legal entities and trusts. It is regulated in detail by the Law on the Registration of Beneficial Owners and is administered by the Ministry of Justice.
The Register of Beneficial Owners was created following the need to introduce new legislation against money laundering and terrorist financing(AML Law), and its main objective is to increase transparency of ownership structures of legal entities.
We have discussedthe AML law in detail in another article. Read on to find out what your obligations are under it.
The Beneficial Owners Registration Act sets out the rules and obligations regarding the keeping of records of natural persons who have effective control over legal persons and trusts. It regulates the conditions under which beneficial owners are to be registered, the manner in which the records are to be kept, access to such data and the protection of the privacy of registered persons.
The law also specifies who is obliged to enter data in the register, what information is recorded and sets out responsibility for its accuracy. It also regulates the possibilities of access to the data in the register and sets out possible sanctions for breach of the obligations set out.
In the following chapters we will look at the individual rules in detail:
First, let’s answer the question – who is the beneficial owner? A beneficial owner (or beneficial owner) is a natural person who has effective influence or control over a legal entity. According to the Beneficial Owners Act, this person must be registered in the list of beneficial owners maintained by the state.
This is often quite straightforward (e.g. when a company has only one owner). In many cases, however, multiple owners are involved in ownership and decision-making.
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In the case of a corporation, the beneficial owner is the person who:
Decisive influence in this case is understood as the ability to impose one’s will in the decision-making of the highest body of the business corporation. Decisive influence is also exercised by the person who can appoint or remove a majority of the members of the statutory body of the business corporation. It does not matter whether the influence is exercised directly or through an intermediary.
If, on the basis of this information, the beneficial owner cannot be determined, then all persons in the top management of the business corporation shall be deemed to be the beneficial owner.
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In the case of other types of corporations that are not business corporations (e.g., various associations, unit owners’ associations, trade unions, churches, etc.) and housing and social cooperatives, all persons who are members of the statutory body are deemed to be the beneficial owner.
In the case of an institute, charitable company, trust or legal arrangement, the beneficial owner is the person who has decisive influence within the organisation. That is, one who can influence the decision-making of the governing body.
The beneficial owner is also always those persons who are:
It is also determined whether there is a direct or indirect beneficial owner. A direct beneficial owner is a person who directly owns a business interest which gives him or her control. An indirect owner is a person who owns the share indirectly, i.e. through another legal person or legal arrangement.
How do corporate taxes work? How much is VAT for companies and how do they file their tax returns? Find out in the next article.
Most legal entities are required to register with the Register of Beneficial Owners. This registration in the Register of Beneficial Owners must be made immediately after the company is formed or after any change of beneficial owner. In addition, any legal arrangement with a certain relationship to the Czech Republic – for example, trusts or foreign structures that have certain legal or economic ties here – must be registered.
Some organisations do not have a beneficial owner and are therefore not entered in the register of beneficial owners. This includes various state organisations such as educational establishments, public research institutions, state-owned enterprises, etc.
The following information is entered in the register of beneficial owners:
If it is a company with a simple organisational structure and a clearly defined beneficial owner, then there will most likely be an automatic transcription from other registers (e.g. the commercial register). In this case, you do not need to do anything but check the entry in the register of beneficial owners.
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Entry in the register of beneficial owners can be made through a court or notary. However, if the company has a more complex organisational structure and management, then you will have to deal with the registration yourself, without undue delay after the occurrence of a decisive fact (e.g. after the establishment of the company or a change of beneficial owner). After registration, you can obtain a statement of beneficial owners, which serves as an official confirmation of the data entered in the register.
For more complex ownership structures, the biggest problem is not the filing itself, but the correct determination of who should be registered as the beneficial owner in the first place and how to describe the structure of the relationship. In such a situation, it makes sense to have a solicitor prepare the registration or review it. We can help you evaluate the ownership and control ties, review the supporting documents, and suggest a course of action to the notary or court so that the registration complies with current law.
The application for registration of beneficial owners must be submitted electronically. On the website of the Ministry of Justice, you can find a proposal form which you fill in, download in pdf format and send via data box or email with electronic signature to the address of the competent court (regional court). The form must also be accompanied by evidence of the beneficial owner. This may be, for example, an extract from the commercial register, a list of shareholders or the instrument of incorporation.
An exception in this case is made for non-business corporations (e.g. SVJ or cooperative) and legal arrangements, which may submit the application in documentary form with a certified signature.
You will pay a court fee for a petition for registration in the Register of Beneficial Owners, the amount of which depends on the type of legal entity involved:
In most cases, registration by the court is unnecessarily complicated and expensive, and therefore registration by a notary public is preferable. In specific cases, however, registration by the court is necessary. Such a situation may be that you want to make the recorded information about the beneficial owners inaccessible. This can be requested if the beneficial owner is not fully competent (e.g. because the beneficial owner is a minor).
As we have already announced, it is probably more worthwhile to have the registration carried out by a notary. You can choose any notary to whom you submit your application for registration. The notary will then issue a certificate for the registration, which will then be carried out remotely (no need to fill in a proposal form beforehand).
The notary has 3 days to carry out the registration. The price consists of the notarial tariff for registration, which is uniformly set at CZK 500, and the fee for the certificate for registration, which varies depending on the type of organisation:
Inconsistencies may occur in the beneficial owner register due to the entry of incorrect or incomplete information about the beneficial owner. The discrepancy may be detected, for example, by a court, public authorities, notary or other authorised person.
Mr. Novák contacted us shortly after his s.r.o. expanded its ownership structure to include a foreign holding. The company considered that the entry in the register of beneficial owners remained correct because the changes were formally reflected in the commercial register. However, an inspection by the bank revealed that the beneficial owners’ register did not correspond to the actual situation and irregularity proceedings were also in play.
We first analysed the entire ownership and decision-making structure, identified the people with ultimate influence and prepared a description of the relationships so that it was clear who really controlled the company. We then ensured that the documentation for the registration was completed and set up a process to quickly remedy the situation. As a result, we were able to correct the discrepancy before the situation escalated into a sanctions issue.
If such an irregularity arises, the court will call on the registrant to correct or explain the irregularity within a specified period of time. The registrant must correct the irregularity by filing a petition for registration with the court or an application to a notary public according to the rules we discussed in the previous chapter.
If the registrant fails to resolve the discrepancy, the court may initiate proceedings for the discrepancy. Proceedings are mainly initiated in situations where there is a possibility that the irregularity could harm the rights of third parties (for example, business partners) or where it is contrary to the public interest.
The court investigates the circumstances and examines the evidence in order to confirm or refute the irregularity in question. If there are concurrent proceedings for the registration of the correct information (e.g. before a court or notary), the court will usually stay the irregularity proceedings.
At the end of the proceedings, the court declares which entries in the register do not correspond to the actual situation and, if possible, determines what the actual situation is. It then either deletes the incorrect data or replaces them with the correct ones. The court’s decision is declaratory in nature, which means that it merely confirms that an irregularity exists but does not impose any new obligations on the registrant – these arise directly from the law. The decision can be appealed.
If the court finds that the irregularity is due to a failure by the beneficial owner or other relevant person (e.g. a person with ultimate influence) to cooperate, it states this reason in its decision. This finding may then be grounds for imposing a fine for the offence.
Learn how the administrative procedure works and what to do if the administrative authority fails to fulfil its role.
The method of obtaining an extract from the register of beneficial owners in 2026 depends on who is requesting the extract and what data they want to access. The public part of the register has been made inaccessible from 17 December 2025, so it is no longer the case that anyone can routinely look up beneficial owner details online as before. Access has been maintained, in particular for registrants after logging in to the non-public part of the register and for authorised users with remote access.
In particular, a full extract can be obtained by the registrant, by the person registered as the beneficial owner and by the person who has lodged a legitimate application to initiate registration proceedings. At the same time, the Act provides that the full extract in electronic form may also be obtained by certain public authorities and other authorised entities through remote access. If the registration is carried out by a notary, he/she shall issue a full extract to the applicant after the registration has been carried out and shall also send it within three working days to the person registering the registration, if he/she is not the same as the applicant.
The public no longer has automatic online access to the data. If you want to obtain information from the register, you must prove a legitimate interest to the court.
For legal arrangements, the law continues to provide that the court may, upon request, disclose a partial extract to a person who demonstrates an interest in connection with the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, or in other situations provided for by law.
In practice, therefore, if you wish to obtain a statement in respect of your own company or an entity in which you are registered as the beneficial owner, you will use the non-public part of the register. If it is not your own entity, you must always assess whether you are one of the persons entitled by law or whether you have to prove your legitimate interest to the court.
If you register beneficial owners, you may be guilty of several offences and associated penalties. These offences can arise both on the registering person’s side and on the beneficial owner’s side.
Penalties of up to CZK 500,000 can be imposed if you:
The statute of limitations for the offence of failure to ensure the correction of incorrect data shall be 1 year. The registering person shall not be liable for the offence if 2 years have elapsed between the occurrence of the irregularity and the initiation of the proceedings by the court or if the beneficial owner or intermediary has failed to provide cooperation and the infringement has been confirmed by the court.
Offences are dealt with by the municipal authority of the municipality with extended jurisdiction according to the seat or residence of the suspected offender. If the suspect has his/her domicile or residence outside the Czech Republic, the competent municipal authority shall be the municipal authority of the place of the court which has ruled on the obligation related to registration.
Registration of beneficial owners is an important obligation for most legal persons and legal arrangements. It is not enough to simply rely formally on the commercial register or to assume that everything is automatically written down. It is critical to correctly identify the individual who has actual influence or control and to respond continuously to changes in the ownership or management structure.
In practice, it is the more complex corporate structures, foreign elements, indirect shareholdings and situations where the company has already undergone changes but the registry has not followed up on them that tend to be the most problematic. This can then lead not only to irregularity proceedings, but also to complications in dealing with the bank, notary, business partner or authority.
A fundamental change is that the public part of the register is no longer commonly accessible, so the way of obtaining statements and verifying data has changed. This makes it all the more important to have your own record in order and be prepared to document why it is set up that way. A well-prepared record is not just a formality, but also a prevention of unnecessary penalties and practical problems in the operation of the business.
It is the state registration of persons who have effective control or decisive influence over a legal person or legal arrangement.
Typically, an individual who has more than 25% of the shares, voting rights, profit share or other decisive influence.
Most legal entities do, but there are legal exceptions, for example for some public entities.
Sometimes yes, especially for simple structures. Even so, the data still needs to be checked.
The general public no longer has automatic online access. The full extract is mainly obtained by authorised persons or the registering entity after logging in.
Violation of the obligations may result in a penalty of up to CZK 500,000.
It is necessary to verify the actual situation without delay, complete the documents and ensure the correction of the registration, possibly with the help of a lawyer or notary.
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Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 10 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
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