Michael Collins
Question:204. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Finance if he will sanction a derogation regarding a registration requirement (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25608/23]
View answerTuesday, 30 May 2023
Questions (204)
Written answers
Anti-money laundering legislation requires each EU Member State to establish a Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts (CRBOT). The purpose of the Register is to help prevent money laundering and terrorist financing by improving transparency on who ultimately owns and controls Irish trusts. Trustees have a legal obligation to register details of relevant trusts and their beneficial owners on the CRBOT portal, which is administered by Revenue.
Irish sporting organisations, where not incorporated, will usually have a trust structure to hold assets, such as a bank account. This trust is commonly created by the organisation’s constitution. For sporting clubs and associations, it is the members of the unincorporated body who are the beneficial owners of the trust.
Regulation 3(6) of Statutory Instrument No. 194 of 2021 (www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2021/si/194/made/en/print) provides for reduced filing requirements for certain sporting bodies, removing the requirement for all beneficial owners to register on the CRBOT. Rather the legislation stipulates that club trustees, the committee or other governing body and any other individual who has control over the trust, register on the CRBOT. In the absence of the specific legislation introduced, all members of a GAA club would have been required to register their details, as they are considered to be beneficiaries of the club trust.
At the time of putting in place the necessary legislation, the Department of Finance recognised the fact that the trusts provisions of the anti-money laundering Directive would be particularly onerous for Ireland and many of the trusts structures, including sports clubs, that exist here. Therefore the Department worked to ensure, in so far as possible, that the obligations introduced were proportionate to the aims of the Directive. Extensive engagement took place with the Attorney General and the European Commission at the time. The proportionate approach which resulted included the reduced filing requirements for certain sporting bodies outlined above.
The beneficial ownership information to be provided includes personal information such as name, nationality, address, date of birth and PPSN. Any information registered on the CRBOT is only accessible by the club trustees and by designated persons and competent authorities in limited circumstances. Members of the public can access restricted information on the CRBOT when they can demonstrate a legitimate interest that they are engaged in the prevention, detection or investigation of money laundering or terrorist financing offences and that the subject of the access request is connected with persons convicted of an associated offence or holds assets in a high-risk third country. Any request for access by a member of the public is required to be accompanied by information and documents demonstrating such a right of access.
It is relevant to mention that since the Regulations were introduced in April 2021, the CRBOT team has engaged extensively with relevant stakeholders, particularly sectors that may be unaware of their obligations or may have little interaction with Revenue systems. A working group of relevant stakeholders was established in 2021 that included representation from Sports Ireland, the Charity Regulator and The Wheel. The Working Group provided a forum for the various stakeholders to engage directly with the CRBOT team on queries and to highlight any issues that may require further clarification.
To support community, voluntary and sporting clubs in their compliance with the Regulations, the Trust Register team contacted the governing body of 74 sporting bodies in Ireland and issued 611 letters to individual sports clubs outlining the obligations and offering assistance to their members in meeting their obligations. Further engagement has also taken place with any governing body that requested further assistance or clarification.
The Trust Register team has engaged with GAA Headquarters specifically on a number of occasions, particularly in relation to exploring ways of simplifying the filing requirements for clubs, including discussions on the GAA’s collection of the data via the GAA ‘Foireann’ app. The CRBOT team composed a letter for GAA Headquarters to issue to individual clubs, outlining their obligations along with material to assist club members in navigating Revenue’s systems and included contact details for the Trust Register team. The Trust Register team has highlighted to the GAA and Ladies Gaelic Football Association its willingness to engage in outreach events at any time suitable for their members.
The GAA and LGFA have recently issued correspondence to their members outlining their responsibility to register and this correspondence provided contact details for the Trust Register team, who have received multiple customer contacts and have endeavoured to assist club members with their registrations. Revenue’s website provides extensive information for trustees to assist in meeting their obligations and highlights the reduced filing obligations for sports clubs and charities.
In light of the reduced filing requirements which have already been put in place for certain sporting bodies and others as well as the significant outreach work engaged in by the CRBOT team as outlined above, the sanctioning of a derogation from the filing requirements is not under consideration at this time. However, negotiations are currently underway on a package of revised EU anti-money laundering legislation. As part of this process, Irish officials are working to ensure that the equivalent obligations in the new legislation will be proportionate to the aims and will have due regard to Ireland’s situation, where trusts are used for a wide variety of purposes.
Further details about the CRBOT are available on the Revenue website at: www.revenue.ie/en/crbot/index.aspx. Should the Deputy require further clarification in respect of the CRBOT or a specific sporting organisation or Trust, the Trust Register team can be contacted at trustregister@revenue.ie.