Opinion on the Intended Changes and Additions to the Institute of the Beneficial Owners: ALA

The RA Ministry of Justice has initiated amendments and additions to the Law on State Registration of Legal Entities, State Registration of Separate Subdivisions of Legal Entities, Institutions and Individual Entrepreneurs. According to the draft, commercial organizations with state or community participation, 100 percent of whose shares or bonds are directly owned by the state or community, as well as non-commercial state or community organizations that were founded by the Republic of Armenia or the community, are exempted from the legislative duty to present the declaration of the beneficial owner.

We find that the discussed amendment is not valid, it creates privileged conditions for certain types of legal entities, completely contradicts the essence and principles of the real beneficiary, and can create dangerous precedents, weakening the anti-corruption effect of this institution and trivializing its importance.
We call on the author of the draft, the RA Ministry of Justice, to withdraw this draft, initiate public discussion with interested and specialized structures, and jointly discuss the question of the feasibility of this draft.

The complete opinion of the ALA on the draft in Armenian language is available here.