About the UBO-register trusts

Preventing fraud, crime, and the financing of terrorism are the main aims of the UBO-register trusts. The European Union (EU) has stipulated that every EU country must keep track of the UBOs of a trust (and legal structures similar to it). KVK does this in the Netherlands, on behalf of the Ministries of Finance and Justice & Security.

Collecting this information reveals who benefits most from certain actions or decisions. With UBO data the police can, for example, more easily investigate potentially illegal activities. 

There is a difference between the existing UBO Register and the UBO register-trusts. The UBO Register is part of the Business Register. The UBO register-trusts is a separate register. Read more about the UBO-register trusts. 

What is a trust?

A trust is a foreign legal structure in which people make agreements together to set aside and use money or assets for another person or people. You cannot start a trust in the Netherlands. But you can start a trust abroad. Under Dutch law, a trust is not a legal structure, but a target asset (doelvermogen). That is, saved money with a clear purpose, separate from someone's private money.

How does a trust work?

An individual (the settlor) entrusts assets to an administrator,  a trustee. This can be a person or an organisation. The trustee is responsible for guarding the assets and using them as agreed in a trust deed. Then there are the beneficiaries of the trust. These are the people who will benefit from the money or assets. Sometimes a person is appointed to control a trustee (a protector).

The money in a trust can be used by the trustee to, for example, start businesses, buy buildings or houses, support charities, or invest money. 

When should you register a trust with KVK?

You must register a trust if any of the following rules apply:

• If the trustee is a person living in the Netherlands
• If the trustee is a person who lives outside the European Union (EU) and and is doing business or buying property such as a building or house in the Netherlands on behalf of the trust
• If the trustee is an organisation operating from the Netherlands
• If the trustee is an organisation working from outside the European Union (EU), and is doing business or buying property such as a building or house in the Netherlands on behalf of the trust

Sometimes other rules apply, for example if the trust is registered in another EU country

What is a similar legal construction?

As well as trusts, there are other similar legal constructions. Such legal structures must follow the same laws and rules that apply to trusts. So, they must also register UBOs with KVK. In the Netherlands,an example pf such a legal construction  is a fund on joint account (fonds voor gemene rekening, FGR). In an FGR, a group of people put money together for a common purpose. You can establish an FGR in the Netherlands, but not a trust. There are “open” and “closed” FGRs. Both of these must register UBOs.

Who registers the UBOs?

Only the trustee of a trust or an FGR can register its UBOs. This trustee is also a UBO of the trust. The other UBOs of the trust must provide the trustee with all necessary information so that they can make the registration.