Received a discrepancy notice from the Transparency Register—what should I do?
Many people are bound to be taken aback when they read the terms “discrepancy report” and “money laundering.”
Are there irregularities in my association’s or company’s finances? Am I suspected of money laundering?
No, there is no suspicion that you are engaged in money laundering.
Bundesanzeiger Verlag GmbH, which manages the Transparency Register, has compared the entry for the beneficial owner of your company, association, or foundation in the Transparency Register with publicly available information from German registers. In doing so, it has determined that the information differs or is unclear.
Often, the reason for the discrepancy between the entry in the Transparency Register and information in other registers can be explained by the fact that those responsible forgot to update the Transparency Register entry.
For example:
A shareholder of a GmbH with more than a 25% equity stake has sold his shares to a third party. However, the managing director of the GmbH forgot to notify the Transparency Register of the change in shareholders.
A registered association elects a new board of directors. The new board members are entered in the association register. However, updating the entry in the transparency register is forgotten.
A limited partner with more than a 25% equity stake in a GmbH & Co. KG passes away. His heir is entered in the Commercial Register as the new limited partner. However, the general partner does not notify the Transparency Register of the change.
When such “discrepancies” arise, the registry authority is obligated to review the Transparency Register entry and requests the affected legal entity to provide documentation, typically via the cover letter mentioned above.
Upon receiving the request, it is important to determine the nature of the “discrepancy” and resolve it as quickly as possible, as well as to submit the required documents via the response link to the Transparency Register.
Bundesanzeiger Verlag GmbH will then review the submitted documents. This may take a month or longer. You will then usually receive an email with the review results and, if necessary, a request to correct the Transparency Register entry.