Tax and Legal news (15.04.24)

Below, you will learn about:

• Notification of discrepancies in the ownership structure and information on the ultimate beneficiaries has been delayed;
• A new system for recording shares of LLC and ALC has been launched;
• Changes to military registration and mobilisation;
• The moratorium on customs inspections has been cancelled;
• The NBU updated the rules for disclosing banking secrecy;
• The NBU discount rate reduced to 14.5%.
        

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Notification of discrepancies in the ownership structure and information on the ultimate beneficiaries has been delayed

The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has delayed until 01.09.2024 the obligation of primary financial monitoring entities (banks, other financial institutions, auditors, etc.) to report discrepancies between the information on ownership structures or on ultimate beneficial owners contained in the Unified State Register (USR) and the actual information they have identified when providing services to their clients.

Key aspects:

• starting from 01.09.2024, primary financial monitoring entities should conduct enhanced due diligence of clients to whom they provide their services and notify the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine in case of discrepancies mentioned above;
• companies that have changes in information on their ultimate beneficial owners and/or information on their ownership structure and do not enter information on such changes into the USR may be marked as non-compliant in the USR. The application of other enforcement measures to such companies is currently postponed due to the martial law in Ukraine.

^{Source: Order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine of 12.07.2023 No. 2542/5" of 18.03.2024 No. 727/5; Order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Ministry of Finance of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Ministry of Finance of Ukraine of 10.07.2023 No. 2513/5/378" of 22.03.2024 No. 834/5/142.}

A new system for recording shares of LLC and ALC has been launched

The National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) has announced that limited liability companies and additional liability companies and their shareholders may, at their own request, transfer their shares from the recording system of the Unified State Register to the recording system of the National Depository of Ukraine. The system allows for the consolidation of ownership rights to securities and a share in the company in one depository institution, strengthening their protection and using additional services, including electronic meetings of shareholders.

Mazar's team analyzed the recording of shares in more detail in previous legal news digests.

^{Source: press release of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of 03.04.2024; Law of Ukraine "On Joint Stock Companies" of 27.07.2022 No. 2465-IX.}

Changes to military registration and mobilisation

On 04.04.2024, the laws of Ukraine came into force, amending certain provisions on military registration and mobilisation in Ukraine.

Key aspects:

• the age limit for citizens to be registered for military service was reduced from 27 to 25 years. Persons who have reached the age of 25 and were registered as conscripts are subject to registration as persons liable for military service and may be mobilized;
• the maintenance of the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Persons Liable for Military Service and Reservists (USRCMR) was improved. The list of information to be stored in the USRCMR and the list of other registers and databases from which information will be received to fill the USRCMR have been expanded;
• an electronic cabinet for conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists was introduced, which is intended to transfer most services for conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists, as well as their communication with military state bodies, into electronic format. Registration in this electronic cabinet is no longer mandatory;
• the status of "limitedly fit for military service" was canceled. In particular, all persons who have been recognized as partially fit for military service will have to undergo a second medical examination.

^{Source: The Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service" of 30.05.2023 No. 3127-IX, the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Improving the Procedure for Processing and Using Data in State Registers for Military”}

The moratorium on customs inspections has been cancelled

On 20.03.2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved a draft law allowing for the partial resumption of customs inspections from 01.05.2024.

Key aspects:

• envisaged the continuation of documentary checks and counter-checks, which were suspended with the introduction of martial law in Ukraine;
• planned to restore the right of the customs authorities to inspect monetary, financial and accounting documents, reports, contracts, declarations, calculations and other documents that may be related to foreign economic operations;
• stated that the quarterly schedules of a documentary scheduled on-site inspections of the customs authority in 2024 may include companies that import excisable goods into the customs territory of Ukraine, as well as export goods from the customs territory of Ukraine for which the export duty is established by law and companies that have issued customs declarations with exemption from customs payments, use of privileges, and payment by installments;
• clarified that the moratorium will remain in place for taxpayers registered in the temporarily occupied territories, territories of active and possible hostilities, and for taxpayers importing goods recognized as humanitarian aid during the period of martial law in Ukraine.

^{Source: Draft Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine on Customs Clearance of Biomethane" of 03.07.2023 No. 9456.}

The NBU updated the rules for disclosing banking secrecy

On 20.03.2024, a resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine came into force, which updated the rules for the storage, protection, use and disclosure of banking secrecy.

Key aspects:

• it is determined that information on bank accounts, payment cards and financial transactions is provided in exceptional cases, including:
  • to bank customers and their representatives;
  • by court order;
  • to law enforcement or state authorities having the relevant powers, but in exceptional cases, in the manner and to the extent established by the legislation of Ukraine;
• clarifies that law enforcement authorities have the right to receive information on payment card numbers of bank customers for the purpose of investigating payment fraud, illegal acquisition of funds, phishing, etc;
• specifies that such information is provided only to a limited list of law enforcement agencies: the Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigation, the National Police of Ukraine, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the National Agency of Ukraine for Finding, Tracing and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes.

^{Source: Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine "On Approval of Amendments to the Rules for Storage, Protection, Use and Disclosure of Bank Secrecy" of 18.03.2024 No. 33.}

The NBU discount rate reduced to 14.5%

On 15.03.2024, the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine decided to cut the key policy rate from 15% to 14.5%.

The decision was based on a slowdown in inflation, a stable situation in the foreign exchange market, and positive developments in Ukraine's receipt of foreign aid.

^{Source: Decision of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine "On the Key Policy Rate of the National Bank of Ukraine" of 14.03.2024 No. 83-рш.}