KNB: do not simply issue UBO statements

The Royal Dutch Association of Civil-Law Notaries (KNB) warns against issuing UBO statements lightly. Civil-law notaries cannot determine with certainty who the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) of a legal entity is. Only the legal entity itself can provide this information.

Institutions such as banks require civil-law notaries to issue UBO statements. Some banks require these legal entities to provide a notarized UBO statement before accepting them as clients and providing them with a bank account. However, civil-law notaries cannot issue conclusive UBO statements. Moreover, banks cannot shift their own responsibility to the civil-law notary.

False security
The Royal Dutch Bank (KNB) previously warned against issuing UBO statements too lightly. Civil-law notaries cannot determine the identity of legal entities' UBOs with certainty. Even if the shareholding is certain, the identity of the UBO is not yet established. Someone else may have actual control over the entity. This is something a civil-law notary cannot verify. Only the legal entity itself can provide information on this. A civil-law notary who issues a UBO statement without making a reservation for information they cannot verify runs the risk of creating a false sense of security.

Advice
Do not cooperate with requests to sign organizational charts. Do not issue unqualified UBO statements if you have not been able to verify their content. Limit yourself to (qualified) statements that you can vouch for. Clarify to banks the limits of your due diligence and remind them of their own responsibilities.