The National Banking and Insurance Commission of Honduras approved regulations governing the Centralized Beneficial Owner Registry. The rules apply to domestic and foreign commercial companies registered in Honduras, legal arrangements with or without legal personality, and public entities in which the state owns less than 100%. They establish registration, reporting, verification, access and enforcement requirements and will take effect upon publication in the Official Gazette. Covered entities must identify natural persons who directly or indirectly own at least 25% of their capital or assets, then apply an effective control test. If neither test identifies a beneficial owner, they must report a senior administrative official and document why no owner was identified. Entities must file a documented sworn declaration, update or confirm their information by May 30 each year, report changes within the first 10 business days of the following month and retain records for at least five years. Obliged entities conducting customer due diligence must obtain and retain evidence that legal entity and legal arrangement customers are registered, without treating that evidence as a substitute for their own beneficial ownership checks. The Commission may verify filings through data matching and interoperability, require corrections and provide controlled access to authorized authorities and third parties with a legitimate interest. Breaches are classified as minor, serious or very serious and may attract fines of 20 to 500 minimum wages for each violation. Failure to convert bearer shares into registered shares may result in separate fines of 10 to 100 minimum wages. The Commission will issue a further administrative act setting the start of registration, filing mechanisms and applicable forms.

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