Compliance & Standards
Luxembourg Circular LBR 26/01: Beneficial Owners of Companies Held by Trusts or Foundations (RBE Registration)
A two-page circular from Luxembourg Business Registers, dated 19 August 2026, clarifying how to determine and register the beneficial owners of companies held through trusts or foundations in Luxembourg's Beneficial Owners Register (RBE). Where a company is held by such an arrangement, LBR takes the position that the persons reportable are the beneficial owners of the underlying trust or foundation, applying Articles 1(7)(b) and (c) of the modified 2004 AML law rather than the ownership/control threshold test for directly held companies. Reportable natural persons include settlors, trustees, protectors, beneficiaries (or their class where not yet determined), and any other person exercising ultimate control. The position aligns with Article 55 of EU Regulation 2024/1624, noted as not yet mandatory but interpretively useful. The circular also restates RBE data fields required under Article 3 of the Law of 13 January 2019 and stresses that registered entities remain responsible for identifying their own beneficial owners.
Raf's lens
The interesting part is the shift from shareholding thresholds to role-based disclosure when trusts or foundations sit in the ownership chain. The fallback to senior managing officials also matters when no natural owner can be identified. LBR says the circular has no legal value and accepts no liability, so firms still need counsel before relying on it.
Topics: beneficial ownership, RBE, Luxembourg Business Registers, trusts and foundations, AML law, EU Regulation 2024/1624, settlors trustees, UBO register