Mikinski & Partners Law Office provides advice and assistance on issues related to anti-money laundering measures. Some of the services in this area that the Office can provide are:
- Setting up risk assessment policies and internal regulations, which service gained popularity with the adoption of the new Anti-Money Laundering regulations, promulgated in May 2019. The requirement for setting up risk assessment and internal rules applies to all legal persons registered in Bulgaria who are obliged persons pursuant to Article 4 of the Measures against Money Laundering Act (MMLA). They are obliged to identify, understand and assess the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing by setting up their own risk assessment, taking into account relevant risk factors, including those relating to customers, countries or geographical areas, the products offered and services, performed operations and transactions or delivery mechanisms. Based on the prepared risk assessment, the obliged persons under Art. 4 MMLA are obliged to draft and adopt Internal Rules for Control and Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, which should be effectively applied to their branches and subsidiaries abroad.
- Disclosing the beneficial owner (any natural person who directly or indirectly, through another legal entity or persons, owns at least 25% of the capital of the Bulgarian legal entity), which service is applicable to certain categories of persons, namely:
- legal entities owned by foreign legal entities. To this category we should add legal entities that are not entirely with foreign participation. In order for an obligation to arise for legal entities to disclose a beneficial owner, it is sufficient for one of the members in the company, who holds a shareholding of at least 25% of the capital, to be a foreign legal entity;
- legal entities whose direct owner is a Bulgarian legal entity, which, on its turn, is owned (directly or through a chain of other companies) by a foreign legal entity;
- joint stock companies that are not sole proprietorships. This category of obligated persons should also include joint-stock companies that are sole proprietors, but their sole owner is a foreign legal entity (directly or through a chain of other companies).
- Disclosing a contact person is a service applicable to all legal entities registered in Bulgaria, whose legal representatives – natural persons (managers, executive directors, procurators, etc.) do not reside permanently in Bulgaria. The need for this role arose with the entry into force in 2019 of the changes in MMLA.