Kamer van Koophandel en Nijverheid Aruba | Chamber of Commerce and Industry Aruba

The purpose of the UBO register is to provide further transparency to prevent money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing, corruption and fraud and to combat financial and economic crimes.

In principle, every organization that must register in the Trade Register of the Chamber of Commerce must register their UBO’s, however there are some exceptions to this (for more information regarding this, please see Organizations that are exempted from UBO-registration. The following organizations must register their UBO’s:

• Foundation (in Dutch: Stichting);

Please note: An administrative office foundation (in Dutch: Stichting administratiekantoor or STAK) must also register their UBO’s;

• Association (in Dutch: Vereniging) with full legal capacity (incorporated through a notary and registration in the Trade Register of the Chamber of Commerce is mandatory);
• Cooperative (in Dutch: Coöperatie)

Please note: There are exceptions to this. If in doubt, please contact us by email: (ubo@arubachamber.com);

• Mutual Insurance Company (in Dutch: Onderlinge Waarborgmaatschappij or OWM)

Please note: There are exceptions to this. If in doubt, please contact us by email: (ubo@arubachamber.com);

• Public limited liability company (in Dutch: Naamloze vennootschap or NV)

Please note: If your organization is a (100% subsidiary of a) listed company, it may be exempted from UBO-registration. For more information, please see Organizations that are exempted from UBO-registration;

• Limited liability company (in Dutch: Vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid or VBA)

Please note: If your organization is a (100% subsidiary of a) listed company, it may be exempted from UBO-registration. For more information, please see Organizations that are exempted from UBO-registration;

• Professional partnership (in Dutch: Maatschap);
• General partnership (in Dutch: Vennootschap onder firma or VOF);
• Limited partnership (in Dutch: Commanditaire vennootschap or CV);
• Trust;
• Foreign legal entity or company (in Dutch: Buitenlandse organisatie);

• Sole proprietorship (in Dutch: Eenmanszaak);
• Association without full legal capacity (in Dutch: Vereniging zonder volledige rechtsbevoegdheid, incorporated without a notary and registration in the Trade Register is not mandatory);
• (100% daughter, granddaughter, great granddaughter, etc. of) an organization with 100% freely tradable shares on one or more of the following stock exchanges:

-Amsterdam, New York, Lissabon, Brussel and Paris, held by NYSE Euronext;

-Frankfurt, held by Deutsche Börse;

-London, held by the London Stock Exchange;

-Tokyo, held by Tokyo Stock Exchange;

Please note: If your organization (a 100% daughter, granddaughter, great granddaughter, etc. of) is an organization with 100% freely tradable shares on one or more of the aforementioned stock exchanges and is therefore exempt from UBO registration, please contact us by email: (ubo@arubachamber.com) or by telephone: (+297)582.1566.

• Third Party Funds Management Foundation (in Dutch: Stichting Derdengelden);
• Pension funds (in Dutch: Pensioenfonds);
• Association of owners (in Dutch: Vereniging van Eigenaren);
• (Subsidized) Government Foundation (in Dutch: (Gesubsidieerde) Overheidsstichting);

Existing organizations before January 1st, 2023:

Enterprises, partnerships, and legal entities that have started their business activities before January 1^st, 2023, must register their UBO(s) no later than July 1^st, 2024.

New organizations as of January 1^st, 2023:

Enterprises, partnerships, legal entities, and trusts that have established/ incorporated their business activities on or after January 1^st, 2023, must register their UBO(s) within one week after starting business activities (the incorporation).

Amendments:

If there are any amendments after the UBO-registration, the directors of the company, enterprises, partnerships, legal entities, or trust are obligated to report the amendments to the Chamber of Commerce within one week after the amendment.

Please note: If there are any amendments of the data as entered on the digital form with the (previous) UBO-registration, you will have to submit a completely new registration that will replace the previous registration. For example, if there is a change in address, if there is a transfer of shares and as a result of which the UBO and/or the percentage of the interest has changed, etc.

If there are amendments that do not change the data as entered on the (previous) digital UBO registration form, you do not have to make a completely new registration and you only have to send us the necessary documents by e-mail: ubo@arubachamber.com along with your express request to add these to the current UBO-registration (as we are not allowed to add documents without your permission). Consider, for example, an amendment to the articles of association that does not result in any changes regarding the UBO(s), a transfer of shares that does not result in a change of class ( size of the percentage/interest: for example, you have 26% of the shares and you later on obtain an additional 3%, this means that you are still in the class of more than 25% and less than or equal to 50%), etc.

The obligation to register the UBO(s) of enterprises, partnerships, and legal entities or trust at the Chamber of Commerce rests on the person(s) to whom the company belongs, the directors or partners (with exception to the silent/ limited partners), the trustee and the notary where the incorporation has taken place.

In practice, the registration of UBO(s) of newly incorporated organizations, incorporated by the notary as of January 1, 2023, is in principle done by the handling notary in accordance with the notarial deed. Please clearly discuss with your notary who will submit the UBO-registration.

If there is an amendment in, for example, the shareholding or there is a change of directors, then the directors of the enterprises, partnerships, and legal entities or trust are obliged to report this to The Chamber of Commerce within one week. For more information, please see Deadline UBO-registration.

Avoid a penalty or fine by registering your organization’s UBO(s) in a timely manner, with sufficient, accurate and up to date data and documents.

The Chamber of Commerce cannot and may not provide substantive advice on who the UBO of your organization is, it only verifies the timely delivery of the UBO data and whether it is sufficient, accurate and up to date, based on the data and documents you provide. Only after it has been able to verify the UBO registration will it process/approve it.

The organization that submits the UBO registration is itself responsible for a timely, sufficient, accurate and up to date registration. If you do not register the UBO(s) of your registration at all, do not register them on time or register them incorrectly or incompletely, The Chamber of Commerce will (still) request you to complete and proceed with a correct and complete registration. If you still do not respond to this request, The Chamber of Commerce will pass this on to the Minister that is responsible for the Economic Affairs, after which a penalty or a fine may be imposed.

This also applies if The Chamber of Commerce receives a report from an authorized authority or a Lwtf service provider. For more information regarding this, please The duty to report back and the possible consequences of this for your organization.

For the deadline for the UBO-registration of your organization, please see Deadline UBO-registration and for the required information and documents, please see Required data and documents to register the UBO(s) of your organization.

Below you will find an overview of who can generally be regarded as a UBO, with a distinction being made between partnership or legal entity – with the exception of a foundation – and a foundation/ STAK or trust. To appoint the UBO(s) of a specific legal form, please see Determining the UBO’s of your organization and for the required information and documents please see Required data and documents to register the UBO(s) of your organization.

Please note:

• An organization can have one or more UBO(s); and
• A UBO is always a natural person.

In general, the following can be regarded as a UBO of a partnership or legal entity- with the exception of a foundation:

1. Economic interest

Any natural person with more than 25% of the capital interest can be appointed as a UBO. Consider, for example, the shares (direct or indirect) or profit distribution (whether linked to (preference) shares or not) in the relevant enterprise, partnership, or legal entity. The enterprise, partnership, or legal entity may have one or more UBO(s), depending on the size/percentage of the interest. Before you register your UBO, please obtain information about the interest and the percentage of the interest that the UBO(s) has(/have). Regardless of whether one or more UBO(s) can be appointed based on ‘Economic interest’, you will still need to examine if there are UBO(s) that you can also appoint based on ‘Voting rights’.

2. Voting rights

In addition to appointed UBO(s) based on ‘Economic interests’, any natural person with more than 25% of the voting rights can be appointed as UBO(s). Consider, for example, voting rights based on the articles of association, an agreement, or another legal document. For voting rights based on shares, a pledgee or usufructuary can also be a UBO. It may be the case that a UBO can be appointed based on both ‘Economic interest’ and ‘Voting rights simultaneously, in which case you must choose ‘Economic interest’. Only if no UBO(s) can be appointed based on ‘Economic interest’ and/or ‘Voting rights’ you will need to proceed to ‘Effective control’.

3. Effective control

If no natural person(s) can be appointed as a UBO based on ‘Economic interest’ and/or ‘Voting rights’, you may be able to appoint a UBO based on ‘Effective control’. This concerns any natural person who has decisive/ dominant control other than through economic interest and/or voting rights. For example, consider a specific shareholder with a maximum of 25% of the shares who is the only one who attends the shareholder meetings and therefore has the say.

If no UBO(s) can be appointed based on ‘Economic Interest’ and or ‘Voting rights’ or ‘Effective control’, then all directors must be appointed as pseudo-UBO(s).

4. Directors

Only if no UBO(s) can be appointed based on the aforementioned categories, then all directors must be appointed as pseudo-UBO(s). This concerns all directors (as registered in our Trade register) of the organization for which the UBO registration is being done.

In general, the following can be regarded as a UBO of a foundation/ STAK or trust:

1. The (natural person behind the) founder, trustee, protector, or beneficiary or similar of a trust or foundation/STAK; or
2. If the individual persons who are the beneficiaries cannot be determined, the group of persons whose interests the trust or foundation/STAK is primarily established or operates; or
3. Any other natural person who can exercise effective control over the trust or foundation/STAK through direct or indirect ownership or through other means.

If you appoint one or more UBO(s) based on ‘Economic rights’ or ‘Voting rights’, you will have to indicate the size of the percentage. You can choose the following percentages:

• More than 25% and less than or equal to 50%
• More than 50% and less than or equal to 75%
• More than 75% and less than or equal to 100%

Please note:

The Chamber of Commerce must be able to verify the interest and its percentage indicated by you based on the required documents, including, for example, the shareholder register and/or the deed of incorporation. For more information, please see Required data and documents to register the UBO(s) of your organization.

If you have multiple organizations in your organizational structure chart that are obligated to register their UBO, you will have to do a separate UBO registration for each organization. Please keep in mind that you must also upload all documents from the above-mentioned organizations in the organizational chart up to the UBO or until it can be concluded that no UBO can be appointed based on ‘Economic interest’ or ‘Voting rights’ with the registration. Please see below figures for some examples.

Figure 1: Voting rights are attached to the shares of ‘VBA A’ and ‘VBA B’, 1 share equals 1 vote. For the UBO-registration of ‘VBA A’ you will therefore only have to submit all documents of ‘VBA A’ and ‘VBA B’, because ‘VBA B’, ‘VBA C’, ‘VBA D’, ‘VBA E’ and ‘VBA F’ has 25% and therefore not more than 25% of the shares/votes meaning that no UBO can be appointed based on ‘Economic rights’ or ‘Voting rights’.

Figure 2: Voting rights are attached to the shares of all organizations in the structure, 1 share equals 1 vote. For the UBO-registration of ‘VBA A’ you will have to therefore submit all documents from ‘VBA A’ to ‘VBA D’ and those of the UBO, ‘Mr. X’. For more information about the required information and documents, please see Required data and documents to register the UBO(s) of your organization.

A UBO can be appointed based on direct or indirect interest in your organization. Please see below for some explanations and examples:

• Direct interest: The natural person who can directly be appointed as UBO based on ‘Economic interest’, ‘Voting rights’, ‘Effective control’ or ‘Director’ is UBO based on a direct interest in the organization.

Figure 1: The natural persons, Mr. ‘X’ and Mrs. ‘Y’, both hold 50% of the shares of VBA ‘A’. Mr. ‘X’ and Mrs. ‘Y’ can be appointed as UBO of VBA ‘A’, as they have a direct interest of more than 25% based on ‘Economic interest’.

Figure 2: VBA ‘B’ does not have a natural person with more than 25% of the shares and/or voting rights, nor does it have a natural person who can appointed as UBO based on ‘Effective control’. Because there is no natural person with a direct interest, Mrs. ’Z’ (director of VBA ‘B’) can be appointed as pseudo-UBO of VBA ‘B’ based on ‘Director’.

• Indirect interest: The natural person can also be appointed as UBO based on indirect interest. In this case, the natural person cannot be directly appointed as UBO because the shares or voting rights are held indirectly through the interference of one or more other legal entities. Consider, for example, an LLC established in the United States.

Figure 3: VBA ‘C’ does not have a natural person with directly more than 25% of the shares and voting rights because VBA ‘D’ is a 100% shareholder of VBA ‘C’. Subsequently, LLC ‘A’ holds 100% of the shares of VBA ‘D’. Only one natural person, Mr. ‘X’, has more than 25% of the shares/voting rights (100% x 100% x 26% = 26%). Mr. ‘X’ therefore has an indirect interest as UBO of VBA ‘C’ based on ‘Economic interest.

Figure 4: VBA ‘E’ does not have a natural person with more than 25% of the shares and/or voting rights because VBA ‘F’ and VBA ‘G’ are both 50% shareholders of VBA ‘E’. Mr. ‘W’, ‘X’, ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ are 25% shareholders of VBA ‘F’ and Mrs. ‘S’, ‘T’, ‘U’ and ‘V’ are 25% shareholders of VBA ‘G’. Because there is no natural person with more than 25% of the shares and/or voting rights and no natural person who can be appointed as UBO based on ‘Effective control’, Mrs. ‘C’ (director of VBA ‘E’) can be appointed as pseudo-UBO of VBA ‘E’ based on ‘Director’.

If you appoint the UBO(s) based on an indirect interest, you must then always add a structure chart to the UBO registration. The structure chart must contain the following information:

• Of all natural persons:

1. The full name (as per passport)
2. The country of residence
3. The date of birth

• Of all entities:

1. The full name
2. The country of residence

• All shareholding percentages
• Date and signature of the statutory director to confirm that this reflects the current situation (not older than 3 months)

The Chamber of Commerce cannot give substantive advise on who can be determined as UBO(s) of your specific organization, it only has the task of verifying your filled in registration based on the information and documents you have submitted; however, it can share general information with you on how you should determine the UBO(s) of your organization. Below you will find information per legal form that can help you determine the UBO(s) of your organization.

Please note: An organization can have one or more UBO(s) and a UBO is always a natural person.

Determining the UBO's of your organization

Please note:
– The Chamber reserves the right to request additional information and/or documents to verify the data and/or documents provided.
– The documents must be in Dutch, English, Spanish or Papiamento. If the documents are in another language, you will have to upload a sworn translation in the Dutch language along with the original document.

UBO(s), director(s)/board member(s) and (if applicable) authorized representative
For the UBO-registration you will need at least the following information and documents of the UBO(s), board member(s) and (if applicable) authorized representative:

Residents of Aruba
UBO:

• Tax Identification Number (TIN)/Persoonsnummer à Official document of the Aruba Tax Department (DIMP) showing your personal (not of your legal entity) TIN/Persoonsnummer
  Please note: We can only accept a document on which TIN/Persoonsnummer is stated by DIMP and not a document on which you have filled out the number yourself;
• First and last name as stated in your passport;
  Please note: Female maiden name only;
• Date of birth, country of birth, place of birth and nationality as stated in passport/Aruban cedula à Valid passport or Aruban cedula (front and back);
• Address à Censo extract Afl. 5,00 not older than three months;
• House phone number (for internal use only): fill out a number with which the Chamber can also communicate with you in the future;
• Cell phone number (for internal use only): fill out a number with which the Chamber can also communicate with you in the future;
• Email address (for internal use only)
  Please note: fill out an email address with which the Chamber can also corresponds with you in the future;

Director/board member/authorized representative:

• First and last name as stated in your passport;
  Please note: Female maiden name only;
• Date of birth à Valid passport or Aruban cedula (front and back);
• House phone number (for internal use only): fill out a number with which the Chamber can also communicate with you in the future;
• Cell phone number (for internal use only): fill out a number with which the Chamber can also communicate with you in the future;
• Email address (for internal use only)
  Please note: fill out an email address with which the Chamber can also correspond with you in the future;
• Power of attorney à If applicable: Signed power of attorney

Non-residents of Aruba
UBO:

• Tax Identification Number (TIN) à Official document showing your personal (not of your legal entity) TIN issued by the government of the country of residence. When in doubt, please refer to the following website: https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crsimplementation-and-assistance/tax-identification-numbers/;
• First and last name as stated in your passport;
  Please note: Female maiden name only;
• Date of birth, country of birth, place of birth and nationality as stated in passport à Valid passport;
• Address à Utility bill, bank statement, driver license (front and back) or extract of the Civil Registry not older than three months; name, address and date clearly visible;
• House phone number (for internal use only): fill out a number with which the Chamber can also communicate with you in the future;
• Cell phone number (for internal use only): fill out a number with which the Chamber can also communicate with you in the future;
• Email address (for internal use only)
  Please note: fill out an email address with which the Chamber can also correspond with you in the future;

Director/board member/authorized representative:

• First and last name as stated in your passport;
  Please note: Female maiden name only;
• Date of birth à Valid passport or Aruban cedula (front and back);
• House phone number (for internal use only): fill out a number with which the Chamber can also communicate with you in the future;
• Cell phone number (for internal use only): fill out a number with which the Chamber can also communicate with you in the future;
• Email address (for internal use only)
  Please note: fill out an email address with which the Chamber can also correspond with you in the future;
• Power of attorney à If applicable: Signed power of attorney

Organization(s):

For the registration you will need at least the following information and documents of the organization(s), choose the legal form that applies to your organization(s):

Public limited liability company (in Dutch: Naamloze vennootschap or NV)

• Register of shareholders
  Current and complete (all pages or at least up to and including the first blank page) register of shareholders.
  Please note:
  * In case the uploaded register of shareholders is unclear (for example in the case of many transfers of shares), also the deed of share transfer;
  * In case of indirect shareholding (meaning one or more legal entity/organization is shareholder), also the register of shareholders of all the entities included in the structure chart until up to the UBO (natural person) or until it appears that there is no longer an indirect shareholding of more than 25%.
• Deed of capital reduction
  Only in case of a capital reduction/purchase of own shares; deed showing the capital reduction/purchase of own shares.
• (amended)Articles of incorporation/association
  Complete articles of incorporation/association and if applicable the amended articles.
  Please note: In case of indirect shareholding (meaning one or more legal entity/organization is shareholder), also (amended) articles of incorporation/association of all the entities included in the structure chart until up to the UBO (natural person) or until it appears that there is no longer an indirect shareholding of more than 25%.
• Structure chart – only in case of indirect shareholding – including the following:
  – Of all natural persons:
  full name (as stated in passport)
  2. country of residence
  3. date of birth
  – Of all entities:
  1. full name
  2. country of residence
• All percentages of shareholding
• Date and signature of the director confirming that the structure chart reflects the current situation (not older than three months);
• Extract of the Trade Register – only in case of indirect shareholding; of all the entities included in the structure chart that are not registered in the Aruban Trade Register, until up to the natural person(s) (possibly but not necessary UBO) or until it appears that there is no longer an indirect shareholding of more than 25%, an extract of the Trade Register or similar (for example a certificate of Good Standing or a Certificate of Incumbency), not older than three months.

Limited liability company (in Dutch: Vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid or VBA)

• Register of shareholders
  Current and complete (all pages or at least up to and including the first blank page) register of shareholders.
  Please note:
  * In case the uploaded register of shareholders is unclear (for example in the case of many transfers of shares), also the deed of share transfer;
  * In case of indirect shareholding (meaning one or more legal entity/organization is shareholder), also the register of shareholders of all the entities included in the structure chart until up to the UBO (natural person) or until it appears that there is no longer an indirect shareholding of more than 25%.
• Deed of capital reduction
  Only in case of a capital reduction/purchase of own shares; deed showing the capital reduction/purchase of own shares.
• (amended)Articles of incorporation/association
  Complete articles of incorporation/association and if applicable the amended articles.
  Please note: In case of indirect shareholding (meaning one or more legal entity/organization is shareholder), also (amended) articles of incorporation/association of all the entities included in the structure chart until up to the UBO (natural person) or until it appears that there is no longer an indirect shareholding of more than 25%.
• Structure chart – only in case of indirect shareholding – including the following:
  – Of all natural persons:
  full name (as stated in passport)
  2. country of residence
  3. date of birth
  – Of all entities:
  1. full name
  2. country of residence
• All percentages of shareholding
• Date and signature of the director confirming that the structure chart reflects the current situation (not older than three months);
• Extract of the Trade Register – only in case of indirect shareholding; of all the entities included in the structure chart that are not registered in the Aruban Trade Register, until up to the natural person(s) (possibly but not necessary UBO) or until it appears that there is no longer an indirect shareholding of more than 25%, an extract of the Trade Register or similar (for example a certificate of Good Standing or a Certificate of Incumbency), not older than three months.

Regular partnership (in Dutch: Maatschap)
– Complete and signed partnership/Maatschaps contract including amendments (if applicable).

General partnership (in Dutch: Vennootschap onder firma)
– Complete and signed partnership/VOF contract including amendments (if applicable).

Foreign organization
Depending on the legal form of the organization this could be for example:
– Register of shareholders or similar document
Current and complete (all pages or at least up to and including the first blank page) register of shareholders or similar document.
– (amended)Articles of incorporation/association or similar document
Complete articles of incorporation/association and if applicable the amended articles or similar document.
– Structure chart – only in case of indirect shareholding – including the following:
– Of all natural persons:
1. full name (as stated in passport)
2. country of residence
3. date of birth
– Of all entities:
1. full name
2. country of residence
– All percentages of shareholding
– Date and signature of the director confirming that the structure chart reflects the current situation (not older than three months);

• Extract of the Trade Register or similar document
  In case the organization is not registered in the Aruban Trade Register: (of all the entities included in the structure chart until up to the natural person(s) (possibly but not necessary UBO) or until it appears that there is no longer an indirect shareholding of more than 25%), an extract of the Trade Register or similar (for example a certificate of Good Standing or a Certificate of Incumbency), not older than three months.

Limited partnership (in Dutch: Commanditaire vennootschap or CV)
– Complete and signed partnership/CV contract including amendments (if applicable).

Cooperative (in Dutch: Coöperatie)
– (amended)Articles of incorporation/association
Complete articles of incorporation/association and if applicable the amended articles.

Foundation (in Dutch: Stichting)
– (amended)Articles of incorporation/association
Complete articles of incorporation/association and if applicable the amended articles.

Trust Office Foundation (in Dutch: Stichting administratiekantoor or STAK)

• (amended)Articles of incorporation/association
  Complete articles of incorporation/association and if applicable the amended articles.
• Register of certificate holders
  Current and complete (all pages or at least up to and including the first blank page) register of certificate holders.
• (amended)Terms and conditions of administration
  Complete terms and conditions of administration and if applicable the amended terms and conditions.

Association (in Dutch: Vereniging)

• (amended)Articles of incorporation/association
  Complete articles of incorporation/association and if applicable the amended articles.

Mutual Insurance Company (in Dutch: Onderlinge Waarborgmaatschappij or OWM)

• (amended)Articles of incorporation/association
  Complete articles of incorporation/association and if applicable the amended articles.

Trust

• (amended)Deed of trust
  Complete deed of trust and if applicable the amended deed.

Please note:
When registering the UBO(s) of your organization you must always fill out/upload the minimum required information and documents as mentioned above that applies to the legal form of your organization. For example, if you determine an UBO based on ‘Effective control’, you must always provide us – in addition to the documents showing the ‘Effective control’ – with all the information and documents as mentioned under Required data and documents to register the UBO(s) of your organization

The following persons are legally responsible for UBO registration at the Chamber of Commerce:

• Owner of a business.
• Every director of a legal entity.
• Every partner of a partnership (with exception to the silent/limited partners)
• Trustee
• The notary where the incorporation took place (meaning incorporations as of January 1^st, 2023)

If none of the above-mentioned persons are residents of Aruba, then the obligation to register shifts to the person who acts on behalf of the legal entity on a daily basis.

In principle, the UBO registration must be done and signed by the person who, on behalf of the entity, has the signatory authority (tekenbevoegdheid). In general, this is the director(s) of the legal entity. If you, as the authorized signatory, give power of attorney to a third party to submit and sign the UBO registration form, then this person must also provide his/her information (please see, Required data and documents to register the UBO(s) of your organization for more information). The person who will submit and sign the UBO registration form must also upload a scan of his/her valid passport or Aruban cedula (only applicable for residents of Aruba) together with the signed power of attorney to the registration.

To register the UBO(s) of your organization, you will need certain documents and information (please see Required data and documents to register the UBO(s) of your organization), including (personal) information of the UBO(s). The UBO(s) of your organization are legally obliged to provide you with all the necessary information to comply with your obligation to register your UBO(s).

Please prepare well so that you can register the UBO(s) in one go!

The Chamber of Commerce provides below a step-by-step plan to prepare for the digital UBO registration. It is very important to go through all the steps so that you can complete the UBO registration in one try.

Follow these steps to register the UBO(s) of your enterprise, partnership, legal entity, and/or trust:

1. Go to arubachamber.com
2. Click on ‘My Chamber’
3. Log in to your account. If you don’t have an account yet, please see Creating a new account for more information
4. On your dashboard you will find a tab named ‘UBO registration’. Click on this tab and then click on the enterprise, partnership, legal entity and/or trust whose UBO(s) you want to register

The digital UBO form will then open. This form consists of a maximum of 5 steps and must be digitally signed by the director(s) to complete the registration. If you do not have all the necessary information and documentation to complete the registration, you can save the form by clicking the ‘Save for later’ button so that you can continue with the registration later. Please keep in mind that our system will save the information only for one week.

Please note: The Chamber of Commerce reserves the right to request additional information and/or documents to verify the data and/or documents provided. In this case you will receive an e-mail regarding this.

The UBO is also the director of the organization

Step 1 Details of the organization

Please check whether the KvK-number and the name of the organization corresponds to the organization for which you want to complete a UBO registration and then click ‘Start’.

Step 2 Data of the UBO

Please fill in all required information about the UBO(s) of your organization. For instructions when filling in the form, please refer to the ‘?’. If you have more than one UBO, please click on ‘+ Would you like to register another UBO?’, as all UBO(s) of an organization must be registered through one form.

Step 3 Signature

To complete the request for the registration of the UBO(s), the request must be signed by the director of your organization. The director will receive a request from us to sign the form via e-mail.

Please note: Please use an e-mail address with which the Chamber of Commerce can also correspond with you in the future. The UBO register is not public, so we suggest you save the form you signed so that you can see what information you have registered.

Step 4 Attachments

Lastly, you must upload the necessary documents that will allow us to verify your registration. please see, Required data and documents to register the UBO(s) of your organization for more information of the necessary documents.

The UBO is not also the director of the organization

Step 1 Details of the organization

Please check whether the KvK-number and the name of the organization corresponds to the organization of which you want to complete a UBO registration and then click ‘Start’.

Step 2 Data of the UBO

Please fill in all required information about the UBO(s) of your organization. For instructions when filling in the form, please refer to the ‘?’. If you have more than one UBO, please click on ‘+ Would you like to register another UBO?’, as all UBO(s) of an organization must be registered through one form.

Step 3 Declarant’s details

Please fill in all the necessary information of the director of your organization.

Please note: If the director has given power of attorney to you as a UBO or a third party, the authorized representative will need to fill in his/her information.

Step 4 Signature

To complete the request for the registration of the UBO(s), the request must be signed by the director of your organization (or the authorized representative through a power of attorney). The director (or the authorized representative through a power of attorney) will receive a request from us to sign the form via e-mail.

Please note: Please use an e-mail address with which the Chamber of Commerce can also correspond with you in the future. The UBO register is not public, so we suggest you save the form you signed so that you can see what information you have registered.

Step 5 attachments

Lastly, you must upload the necessary documents that will allow us to verify your registration. please see, Required data and documents to register the UBO(s) of your organization for more information of the necessary documents.

When logging in for the first time on/or after January 15, 2024:

1. Go to arubachamber.com and click on My Chamber. Alternatively, you can go to the URL my.arubachamber.com
2. On the login page, click on “Nu registreren” (Sign up now)
3. Please fill in your email address and click “verificatiecode verzenden” (send verification code)
4. You will receive a code in your email
5. Next, fill in the code and click “code verifiëren” (verify code)
6. Please create your desired password for using the My Chamber account or use your existing password (consisting of at least 8 digits, at least one capital letter, one lowercase letter, a number and a special character)
7. Fill in the name and surname you want to appear on the My Chamber profile and click “maken” (create)
8. Next, choose the country code corresponding to your phone number
9. Enter your phone number and click “code verzenden” (send code). This phone number will be used every time you log in to your My Chamber account
10. Fill in the code received via SMS and click “code verifiëren” (verify code). Now you can access your My Chamber account.

For more information, please see our video in the following link: https://arubachamber.com/pages/multi-factor-authentication/

The private data of UBOs in the UBO register are not public. Only certain (government)organizations have access to the UBO data. For more information about this, please see Inspection of the UBO register.

Authorized authorities, the Central Bank of Aruba, the FIU-Aruba, the Public Prosecution Service (Openbare Ministerie Aruba), the Tax Authorities (de Belastingdienst), the Gaming Authority (de Kansspelautoriteit), the Aruba Police Corps (het Korps Politie Aruba) and the National Central Bureau for Counterterrorism, Security, and Interpol (NCTVI) can view (for a fee) all information and documents in the UBO register.

In addition to the authorized authorities, Lwtf service providers, such as banks, accountants, lawyers, tax specialists, insurance companies, notaries and trust offices, can request extracts (for a fee) containing certain information (name, month of birth, year of birth, state of residence, nationality and the nature and extent of the interest) in the UBO register. However, the Lwtf service providers may only receive an extract if they act in the context of their customer due diligence. When conducting customer due diligence, the Lwtf service providers may not rely solely on the information obtained from the UBO register and must also collect information themselves.

The Chamber of Commerce will provide the data of the UBO, to the extent requested based on the tasks of the aforementioned authorities and service providers, without informing the UBO.

The UBO can request the Chamber of Commerce to inform him/her on how often his/her data has been accessed by the Lwtf service providers (and thus except for access by the authorized authorities).

Please note: Because the information from the UBO register is only accessible to the authorized authorities and the Lwtf service providers in the context of their due diligence, you cannot view the UBO register yourself. We therefore advise you to save the digital from that you have filled in, so that you can always see the details and who you have specified as UBO(s) of your organization.

The law imposes a duty of confidentiality on anyone who is allowed to view or request an extract of the UBO data and documents from the UBO register, with the exception of any legal provisions that oblige him to disclose or if the need to disclose arises from his task.

The UBO register is not public, this means only authorized authorities and Lwtf service providers have access to (certain) information from the UBO register. For more information, please see Inspection of the UBO register

In principle, both the authorized authorities (except the Central Bank of Aruba and the FIU-Aruba) and the Lwtf service providers have the duty to the so called ‘terugmeldplicht’: this is the obligation to report back any discrepancy that they may encounter between the information that they have gathered about the UBO(s) of a particular organization (for example, through their own research) and the information about the UBO(s) of the organization in question obtained from the UBO register. Should they encounter any discrepancies, this must be reported to the Chamber of Commerce (via ubo@arubachamber.com). Think, for example, about persons who can be regarded as UBO but who have not been registered as UBO in the UBO register, or persons who have incorrectly been registered as UBO in the UBO register, or if the nature and/or the percentage of the interest has been registered incorrectly in the UBO register.

Exception to the duty to report

The duty of the authorized authorities to report back does not apply if this will unnecessarily interfere with their statutory task and/or authority, such as a criminal investigation by the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie Aruba). The Lwtf service providers’ duty to report back does not apply if the Lwtf service provider reports a completed/performed or intended unusual transaction to FIU-Aruba.

The steps needed to be taken by your organization after it has gotten a report

After receiving a report, the Chamber of Commerce will contact the director (or authorized representative) of the relevant organization to indicate that a discrepancy has been reported and will request the organization to:

• To confirm whether the information currently stated in the UBO register is sufficient, accurate and up to date and therefore the report is unjustified, or
• To confirm that the previous registration was filled in incorrectly (by mistake) or that changes have taken place but that these have not (yet) been reported to the Chamber of Commerce and that the report is therefore justified. In that case, the Chamber of Commerce will give the organization in question a period to redo the registration. For more information about reporting changes within your organization, please see Deadline UBO registration.

The possible consequences for your organization

If you have confirmed that the UBO information as registered is sufficient, accurate and up to date and that the report is justified, the Chamber of Commerce will notify this to the Minister of Economic Affairs through the intervention of the Department of Economic Affairs, Commerce and Industry of Aruba (DEACI). If, after investigation, it turns out that the report was justified, this may lead to a fine.

If you have confirmed that the UBO information as registered has been registered incorrectly (by mistake) or that changes have taken place but that these have not (yet) been passed on to the Chamber of Commerce and that the report is therefore correct and nevertheless you do not respond to the request of the Chamber of Commerce to redo the registration, the Chamber of Commerce will inform DEACI of this, which may result in a fine.

This also applies if you do not register the UBO(s) of your organization in its entirety or do not register in a timely manner. For more information, please see Consequences of not registering on time, incorrectly or incompletely

The data and documents can be viewed for up to ten years after deregistration of the enterprise, legal entity or trust in the Trade Register. After this, the Chamber of Commerce no longer needs to keep the data.

Your UBO registration has been processed by the Chamber of Commerce

If the UBO registration has been processed by the Chamber of Commerce, the portal user (the person who logs in to your organization’s My Chamber account to register the UBOs) will receive a notification in his/her inbox. If a third party, for example the notary, has registered the UBO(s) of your organization, you can verify whether the UBO registration has been processed by clicking on the ‘UBO registration’ button in your My Chamber account. A check mark will appear next to the name of your company if the registration has been processed. Your registration can only be processed if the filled in information on our digital form could be verified based on the data and documents you provide.

Your UBO registration is incomplete and/or incorrect

If your UBO registration cannot be verified by the Chamber of Commerce based on the data and documents you submit, the portal user (the person who logs into your organization’s My Chamber account to register the UBOs) will receive a notification in his/her My Chamber inbox that the UBO registration has been rejected. The portal user and/or the director of the organization will also receive an email stating the reason why the UBO registration cannot (yet) be processed. If adjustments need to be made on the digital form, the Chamber of Commerce will send a link in the My Chamber account of the organization with which the digital form can be adjusted. The form must in this case be signed again and all attachments will have to be re-uploaded. The link will only be valid for one week. If a third party, for example the notary, has registered the UBO(s) of your organization, you can contact your notary to see why your registration has not (yet) been processed and/or whether additional documents are required. If only certain information and/or documents are missing to verify your UBO registration without the digital form having to be adjusted, the Chamber of Commerce will request the portal user to send us the missing information/documents via e-mail together with his/her express request to the Chamber of Commerce to add these to the registration. Since the UBO register is, in principle, not public (and cannot be viewed by anyone, including yourself, except for certain authorized authorities and Lwtf service providers), the Chamber of Commerce is not allowed to add documents without explicit request. After the Chamber of Commerce has sent an email with instruction to the portal user, he/she will have one month to send the documents so that we can verify the UBO(s) and to process the registration. It is important to keep an eye on your e-mail and your My Chamber account, as the portal user will have one month (from the date of the email sent by the Chamber of Commerce) to send the necessary information and documents. After this time has expired the registration will (automatically) be rejected by the system meaning that you will have to do a completely new registration.

Please note: Depending on the content of the requested documents, the Chamber of Commerce may require additional documents to verify your UBO registration.

The processing time of your UBO registration

In principle, your UBO registration will be controlled by the Chamber of Commerce within one month of your registration. The registration will therefore in principle be processed within one month unless the Chamber of Commerce cannot verify the registration made based on the information and/or documents you have provided.

The UBO register is not public and only certain (government) organizations have access to the UBO data. For more information, please see Inspection of the UBO register

The Lwtf service providers can, for a fee, request extracts containing certain information (name, month of birth, year of birth, state of residence, nationality and the nature and percentage of the interest) from the UBO register, providing that they act in the context of their customer due diligence. When conducting customer due diligence, the Lwtf service providers may not rely solely on the information obtained from the UBO register and must also collect information themselves.

How to request a UBO extract as a Lwtf service provider

The Chamber of Commerce provides below a step-by-step plan to prepare for the digital request for UBO extract. It is very important to go through all the steps so that you can complete the extract application in one try.

Please follow these steps to request the UBO extract:

1. Go to arubachamber.com
2. Click on ‘My Chamber’
3. Log in to your account. If you don’t have an account yet, please see Creating a new account for more information
4. Click on your profile icon and then click on the link ‘Machtiging tot aanvragen voor bestellen van UBO-uittreksel’ to open the digital application form.

Please note: It is important that the account you use to log in to your ‘My Chamber’ is linked to the Lwtf service provider organization. If your account is not linked to the Lwtf service provider organization, you will not be able to request a UBO extract. If you need assistance with this, please contact support@arubachamber.com.

After clicking on the above mentioned link, you will land on the digital UBO application form page. This form consists of 3 steps and must be digitally signed by the director(s)/authorized signatory to complete the application.

Step 1 Request (Aanvraag)

Please fill in all the necessary information of the applicant of your organization. For instructions when filling in the form, please refer to the ‘?’.

Step 2 Signature (Ondertekenen)

Please fill in all the necessary information of the person who will sign the form. After completing the digital form and uploading the required documents, you will receive a digital request by email to sign the form. The Chamber of Commerce will only receive the application request after the form has been signed.

Step 3 Attachments (Bijlagen)

Lastly, you must upload the necessary documents that will allow us to verify your application. The following documents must be uploaded:

• Applicant identification: Clear scan of applicant’s passport (must be valid). For residents of Aruba a valid passport or Aruban cedula (front and back copy) will suffice.
• Applicant’s proof of address: Clear scan of proof of address (not older than 3 months). For residents of Aruba an extract from the Population Register (Censo papel di 5 florin, not older than 3 months) will suffice. For non-residents of Aruba you can upload a utility bill, bank statement, driver’s license or municipality extract (name, address and date must be visible on the proof of address).
• Documentation stating the Tax Identification Number (TIN) of the applicant: Clear scan of document stating the personal number (persoonsnummer DIMP Aruba), Burger Service Nummer (BSN) or TIN.
• Director identification: Clear scan of director’s passport. For residents of Aruba a valid passport or Aruban cedula (front and back copy) will suffice.
• Written power of attorney (if applicable): Clear scan of written power of attorney showing that the authorized signatory has granted permission to the applicant to request UBO extracts.

Please note: You will need to provide us with proof that the extract is for your customer due diligence, you will receive a notification regarding this in your My Chamber account.

When logging in for the first time on/or after January 15, 2024:

11. Go to arubachamber.com and click on My Chamber. Alternatively, you can go to the URL my.arubachamber.com
12. On the login page, click on “Nu registreren” (Sign up now)
13. Please fill in your email address and click “verificatiecode verzenden” (send verification code)
14. You will receive a code in your email
15. Next, fill in the code and click “code verifiëren” (verify code)
16. Please create your desired password for using the My Chamber account or use your existing password (consisting of at least 8 digits, at least one capital letter, one lowercase letter, a number and a special character)
17. Fill in the name and surname you want to appear on the My Chamber profile and click “maken” (create)
18. Next, choose the country code corresponding to your phone number
19. Enter your phone number and click “code verzenden” (send code). This phone number will be used every time you log in to your My Chamber account
20. Fill in the code received via SMS and click “code verifiëren” (verify code). Now you can access your My Chamber account.

For more information, please see our video in the following link: https://arubachamber.com/pages/multi-factor-authentication/