Companies engaging in areas of activity subject to special requirements must register with the Register of Economic Activities (REA). These areas of activity are set forth in legislation. Companies registered with the REA need to renew their registration by 15 April each year. Failure to do so will result in deletion of the company from the register and prohibition from operating in the area of activity.

      

      Under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act, all financial service providers not supervised by the Financial Inspectorate were required to register with the REA by 15 June 2008. Areas of activity requiring registration include, e.g., currency exchange, and payment services. In addition to the planned area of activity, financial institutions are required to inform the registrar of their place of business and actual beneficiaries. For the purposes of identifying actual beneficiaries, all beneficiaries must be specified to the registrar, from the owners of the service provider through to any natural persons as beneficiaries.

      

      If a company fails to confirm its registration in due time, its registration will be suspended. If the company further fails to fi le confirmation within six months from suspension, the company will be deleted from the REA. Failure to register or to confirm registration may result in a fine of up to EEK 50,000 (EUR 3,195).