إلزام الجمعيات الأهلية بجمع معلومات دقيقة عن «المستفيد الحقيقي»

The rules of the "Real Beneficiary of Associations and Non-Profit Institutions," which were approved by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, require associations and institutions to collect sufficient, accurate, and updated information about the real beneficiary, retain it, and disclose it to the National Center for the Development of the Non-Profit Sector. The center is to include this information in the real beneficiary register.

These rules define the real beneficiary as a person or persons with natural status who possess or exercise effective final control, directly or indirectly, over the association or non-profit institution.

The aim of these rules is to enhance the transparency of the non-profit sector, regulate the procedures for disclosing information about the real beneficiary and recording it in the register, and strengthen compliance with local and international requirements. The rules apply to associations and non-profit institutions, including family and charitable funds, in accordance with the provisions of the system.

According to the rules, an association or non-profit institution established before the issuance of these rules is obligated to disclose information about the real beneficiary to the center within 30 days. Additionally, an association or institution established after the enforcement of the rules is required to disclose information about its real beneficiary to the center as part of the establishment procedures.

In all cases, the association or non-profit institution that has previously disclosed information about the real beneficiary is obligated to inform the center of any changes to the information within 10 days of the change occurring.

According to the rules, a real beneficiary of the association or non-profit institution is considered to be any natural person who is a member of the board of directors of an association, a member of the board of trustees of an institution, an executive officer of an association or institution, or someone in a leadership position, or any natural person who has the authority to appoint or dismiss the executive officer or those in leadership positions in the association or institution, or who exercises, directly or indirectly, control over the public activities of the association or institution for the center to review or record any documents or information about the real beneficiary of the association.

If a member of the board of directors or board of trustees is a legal person, the real beneficiary in this case is considered to be the natural person who is deemed to be the real beneficiary of the legal person, as stipulated by the relevant laws and regulations.

The rules stipulate that the National Center for the Development of the Non-Profit Sector shall establish a register of real beneficiaries, which will include the data of the association and institution, the data of the real beneficiary for each, the date of registration, and any updates that occur.

The executive officer of the association or institution shall be responsible for providing sufficient, accurate, and updated information about the real beneficiary, and must take all necessary measures to verify this before submitting it to the National Center for the Development of the Non-Profit Sector.

The rules allow the center to request access to or record any documents or information about the real beneficiary from the association or institution, and the association or institution must respond to the request within a maximum of 5 days from the date of the request, cooperating with the center to identify the real beneficiary.