FAQs

The transparency register is a central database that lists the beneficial owner(s) of virtually all companies in Germany.

The transparency register is intended to show who is behind a company and thus prevent or hinder illegal money laundering.

If you fail to comply with your registration obligation, you may face heavy fines. Depending on the case, these can range up to EUR 100,000 or, in the case of intentional violations, up to EUR 150,000. The same applies to the registration of false data. In the event of data inconsistencies, you can also expect to receive so-called discrepancy reports, to which you must respond within a short period of time, as fines may also be imposed.

Please note that final decisions on fines are also published on the website of the Federal Administrative Office (so-called naming and shaming) and may therefore have an impact on your reputation.

Of course, you can create an account yourself and enter your data yourself (www.transparenzregister.de). However, we not only take care of the registration for you, but also provide proof of registration and ongoing monitoring. This allows you to reliably avoid fines.

The transparency register expects your data in the register to be up to date at all times. Changes must therefore be reported “without delay.” If data is incorrect (or no longer correct), the register sends out “inconsistency reports,” which you must then correct. To avoid this hassle, we offer our service with regular follow-ups. This allows you to prove that you have taken care of the matter.

As things stand at present, transparency register notifications constitute legal advice. That is why we provide this service as a law firm. Of course, you can also create an account yourself and enter your data yourself (www.transparenzregister.de). As a law firm, we not only take care of the registration for you, but also provide legally compliant proof of the entry and ongoing monitoring. This allows you to reliably avoid fines.

YSolutions is a unit of the law and tax consulting firm YPOG. YSolutions provides software-supported legal services that are efficient, cost-effective, and reliable.

Monitoring ensures that the data in the transparency register is always up to date and correct. Example: A shareholder of a limited liability company (GmbH) with a capital share of >25% moves from Wiesbaden to Mainz. An updated list of shareholders has not yet been entered in the commercial register, and we have not been notified of the change. The resubmission feature then allows you to check data that is no longer up to date in the transparency register. This enables you to demonstrate that you have a system in place that enforces regular checks. In addition, we usually detect such changes before you do by querying databases on a daily basis and notify you of the change that needs to be reported.

If the beneficial owner (BO) does not communicate anything to you, you cannot forward anything to us. According to the logic of the law, the obligation to report to the transparency register always lies with the company and not with the BO. However, according to the law, the BO has a duty to proactively report changes in their data to the companies in which they are a BO. If the company is not informed, it is not the company that commits the administrative offense, but the beneficial owner. In this case, you can at least be sure that you can prove that you regularly check the status (time stamp!) and report what you know using a resubmission logic.

For maintaining the transparency register, the registry authority charges an annual basic fee in accordance with Section 24 (1), (3) GwG in conjunction with Section 1 of the Transparency Register Fees Ordinance (TrGebV) in conjunction with No. 1 of Annex 1 TrGebV from associations pursuant to Section 20 (1) GwG and legal arrangements pursuant to Section 21 GwG. Please refer to the Transparency Register Fee Regulation for exact fees.

The fees are payable by companies that are required to publish their annual financial statements, i.e., corporations and GmbH&Co KGs, together with the invoice for disclosure (i.e., not to the contact email address stored in the transparency register) and, if not subject to disclosure, e.g., KG, OHG, BGB company, foundation, association, by fee notice.

Have you received a discrepancy report because your transparency register entry is incorrect? It is best to contact the experts at YSolutions right away—also to avoid fines.
If you prefer to correct the entry yourself, please note: The incorrect reports and the relevant reporting periods must first be identified before the correct data can be reported. Even minor details can be sources of error: a missing middle name or additional nationality can trigger a discrepancy report. The same applies to an outdated place of residence, different spellings of the name, or unreported changes in capital participation in the decimal range.

Doing it yourself is not only a tedious task, it also requires familiarization and engagement with the topic and ultimately always carries the risk of incorrect details – and thus incorrect registry entries. The topic should be taken seriously: for legislators, the transparency register is becoming the most important tool in the fight against money laundering.
The best thing to do is to contact YSolutions. Here, the expert know-how of lawyers is combined with smart software. At a fixed price.

Yes. Many people believe that they have fulfilled all their obligations by reporting the beneficial owners of their company. However, the legislator has also imposed extensive research, documentation, and updating obligations. Violations of the regulations may be punished with heavy fines in the coming year.

What does this mean? You must regularly check whether the information is still correct—and document this regularly. If you do not want to or cannot rely on your employees to do this, or if you rightly believe that your employees have more important things to do, then have it done by experts for your own safety: YSolutions combines the expert know-how of lawyers with intelligent software. At a fixed price.

Since July 2023, all transition periods have expired, and fines may be imposed for incorrect transparency register entries. These can range up to EUR 100,000 or, in the case of intentional violations, up to EUR 150,000. The same applies to the entry of incorrect data. Therefore: The transparency register entry must be correct, the entry must be documented, and the company must ensure that the data is regularly checked for accuracy.

Our advice: Do not report false or incomplete data, document the entry, and regularly monitor the accuracy of the data. For your own safety, it is better to have this done by professionals: YSolutions combines the expert know-how of lawyers with smart software. At a fixed price.

Simply registering is not enough, because the legislator has also imposed extensive research, documentation, and updating obligations on companies. Violations of the regulations can result in heavy fines.
The dilemma for many companies is that doing it themselves is tedious, ultimately requires more training and familiarization with the topic, and ultimately carries the risk of incorrect details and thus errors in the registry entry. What sounds like a trifling matter can quickly become a problem.

This is because the transparency register is being developed into a “sharp sword,” with German lawmakers turning it into the central hub for combating money laundering.
So, it's better not to report any incorrect or incomplete data. This can include even the omission of a middle name or additional nationality. And how do you prove that you check your entry regularly? Because that's also required by law.