Germany: "Land Register Goes Transparency Register" – What Land Data Will Be Kept In The Transparency Register As Of 2023

Düsseldorf, November 4, 2022 - On October 26, 2022, the federal cabinet passed a draft law for a second law for the more effective enforcement of sanctions (Sanctions Enforcement Act II). The law is intended to continue and structurally improve the options for enforcing sanctions.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Among other things, the draft law provides for an extension of the information in the transparency register that is relevant for real estate companies: In the future, the transparency register should be in the transparency register with regard to legal entities under private law (e.g. limited liability companies or stock corporations) and registered partnerships (e.g. limited partnerships), who are entitled to real estate in Section I of the are entered in the land register (e.g. as the owner or entitled to leasehold buildings), the following information about the property is recorded:

(i) The competent district court, (ii) the land register district, (iii) all properties entered in the inventory, including districts, fields and parcels of land, and (iv) information on the type (ownership, heritable building right, etc.), scope, beginning and end of the respective authorization.

The required information is to be sent by the land registry to the registry office by July 31, 2023 at the latest with the data as of June 30, 2023. After this deadline, changes to the property-related information should be automatically transmitted to the register-keeping office.

However, a right to inspect the information relating to the land register only exists for certain authorities (e.g. for the criminal prosecution authorities, the Federal Central Tax Office and local financial authorities), but also for credit institutions, financial services institutions, payment institutions and insurance companies in accordance with Section 23 Sentence 1 No. 1 in conjunction with Section 2 para. 1 no. 1-3, 7 GWG and for notaries. Within the framework of the inspection, the draft law also stipulates an obligation for notaries, among others, to report any discrepancies between the information relating to the land register and the transparency register to the office maintaining the register.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.