Anti-money laundering

Handelshuurloket and its lawyers are subject to obligations under the Belgian Act of 18 September 2017 and the Act of 11 January 1993, both aimed at preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism. These laws impose essential obligations to safeguard the integrity of the financial system and of our professional practice. The obligations are explained below.

Identification, verification and vigilance

When entering into a new client relationship, our lawyers are required to identify and verify clients. This means we must request copies of identity documents and other relevant records and retain them for ten years. Our firm may use external electronic databases to carry out these checks. The client bears these costs.

Throughout the client relationship we remain vigilant and may periodically require additional information. This obligation applies not only to our direct clients but also to their representatives and ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs).

Nature of the engagement

We always discuss the nature of the engagement to determine whether anti-money laundering legislation applies. For engagements involving financial operations or real estate transactions, we are required to carry out an in-depth identity investigation. This includes, among other things:

Acting in another person’s name in financial or real estate transactions.
Assisting with the purchase or sale of real estate or businesses.
Managing funds, securities or other assets.
Opening or managing bank or securities accounts.
Incorporating, operating or managing companies, trusts or fiduciary arrangements.

Ultimate beneficial owners (UBO)

We are required to identify the ultimate beneficial owners of our clients. This means we must ascertain which natural persons exercise decisive influence over a company, such as shareholders holding at least 25% of the shares. If those shareholders are themselves legal entities, we must identify the chain of ownership up to the natural persons who ultimately exercise control.

Client cooperation

The client’s cooperation is essential to comply with these legal obligations. If the requested information is not provided, we are legally required to terminate the business relationship or not to enter into it at all. We therefore ask you to inform us in good time of any changes in your situation.

Data handling

We guarantee complete discretion with regard to all information entrusted to us. This information is shared only where the law requires us to do so. Our professional privilege remains fully in force. When processing personal data we comply with applicable privacy legislation, in accordance with our Privacy policy.