Guide
Beneficial owner registration
We determine who your company's beneficial owner is and register them in the Central Register at APR within the legal deadline, with the required supporting documents, and we handle the mandatory annual verification of the data.
Beneficial owner registration is the obligation, for every company and most other registered entities, to identify and enter in the Central Register at the Business Registers Agency (APR) the individual who ultimately owns or controls the business. The aim is for the state and banks always to know who stands behind a company, as part of anti-money-laundering efforts. Under the new Law on the Central Register of Beneficial Owners, which entered into force in March 2025 and is in full application since 1 October 2025, registration is done electronically and within short deadlines, with mandatory uploading of documents and an annual verification of the data. Missing it is not a minor administrative slip, because it carries heavy fines and criminal liability.
What you should know
- The beneficial owner is always an individual who ultimately owns or controls the company, never another company; where the owner is a chain of connected entities, you trace up to the person at the top of the ownership chain.
- The main criterion is holding more than 25 percent of the stake, shares or voting rights, but a person who otherwise has a dominant influence over running the business and making decisions is also treated as a beneficial owner.
- Registration is done exclusively electronically through the APR portal, and the application is signed by the company's representative with a qualified electronic certificate (electronic signature); there is no paper filing, and supporting documents are uploaded with the application.
- Under the new law the deadline to register the beneficial owner of a newly formed entity and to record any change is 30 days from the date the basis arises, that is from the change in the ownership or management structure.
- The new law also introduces an obligation for the company to verify and confirm the accuracy of the registered beneficial owner data once a year, and to keep the documentation on which the owner was determined.
- The consequences of failure are serious: the company faces a fine for the misdemeanor and the responsible person a separate fine, while concealing the beneficial owner, failing to register, or entering false data also carries a prison sentence of up to five years.
How we handle it
- 01 Ownership structure analysis We review your ownership and management structure and determine who qualifies as the beneficial owner by law, even when ownership runs through several connected companies.
- 02 Gathering documentation We prepare and collect the evidence on which the beneficial owner was determined, which the company must keep and upload with the application to prove the accuracy of the data.
- 03 Registration with APR We file the electronic application with the Central Register of Beneficial Owners through the APR portal and sign it with a qualified electronic certificate within the legal 30-day deadline.
- 04 Check and confirmation We verify that the registered data is accurate and consistent with the APR register and provide you with confirmation that the registration was completed.
- 05 Monitoring changes and annual verification We track changes in ownership, governing bodies and management, update the register in good time and carry out the mandatory annual verification of the data, so you never miss the deadline or expose yourself to a penalty.
Company formation
We register your company with APR and handle all tax and banking obligations.
Read moreSole trader, flat-rate or LLC: which to choose
An overview of the three Serbian legal forms (flat-rate sole trader, sole trader on business books, and an LLC) compared by liability, taxation, bookkeeping and capital, so you can pick the form that pays off best for you.
Read moreOpening a company in Serbia for foreigners
Foreign nationals and companies can set up a business in Serbia on the same terms as locals, and we run the whole process from choosing the form to registration and banking, remotely if needed.
Read moreReady to hand your books to the experts?
Book a free 30-minute consultation. No obligations, just a clear plan for your finances.