The Amendment to the Trade Licensing Act within the Measures against the Legalization of Proceeds from Crime and Terrorist Financing

On 1 January 2021, the Act No. 527/2020 Coll., amending the Act No. 253/2008 Coll., on Certain Measures against the Legalization of Proceeds from Crime and Terrorist Financing as amended and other related acts, acts related to the adoption of the Act on the Registration of Beneficial Owners and Act No. 186/2016 Coll., on Gambling, as amended, entered into force. This Act amends also the Act No. 455/1991 Coll., on Trade Licensing (Trade Licensing Act), as amended.

The Trade Licensing Act includes now new areas of activity of so-called unqualified trade; specifically area No. 80 - Provision of services for legal entities and trust funds (activities like providing the “address” of seat for legal entities, establishing of legal entities and trust funds etc.) and area No. 81 - Provision of services related to virtual assets (activities like purchase, sale, storing, administration, conversion or brokering of the purchase or sale of virtual assets etc.).

The amendment also incorporates new Annex No. 6 into the Trade Licensing Act, that includes list of trades and areas of unqualified trade the performance of which by a legal entity requires good character on the part of that entity’s real owner and persons who are members of its statutory body, representatives of the legal entity in that body or persons with a similar status to that of a member of the statutory body. The list is following: unqualified trades in the area of activity “Provision of services for legal entities and trust funds” and “Provision of services related to virtual assets” and professional trade “Accounting consulting, bookkeeping, tax accounting”. The non-fulfilment of the requirement of good character (clean record) means impediment to carrying on of this trade / area of activity.

This amendment to the Trade Licensing Act constitutes part of the package of further amended acts introduced within the complex revision of the issue concerning action against the legalization of proceeds from crime and terrorist financing. The National legislation is implementing herewith the requirements of the EU legislation, namely so called IV. AML Directive and V. AML Directive and as well as implementing recommendations for the Czech Republic resulting from the evaluation of the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism – (MONEYVAL), which is independent monitoring body of the Council of Europe.