Amendment to the AML Act introduces new obligations for obliged entities and entrepreneurs

The amendment also introduces changes to the Trade Licensing Act and other related legislation. It is a significant reform that will affect the functioning of obliged entities as well as entrepreneurs in selected sectors. Below is an overview of the most important changes and their key practical implications.

Verification of Information on the Client’s Ultimate Beneficial Owners

When carrying out customer due diligence, obliged entities will now be required in all cases to verify information relating to the identification of the client’s ultimate beneficial owners from reliable sources. At the same time, the amendment explicitly provides that obliged entities may not rely solely on the Register of Legal Entities.

Before the amendment entered into force, the obligation to verify such information from another reliable source arose only where, on the basis of a risk assessment, there was a higher risk of money laundering or terrorist financing.

Extension of the Definition of Ultimate Beneficial Owner

The amendment extends the definition of ultimate beneficial owners in relation to asset associations and foreign trusts. In the case of asset associations, the circle of persons considered to be ultimate beneficial owners is broadened in particular to include persons exercising actual control over the assets of the association through direct or indirect ownership or by other means. In the case of foreign trusts, the status of future beneficiaries and the circle of persons who benefit from the establishment or operation of the trust are specified in more detail.

Possibility Not to Continue with Standard Customer Due Diligence

An obliged entity will have the option not to continue with standard customer due diligence in relation to a client if it suspects that the client is preparing or conducting an unusual business transaction and there are grounds to believe that further application of standard customer due diligence measures could reveal this suspicion to the client. In such a case, the obliged entity must proceed in accordance with the provisions of the AML Act on reporting an unusual business transaction. In the report, it must also set out the circumstances and reasons for not carrying out standard customer due diligence to an extent that allows an assessment of the appropriateness of this approach, and indicate the scope of standard customer due diligence that was not performed.

Extension of Identification Obligations

Following the entry into force of the amendment, the identification obligations in respect of legal entities and asset associations have been extended. Obliged entities will also be required to obtain the names and surnames of the members of their governing bodies. An obliged entity will therefore no longer identify only the legal entity itself and the persons authorised to act on its behalf, but also the persons forming its management structure.

Reporting Unusual Business Transactions and Registration in the “goAML” System

Reports of unusual business transactions must now be submitted via the information system of the Police Force designated for the receipt and analysis of reports (known in practice as the Financial Intelligence Unit’s “goAML” system). If this system is not operational, the report must be submitted in another electronic form that ensures the confidentiality of the information.

Registration in this system is mandatory. Obliged entities that held such status as at 1 June 2026 must register by 30 November 2026. Entities that acquire the status of obliged entity later must register within 30 days from the date on which they acquire this status.

Establishment of the Register of Foreign Trusts

The amendment establishes a Register of Foreign Trusts as an information system of public administration. The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic will be the administrator and operator of the register, while registration and changes to registered data will be carried out by district offices in the seats of regions.

A foreign trust must be entered in the register within the statutory deadlines if its trustee:

• has a permanent residence, other residence, place of business or registered office in the Slovak Republic,
• intends to establish, in the name of the trust, a business relationship with an obliged entity, or
• intends to acquire, for the benefit of the trust, real estate located in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

This obligation does not apply if the trust is registered in an equivalent register in another Member State.

Record‑Keeping of Assets Managed by Foreign Trusts

A trustee of a foreign trust who has a permanent residence, other residence, place of business or registered office in the territory of the Slovak Republic will be obliged to keep and continuously update records on the assets under management for a period of at least five years. This is a new obligation for trustees of foreign trusts with a nexus to the territory of the Slovak Republic, aimed at ensuring the availability of information on the assets under management.

Requirement of Integrity of Ultimate Beneficial Owners for Selected Trades

The amendment to the Trade Licensing Act introduces a specific impediment to carrying on selected trades by legal entities whose ultimate beneficial owner is not of good repute (i.e. does not meet the requirement of integrity).

This applies to the following trades:

a) intermediation of the sale, lease and purchase of real estate (real estate agency activities),

b) bookkeeping,

c) trades under which a person may be provided for business companies to act as a statutory body, member of a statutory body, a person directly subordinate to a statutory body or its member, a commercial proxy, head of an organisational unit of a branch or other organisational unit of an enterprise, liquidator, or a person in a similar position for other legal entities,

d) trades under which a registered office, registered address, service address and other related services may be provided for legal entities and special‑purpose asset associations, irrespective of their legal personality, that manage and distribute financial resources.

Legal entities that obtained a trade licence for these activities by 31 May 2026 are required to bring their legal relationships into conformity with this rule by 30 September 2026. In practice, this will mainly mean verifying the integrity of ultimate beneficial owners and, where necessary, adjusting the ownership and management structure, or terminating the carrying on of the relevant trade if the integrity requirement is not met.

Register of Legal Entities and Accessibility of Data on Ultimate Beneficial Owners

The administration of the Register of Legal Entities, Entrepreneurs and Public Authorities will be transferred from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic. At the same time, the regime governing access to data on ultimate beneficial owners will change. These data will no longer be publicly accessible; access will be restricted to entities expressly defined by law. Other persons will only be granted access if they demonstrate a legitimate interest in accordance with the Act on the Register of Legal Entities, Entrepreneurs and Public Authorities. Entrepreneurs should therefore expect that obtaining information on the ultimate beneficial owners of other entities may become more administratively burdensome.

Changes in the Area of Implementation of International Sanctions

The amendment also affects the legal framework for the implementation of international sanctions. It extends the possibility to impose forfeiture of property in relation to certain administrative offences linked to the application of international sanctions, and adjusts the competence of authorities and implementing entities, as well as the rules on remedies.

For breaches of obligations under the AML Act, obliged entities may be subject to significant penalties, up to double the amount of the unlawful benefit obtained or EUR 1,000,000 (whichever is higher), and in the case of banks and financial institutions up to EUR 5,000,000 or 10% of total annual turnover.

In practice, obliged entities should therefore appropriately adjust their internal procedures and documentation, set up processes to reflect the new obligations, and ensure that responsible employees understand these changes and are able to implement them in their day‑to‑day work.