Honduras: Preparation for new beneficial ownership law
A new law creates a centralized final beneficial ownership registry with registration, update, and compliance requirements.
The Law on Transparency and Centralized Registry of Final Beneficiaries on July 3, 2026, was published in the official gazette, creating the Centralized Registry of Final Beneficiaries (RCBF), administered by the National Commission of Banks and Insurance (CNBS).
This law introduces new obligations for the identification, documentation and registration of beneficial owners for commercial companies and other legal structures subject to the regulations.
Highlights
Among other aspects, the law establishes:
- Obligation to identify and register natural persons who directly or indirectly own 25% or more of an entity
- Obligation to identify persons who exercise effective control, even without a significant shareholding
- Report of the chain of ownership and control structure of the entity
- Inclusion of trusts and other legal structures within the scope of the regulation
- Creation of a sanctioning regime administered by the CNBS
- Obligation to convert bearer shares into registered shares
Information to report
The regulations include, among other requirements:
- Name and identification of the final beneficiary
- Nationality and domicile
- Registro Tributario Nacional (RTN), when applicable
- Percentage of participation or control criterion
- Chain of ownership or control structure
- Date from which it holds the status of final beneficiary
- Supporting documentation
Deployment timeline
- The CNBS has six months to enable the RCBF
- The obligated entities will have four months from the authorization of the registry to make the initial registration.
- The information must be updated annually no later than May 30 of each year.
- Changes in the reported information must be notified within 10 business days of the month following the month in which they occurred.
Sanctioning regime
Failure to comply with the obligations to register, update or verify the information may result in penalties between 20 and 500 minimum wages, in addition to additional sanctions in the event of a repeat offense.
KPMG observation
Although the registry has not yet been enabled by the CNBS, companies can now begin a review of their ownership and control structures, the identification of beneficial owners and the compilation of the necessary supporting documentation to comply with the new obligations in a timely manner.
For more information, contact a KPMG tax professional in Honduras:
Luis Zelaya | lzelaya@kpmg.com