If you offer certain services to companies, you must be registered with the FPS Economy's Directorate-General for SME Policy. This obligation took effect on 1 September 2018. It is part of the battle against money laundering.
Businesses providing addresses (service providers to companies) must also apply various legal prevention measures against money laundering and for the battle against the financing of terrorism as provided for in the Law of 18 September 2017.
This recommendation (PDF, 237.02KB) aims to help them take that step, in particular by specifying the legal measures to be applied and providing them with various pointers. This allows them to better assess a potentially risky situation.
Download the recommendation (PDF, 237.02KB)
Who is considered to be a provider of company law services?
Any natural or legal person professionally offering one of the following services to third parties:
- participating in the purchase and sale of shares of a company other than a listed company;
- providing a registered office to a company or a legal person, or a similar legal arrangement;
- providing a business, administrative or correspondence address and other related services to a company or a legal entity, or a similar legal arrangement.
List of registered providers
List of registered providers of providers of company law services (CSV, 212.65 KB)
What conditions must be met for registration?
If you are a natural person company, you must meet the following conditions:
- be registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises;
- not be deprived of your political and civil rights;
- have not been declared bankrupt without being rehabilitated;
- have not received, in Belgium or in another Member State of the European Union, a criminal penalty, imprisonment without delay of at least six months or a criminal fine for an infringement concerning a.o. acts of counterfeiting, falsification, use of false documents, corruption, theft, embezzlement, fraud, money laundering or financing terrorism.
If you are a legal person company, you must meet the following conditions:
- be registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises;
- have a statutory management body composed solely of people who meet the last three conditions set out above for natural persons;
- the actual management is carried out, in practice, solely by people who meet the last three conditions set out above for natural persons;
- have ultimate beneficiaries who meet the last three conditions set out above for natural persons;
- have managers and directors who are legally entitled to practise a professional activity in Belgium.
If you also offer domiciliation services, you must also prove that you:
- provide the domiciled people with premises with
- one or more offices or rooms, each equipped with furniture that allows them to fulfil their respective roles,
- a system for the secure archiving of documents, at the customer's request,
- an ICT infrastructure with access to the Internet and office equipment (photocopier, scanner, etc.),
- a reception or welcome area;
- are the lawful occupant of the premises you make available to the domiciliary (you must be able to produce proof of ownership or a rental contract);
- include the rental conditions in a model contract.
How to apply for registration?
If you meet the various conditions, you must submit your application for registration to the FPS Economy's Directorate-General for SMB Policy.
Download the registration form for legal persons
(DOCX, 68.06KB)
Download the registration form for natural persons
(DOCX, 57.85KB)
If your company is registered but you need to report changes in your organisation (change of effective managers, change of beneficial owners, changes to your type contract, etc.) you can use the e-mail address pss-dvv@economie.fgov.be.
When you submit your application, the FPS Economy will check the probity of the people mentioned in your application with the FPS Justice's Criminal Registry Department.
You may need to include the “cadastral description” of the building where the services are provided in the application form. If you do not have this, you can easily find it in the FPS Finance's CadGIS tool (log in with e-ID). This works with an interactive map of Belgium.
You can find the building of which you are the owner. A pop-up will appear. Choose the “cadastral parcels” tab. The “cadastral parcel ID” entry corresponds to the “cadastral description” that you must fill in on the application form. If you have a problem with the link, please go to MyMinfin and choose the option “Consult the cadastral plan”.
Who must apply for registration and within what timeframe?
If you wish to provide at least one of the three services mentioned above, you must register with the FPS Economy before commencing your activity.
And if you do not register?
If you fail to comply with the obligation to register, you are risking a fine of 250 to 100,000 euros.
If you are registered but no longer meet the conditions, you are risking a similar fine.
More information?
For additional information, please contact:
- our Contact Centre
- the Intellectual Professions and Legislation Service to submit your application for registration
- the Legal Service for questions concerning the interpretation of the regulations
