Updating the Register of Beneficial Ownership
When an Irish company's beneficial owners change, it updates its own beneficial ownership register and notifies the Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO) within 14 days of that change. Filing is online only and there's no fee.
Who is a beneficial owner
A beneficial owner is an individual who ultimately owns or controls the company, usually by holding more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, directly or through other companies, or by controlling it in another way. If no one qualifies, the company's senior managing officials, usually the directors, are listed instead.
Your internal register and the central RBO
There are two records. The company keeps its own register of beneficial owners at its registered office, and it files the same information with the central Register of Beneficial Ownership, run by the RBO. A change is recorded in the company's own register first, and the RBO is told within 14 days of that.
When you must update the RBO
- Someone becomes or stops being a beneficial owner, for example after a share transfer or new share issue.
- A beneficial owner's name, address or the nature of their interest changes.
- The directors listed as senior managing officials change, where the company has no other beneficial owner.
The change is first recorded in the company's own beneficial ownership register. The RBO must then be told within 14 days.
We confirm who must be listed, update your internal register and file with the RBO.
What's needed
Each beneficial owner's name, date of birth, nationality, residential address, the nature and extent of their interest, and their PPS number. Someone without a PPS number completes an identity declaration instead. Filing is online only, and there's no fee.
A worked example
Two founders own 50% each. An investor buys new shares, leaving each founder with 35% and the investor with 30%. All three now hold more than 25%, so the investor is added to the company's register and the RBO is notified within 14 days. The founders' entries are updated to show their new percentages.
New companies
A newly incorporated company must file its beneficial owners with the RBO within five months of incorporation.
Sources
Last checked 14 November 2026 against the Companies Act 2014 and Companies Registration Office (CRO) guidance. This is general information, not legal or tax advice for your company.