BORIS (Beneficial Ownership Registers Interconnection System)

What it is

BORIS — the Beneficial Ownership Registers Interconnection System — is the EU-level platform that links the national beneficial ownership registers of the member states so they can be searched across borders. Rather than replacing national registers, it connects them: each country keeps running its own register, and BORIS provides the interconnection layer between them. For Ireland, that means the RBO (companies and industrial and provident societies), CRBOT (trusts, run by Revenue) and the Central Bank of Ireland register (ICAVs, unit trusts and credit unions) plug into an EU-wide network.

Why it matters for Irish firms

Cross-border structures are routine in Irish practice — a Dublin company owned through a Luxembourg holding vehicle, or a client group spanning several member states. Today, tracing beneficial ownership across borders means dealing with each country's register separately, each with its own access rules. An interconnected system points towards a future where the ownership chain behind a multi-jurisdiction structure can be followed far more easily, and where the data itself is more reliable: the same reforms that drive interconnection also give registrars new verification powers, and the discrepancy reports Irish designated persons file under SI 110/2019 feed into keeping register data honest.

What changes under AMLD6

Directive (EU) 2024/1640 (AMLD6) — the institutional layer of the EU AML package alongside the AMLR — mandates the interconnection of member states' registers through BORIS and strengthens the registers feeding into it. The register provisions are deliberately staggered ahead of the AMLR itself: access provisions applied from 10 July 2025, and the core register articles and technical standards from 10 July 2026, with general transposition of the directive due by 10 July 2027. The direction of travel is clear — registers get more accurate, and cross-border lookups get easier, before the AMLR's harmonised 25% beneficial ownership test takes effect.

Where CompliDesk fits

CompliDesk Ireland keeps every register check and discrepancy decision evidenced in one place, so a firm's beneficial ownership workflow is ready as the register machinery tightens — see the AMLR explainer for the full timeline.