Definition
The Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts (CRBOT) is Ireland’s register of the beneficial owners of trusts, operated by the Revenue Commissioners. Trustees must file beneficial ownership details on the register, and designated persons dealing with a trust check CRBOT — not the RBO — as part of customer due diligence on trust clients.
What it is
The Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts (CRBOT) is the Irish register recording the beneficial owners of trusts, operated by the Revenue Commissioners. It is one of Ireland's three beneficial ownership registers, each covering a different entity type: the RBO holds companies and industrial and provident societies, CRBOT holds trusts, and the Central Bank of Ireland register holds ICAVs, unit trusts and credit unions. Routing matters — a trust client belongs on CRBOT, and a file that only ever references the RBO has used the wrong register.
Why it matters for Irish firms
Trusts appear more often in professional practice than many firms expect: family trusts in estate planning, trusts holding property in conveyancing, and trust arrangements administered by TCSPs. For a designated person under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, customer due diligence on a trust means identifying the natural persons behind it and checking that picture against the trust register. Because trusts are also a classic vehicle for obscuring ownership, supervisors — whether the Law Society of Ireland, a designated accountancy body, the PSRA or the AMLCU — expect trust files to show who the beneficial owners are and how that was verified, not just a copy of the trust deed. Procedures should say explicitly: companies to the RBO, trusts to CRBOT, relevant financial vehicles to the Central Bank register.
What changes under the AMLR and AMLD6
From 10 July 2027, Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR) supplies the harmonised beneficial ownership rules that determine who must appear on the register, while Directive (EU) 2024/1640 (AMLD6) upgrades the register infrastructure: registrars gain new verification powers, and national registers — trust registers included — are connected EU-wide through the BORIS interconnection system, with the register provisions phased in from 2025 and 2026.
Where CompliDesk fits
CompliDesk Ireland routes each client entity type to the correct register in its onboarding workflow, so trust clients are checked against CRBOT rather than falling through the cracks — see the AMLR explainer for the wider beneficial ownership changes.
Related terms
General information, not legal advice. This definition provides general information about EU and Irish anti-money-laundering requirements. Regulatory detail is still evolving through 2026–27 — verify against primary sources (EUR-Lex, AMLA, and your sector’s Irish supervisor) and seek qualified advice before acting.