The Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic explains the term "acting in concert" in the context of identifying the ultimate beneficial owner under Act No. 297/2008 Coll. The opinion clarifies the difference between acting in concert and acting in unison and provides a practical example involving multiple individuals.
Pursuant to Section 6a(3) of the Act on the Prevention of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism: “A beneficial owner is also a natural person who does not individually meet the criteria under paragraph 1(a), (b), or (c), second and fourth subparagraphs, but who, together with another person acting in concert or in a joint arrangement, meets at least some of these criteria.”
The term “acting in concert” is not used in any legal regulation.
OPINION OF THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC:
Acting in concert means acting in accordance with Section 66b of the Commercial Code. Acting in concert means the conduct of persons who, although they do not individually meet the criteria for a beneficial owner set forth in Section 6a(1) of Act No. 297/2008 Coll., but on the basis of, for example, an agreement or a contract on joint action, these natural persons (entrepreneurs) have, to the extent of a natural person who meets the criteria for a beneficial owner set forth in Section 6a(1). Such joint action by two or more natural persons therefore has the same effect as if it were a single natural person who is the beneficial owner pursuant to Section 6a(1) of Act No. 297/2008 Coll. The aforementioned situation arises, for example, when six natural persons individually do not meet the criteria for a beneficial owner, but, provided there is an agreement on their joint action, they exercise their voting rights in this legal entity in the agreed manner, and the total share of these six natural persons (the sum of all their direct or indirect shares) in the voting rights of the legal entity in question is at least 25%. The legal entity in question shall therefore also register these six natural persons in the register. The interpretation of acting in concert is again based on the opinion of the Public Procurement Office, taking into account the change in the legal regulation of persons acting in concert compared to the definition contained in the Public Procurement Act, which limited the number of persons acting in concert to ten.
Section 6a(3) of Act No. 297/2008 Coll. does not limit the number of persons acting jointly.
