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When you want to take out a virtual office for your business, you will be asked for a number of documents. The documentation should come in from the UBO (Ultimate benificial owner) of the company. The documentation should come in from the UBO (Ultimate benificial owner) of the company. And what about the privacy actgving?
Why do I need to provide these documents?

Before going into the documents that need to be provided, we will briefly explain why these documents are needed and on which legislation this is based.

Some companies face WWFT legislation. The Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act. Financial institutions such as banks have to comply with this, but so do companies engaged in domiciliation. This is why companies offering virtual offices must also comply with this legislation. A virtual office is seen as a form of domicile.

The Dutch government strictly monitors this legislation. So don’t be surprised if your document is rejected because it is one day older than allowed. Especially following the famous case of ‘The Panama Papers’, which revealed widespread fraud by setting up off-shore companies in tax havens, WWFT legislation and its monitoring has been tightened.

Welke documenten moet ik verstrekken?

Which documents need to be provided depends on two things. The country in which services are taken, and exactly which services are taken. For example, some countries require more documentation than others and requirements for a business mailing address are usually less stringent than for a registration address. (Incidentally, in some countries, a postal address is also suitable as a business registration address, but for the sake of convenience, let’s not dwell on that for now). The most frequently requested documents are:

  • Copy of proof of identity
  • Person verification with proof of identity
  • Proof of private address
  • Extract from the trade register (if the company is an incorporation, this can be provided later)
  • UBO statement
What about privacy? AVG vs. WWFT

But can a company just ask for my private data? This question is what the AVG is about. The General Data Protection Regulation. This is a European law aimed at protecting personal data. Companies and government agencies have to follow strict rules when keeping and processing personal data.

Thus, the AVG and the WWFT initially seem to contradict each other. Yet this is not the case. Dutch law distinguishes between general and special laws, with the latter taking precedence over the former. The WWFT is a special law and therefore takes precedence over the General Data Protection Regulation. So these two legislations need not be mutually exclusive and in some cases complement each other nicely.