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Shareholders and beneficial owners are reported to the central bank

Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Stable

Keeping the shareholder list private is not an option: Uruguayan entities must identify every individual who owns 15 percent or more or controls them, and file a sworn declaration with the BCU registry. Companies with registered shares also report each holder and its percentage, and must report later changes within 45 days, or 90 days when holders or chain members are non residents. Non compliance blocks dividends to unidentified holders, suspends the tax compliance certificate and carries fines of up to 100 times (or 1,000 times for concealment) the maximum Código Tributario fine of UYU 13,220 for 2026.

USD figures use UYU 40.210 per US dollar, the BCU quotation for DLS. USA BILLETE on 27 October 2026; UI amounts use UYU 6.6803 per UI (BCU, 28 October 2026), except cash limits, which the law converts at the first day of the month: UYU 6.6516 per UI on 1 October 2026 (BCU). Retrieved from the BCU quotations service on 2026-10-28; conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Beneficial owner threshold	15 %Ley 19.484 art. 22, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Days to report a change in resident registered holders to the BCU	45 daysLey 19.484 art. 25, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Days to report a change in non resident registered holders to the BCU	90 daysLey 19.484 art. 25, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Uruguayan assets that trigger the duty for non resident entities	2500000 UILey 19.484 art. 24 C, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum contravention fine, Código Tributario art. 95, 2026	13220 UYUDecreto 344/025 art. 1, as of 2026-01-01 · in force
Maximum fine for failing to identify or file, multiple of the art. 95 maximum	100 timesLey 19.484 art. 32, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. Beneficial owner means 15 percent or final control. A beneficial owner is the individual who directly or indirectly holds at least 15 percent of capital or voting rights, or exercises final control by other means, over a company, trust, investment fund or other structure. For trusts, the individuals behind the settlor, trustee and beneficiary must be identified. Resident entities must identify their beneficial owners with supporting documents, and non resident entities must do so when they have a permanent establishment, their effective management in Uruguay, or Uruguayan assets above UI 2,500,000.
Cost to do it: No registry fee is set in these articles; the cost is collecting documents for the whole chain.
Example: A US company owning a Montevideo apartment worth UYU 20,000,000 must identify its beneficial owners, since that exceeds UI 2,500,000 (UYU 16,700,750). / Assets above about US$415,338 trigger the duty for a non resident entity.Ley Nº 19.484 (tax transparency); Decreto Nº 166/017, art. 22, 23 and 24, 2017-01-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. Holders of registered shares are reported too, with change deadlines. Companies with registered or book entry shares, partnerships limited by shares and other entities issuing registered interests must report to the BCU, besides beneficial owners, each holder's identity and percentage of capital. Later changes must be reported within 45 days, or 90 days if the holders are non residents. Any change in the registered information, including in the ownership chain, is reported by a new sworn declaration within 45 days, or 90 days where it concerns non resident chain members or beneficial owners.
Cost to do it: Professional cost of preparing and filing each sworn declaration.
Example: When a foreign parent sells 30 percent of its Uruguayan subsidiary to a non resident buyer, the subsidiary files a new declaration within 90 days. / Not applicable.Ley Nº 19.484, art. 25 and 30 as reworded by Ley Nº 19.924 of 18 December 2020, art. 25, 29 and 30, 2020-12-18 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. Exempt: partnerships owned only by individuals. Partnerships (sociedades personales) and agrarian companies whose interests all belong to individuals who are also their beneficial owners, and de facto or civil companies made up only of individuals who are their beneficial owners, need not file the sworn declaration.
Cost to do it: None.
Example: An SRL owned by two resident individuals with no intermediate entity is exempt from filing. / Not applicable.Ley Nº 19.484, as reworded by Ley Nº 19.924, art. 31, 2020-12-18 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. No dividends to unidentified holders, and fines. Entities may not pay profits, dividends, redemptions, withdrawals or liquidation proceeds to holders whose beneficial owners have not been identified, for their share, under a fine of up to the amount improperly distributed. Failing to identify beneficial owners or holders, keep documents or file the declarations is fined up to 100 times the maximum Código Tributario art. 95 contravention fine; concealing the beneficial owner through inappropriate legal forms, up to 1,000 times. Not filing suspends the entity's single tax compliance certificate.
Cost to do it: Maximum contravention fine for 2026: UYU 13,220. Up to 100 times is UYU 1,322,000 (US$32,877); up to 1,000 times is UYU 13,220,000 (US$328,774).
Example: A subsidiary that has not identified a shareholder's beneficial owners cannot pay that shareholder its UYU 4,021,000 dividend. / About US$100,000 held back until the filing is cured.Ley Nº 19.484; Decreto Nº 344/025 (2026 fine values), Ley 19.484 art. 32, 33, 34 and 35; Decreto 344/025 art. 1, 2025-12-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

Duty	Deadline or sanction	Rule
Report change, resident holders or chain	45 days	Ley 19.484 art. 25 and 30
Report change, non resident holders or chain	90 days	Ley 19.484 art. 25 and 30
Failure to identify or file	Fine up to 100 x UYU 13,220 (UYU 1,322,000)	Ley 19.484 art. 32; Decreto 344/025
Concealment through inappropriate forms	Fine up to 1,000 x UYU 13,220 (UYU 13,220,000)	Ley 19.484 art. 35
Distribution to unidentified holder	Prohibited; fine up to amount distributed	Ley 19.484 art. 33
No declaration filed	Single tax certificate suspended	Ley 19.484 art. 34

Reporting deadlines and sanctions

Worked example

A European group sets up a Uruguayan S.A. through a Dutch holding owned 60/40 by two individuals. The S.A. reports the Dutch holding as registered shareholder and both individuals as beneficial owners (each above 15 percent), with documents for the chain. Two years later the 40 percent owner sells to a fund: the S.A. files a new declaration within 90 days, and until it does it should not pay dividends attributable to the unidentified share.

Step by step

At incorporation, map the full ownership chain up to individuals and identify everyone at 15 percent or above or with control.
File the initial sworn declaration with the BCU registry and keep supporting documents like the statutory books.
Ask shareholders to notify any change in the chain promptly and diarise 45 and 90 day deadlines.
Before each dividend or redemption, confirm that every recipient's beneficial owners are identified.

Common traps

Reporting only the direct parent and not the individuals behind it (Ley 19.484 art. 22 and 29).
Missing changes that happen abroad in the ownership chain: they must be reported too (Ley 19.484 art. 30).
Paying a dividend to a holder whose beneficial owners are unidentified (Ley 19.484 art. 33).
Assuming a non resident company owning Uruguayan real estate is outside the regime when assets exceed UI 2,500,000 (Ley 19.484 art. 24).

Sources

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