Bermuda opens economic substance declaration portal

The Bermuda Registrar of Companies’ online portal (ESD portal) for filing economic substance declarations is now open.

The ESD portal opened on May 1. The declaration form needed to comply with Bermuda’s economic substance rules can only be filed via the ESD Portal, which is available at  www.registrarofcompanies.gov.bm.

The Registrar has also launched instructional videos, detailing how to set up a user and organisation account to submit a declaration form, and how to prepare a new declaration form.

Law firm Conyers said it has been closely involved with the implementation of Bermuda’s economic substance legislation as the ESD Portal, advising any clients that require assistance to reach out.

Bermuda enacted economic substance legislation requiring regulated entities to file an economic substance declaration form with the Registrar. The Registrar will determine whether or not the applicable substance requirements are met, based on the information provided by the relevant entity.

Every relevant entity is required to file its declaration form no later than six months after the last day of the first financial year of that entity which commenced on or after January 1, 2019. Therefore, any entity with a financial year that ended on December 31. 2019, and which carried on a “relevant activity” during this financial period, must file its declaration by June 30, 2020.

“Any relevant entity which fails to meet the filing deadline may be subject to sanctions imposed by the Registrar,” Conyers warned.