Legislators approved with 39 votes in first debate this Monday a bill that suspends penalties in the registration of beneficial shareholders for 2 months.
The initiative, proposed by Pablo Heriberto Abarca, of the Christian Social Unity Party (PUSC) is intended to give more time for the public to learn of the obligation. According to Abarca, “it has been quite an ordeal for Costa Ricans to comply with the obligation to register shareholders.” For example, if someone makes a mistake, they are exposed to fines between 1.3 million and 45 million colones. He made the comments while calling the digital signature program a “collapsed system” and “unfriendly platform”.
The deputy clarified that the moratorium will only be applied on penalties and not on the system itself. Penalties are suspended for 60 calendar days, after which the fine is reduced to 50 percent for the month of April.