22 Dec Towards limited access to the UBO register

In its judgment of 22 November 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated public access to the register of beneficial owners of companies (UBOs) provided for by Directive (EU) 2015/849 (“anti-money laundering”), on the grounds of a disproportionate interference with the right to privacy and the protection of personal data.

The Court first considered that the interference with the fundamental rights to privacy and personal data protection could be justified by the general interest objective of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing pursued by the European legislature.

On the other hand, the Court found that public access to the register was neither proportionate nor limited to what was necessary to achieve this objective.

Following this decision, Belgium suspended public access to information on beneficial owners. The FPS Finance has announced that a solution will soon be communicated regarding access to the data in the Belgian UBO register, in compliance with the Court’s ruling.

You can find our previous newsletters on the UBO register on the following link

For further information on this subject, please do not hesitate to contact Me Didier CHAVAL and Me Bertrand MARGRAFF

With our best regards.
The Cairn Legal team