ECJ Rules That Information Held On Beneficial Ownership Registers Should Not Be Publicly Accessible

• Published date: 29 November 2022
• Subject Matter: Family and Matrimonial, Privacy, Data Protection, Privacy Protection, Wills/ Intestacy/ Estate Planning
• Law Firm: Carey Olsen
• Author: Mr Michael Hanson and Stephanie Bernard

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has this morning handed down a landmark judgment in which it has ruled that the EU's Fourth AML Directive (EU2015/849) whereby Member States must ensure that the information held on beneficial ownership registers is accessible to any member of the general public is INVALID as being a breach of Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

In particular, the ECJ found that the general public's access to information on beneficial ownership constitutes a serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data, as it allows a potentially unlimited number of persons to find out about the material and financial situation of a beneficial owner.

Furthermore, the potential consequences for individuals resulting from abuse of their personal data are exacerbated by the fact that, once the data has been made available to the general public, it can not only be freely consulted, but also...