End Of UBO Publicity?

• Published date: 22 December 2022
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Government, Public Sector, Privacy, Corporate and Company Law, Data Protection, Money Laundering
• Law Firm: Kinstellar
• Author: Mr D'a Laba'ov' and Erik Neupaver

December 2022 - As of 2020, European Union ("EU") Member States are obliged to make details of ultimate beneficial owners ("UBOs") of corporate and other legal entities available to the general public. However, in light of the recent decision of the Court of Justice of European Union ("the ECJ"), it is now questionable whether this obligation will remain.

The requirement to make details of UBOs publicly available was introduced by Article 30 (5) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing ("the AML Directive"). The Member States are entitled to restrict public availability of details on UBOs under the AML Directive in the following cases:

• if such publication would expose the UBO to disproportionate risk, risk of fraud, kidnapping, blackmail, extortion, harassment violence or intimidation, or
• if the UBO is a minor or otherwise legally incapable.

The requirements under Article 30 of the AML Directive have been implemented in the legislation of CEE EU Member States as follows:

Member state	Scope of publicly available information of UBOs	Exemption from the public access
Bulgaria	name and nationality of the UBO; personal identity number for Bulgarian citizens / date of birth for foreign nationals; country of residence, if different from the Republic of Bulgaria, or the country referred to in the first bullet point above; nature of the rights held (beneficial interest).	None.
Croatia	name and surname of the UBO; country of residence of the UBO; date of birth of the UBO; nationality of the UBO; nature and extent of the beneficial interest held.	None.
Czech Republic	name, resident state, year and month of birth, and nationality of the UBO; description of the UBO's position within the company's structure; share size in the company (direct or indirect), if any, and/or vote share in the company, if any; date when the respective person became / ceased to be the UBO.	UBO legally incapable
Hungary	name and surname of the UBO; birth name of the UBO; nationality of the UBO; place and date of birth of the UBO; home address of the UBO; nature and extent of the beneficial interest held.	None.
Romania	name and surname of the UBO; year and month of birth of the UBO; nationality of the UBO; resident state of the UBO; nature and extent of the beneficial interest held.	None.
Slovakia	name and surname of the UBO; full date of birth of the UBO; nationality of...