New directive coming from the Court of Justice of the European Union on Anti-money-laundering measures and information accessibility.
In accordance with the anti-money-laundering directive, a Luxembourg law adopted in 2019 established a Register of Beneficial Ownership and provides that a whole series of information on the beneficial owners of registered entities must be entered and retained in that register.
Some of that information is accessible to the general public, in particular through the Internet. That law also provides that a beneficial owner may request Luxembourg Business Registers (LBR), the administrator of the Register, to restrict access to such information in certain cases.
Now, the tribunal d’arrondissement de Luxembourg (Luxembourg District Court, Luxembourg) holds that, in the light of the Charter, the provision of the anti-money-laundering directive whereby Member States must ensure that the information on the beneficial ownership of corporate and other legal entities incorporated within their territory is accessible in all cases to any member of the general public is invalid.
According to the Court, 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.
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The Court finds that, by the measure at issue, the EU legislature seeks to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing by creating, by means of increased transparency, an environment less likely to be used for those purposes. It holds that the legislature thereby pursues an objective of general interest capable of justifying even serious interferences with the fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter, and that the general public’s access to information on beneficial ownership is appropriate for contributing to the attainment of that objective.
The Court holds, however, that the interference entailed by that measure is neither limited to what is strictly necessary nor proportionate to the objective pursued. In addition to the fact that the provisions at issue allow for data to be made available to the public which are not sufficiently defined and identifiable, the regime introduced by the anti-money-laundering directive amounts to a considerably more serious interference with the fundamental rights guaranteed in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter than the former regime (which provided, as well as access by the competent authorities and certain entities, for access by any person or organisation capable of demonstrating a legitimate interest), without that increased interference being capable of being offset by any benefits which might result from the new regime as compared against the former regime, in terms of combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
In particular, the fact that it may be difficult to provide a detailed definition of the circumstances and conditions under which such a legitimate interest exists, relied upon by the Commission, is no reason for the EU legislature to provide for the general public to access the information in question.
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The Court adds that the optional provisions which allow Member States to make information on beneficial ownership available on condition of online registration and to provide, in exceptional circumstances, for an exemption from access to that information by the general public, respectively, are not, in themselves, capable of demonstrating either a proper balance between the objective of general interest pursued and the fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter, or the existence of sufficient safeguards enabling data subjects to protect their personal data effectively against the risks of abuse.