On 22 November 2022 the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that the provision of Directive (EU) 2015/849 establishing that all Member States must ensure that information on the beneficial ownership of legal entities is accessible in all cases to any member of the general public is invalid and in conflict with Article 7 (Respect for private and family life) and Article 8 (Protection of personal data) of the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.
This landmark judgement is expected to have a decisive impact on the UBO Register and AML Legislation in all EU Member States, including Cyprus. It could be assumed that Cyprus AML Law would be amended in such way as not to violate the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights and grant the public access to UBO Register only on proportionate and justified basis. The permission to view the personal data of UBO in all cases will likely to be adjusted as to grant the access only in exceptional cases.
We will monitor whether this judgement will lead to the changes in AML compliance and a potential abolishment of the public access to UBO Register.
𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 (“𝗗𝗥𝗖𝗜𝗣”) 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 (𝟮𝟴/𝟭𝟭/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮) 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗖𝗝𝗘𝗨), 𝟮𝟮/𝟭𝟭/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮, 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 (“𝗨𝗕𝗢 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿”) 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮𝟯/𝟭𝟭/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮.
𝗗𝗥𝗖𝗜𝗣 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗕𝗢 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲
