On 22nd November 2022 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that “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, enshrined in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter, respectively”. For the full ruling please visit https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/p1_3865234/en/
This ruling will have massive consequences for EU countries (and ultimately the UK) with transparency in the ownership of companies a key plank in the fight against money laundering and financial crime (as per 4th and 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directives, 2018). As a result of this ruling Corporate Registries around the EU (for example Malta) have already started to remove public access to beneficial ownership details.
A large part of Page Group’s due diligence or asset tracing investigations entails verifying or identifying beneficial ownership of companies, particularly in high risk countries outside the EU, where there is even greater lack of transparency. We are used to working with a network of contacts in each jurisdiction to try to get behind a company and work out who is the true owner. This involves cross referencing other companies, looking for common links between them (i.e. if the same trust formation company is used), searching for links in media and on the internet and speaking to human sources. Whilst it may no longer be possible to obtain documentary evidence of beneficial ownership from a corporate registry in the EU it may be possible to obtain intelligence from other sources.
Please contact us for further information on these services.
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