It is an unexpected decision and at the same time a serious blow to financial transparency in Europe itself. In a judgment on Tuesday 22 November, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) – its plenary assembly, which brings together fifteen judges – Annuls a legal provision that allows the public to consult the lists of beneficiaries. by companies incorporated in the European Union (EU).
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The Court of Justice was referred to this issue after being seized by the District Court of Luxembourg: two plaintiffs, owners of companies registered in the Grand Duchy, had actually objected to the freedom of access to their personal data.
The fact that any citizen, whatever he is, can see the basic information about these entities – name of their owners, month and year of birth, country of residence and nationality – was granted under the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive of 2018. The European legislator strove to combat the proliferation of front companies in the EU, run by front men and allowing individuals or criminal networks to disguise assets from tax evasion or corruption.
“Serious Intervention”
The measure, which was acclaimed by NGOs, is now being questioned. In its judgment, the Court of Justice considers that the access of all to such registers violates the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Union and “constitutes a serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and the protection of personal data”, as enshrined therein text adopted in 2000. Some of the information disclosed by the beneficiary registers, she continues, could allow a “potentially unlimited number of people to learn about the financial situation of business owners”.
The Court also considers that the necessary proportionality between transparency and data protection is not respected. If we follow his reasoning, improving the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism does not necessarily mean access to all registers that reveal the identities of the real owners of companies. According to the judges, this task falls “primarily to the authorities and (…) financial institutions” who can keep access to the information in the registers.
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