According to the European Court of Justice Judgment in Joined Cases C-37/20 (Luxembourg Business Registers) and C-601/20 (Sovim), as regards the interpretation of the Anti-money-laundering directive [(EU) 2015/849 as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/843] , the provision whereby the information on the beneficial ownership of companies incorporated within the territory of the Member States is accessible in all cases to any member of the general public is invalid. The interference with the rights guaranteed by the Charter entailed by that measure is neither limited to what is strictly necessary nor proportionate to the objective pursued.
The Court, sitting as the Grand Chamber, held 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, enshrined in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter, respectively. Indeed, the information disclosed enables a potentially unlimited number of persons to find out about the material and financial situation of a beneficial owner.
Furthermore, the potential consequences for the data subjects resulting from possible abuse of their personal data are exacerbated by the fact that, once those data have been made available to the general public, they can not only be freely consulted, but also retained and disseminated.
That said, the Court found 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 held 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 held, 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.
The Court added 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. (source: curia.europa.eu/photo:freepik.com)
