EU Court of Justice delivers blow to beneficial ownership transparency
The fight against cross-border corruption set back by yearsIn a decision published today, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated a provision of the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive that guaranteed public access to information on companies’ real owners. The case was sent to the CJEU from a Luxembourg court after challenges to the Luxembourg Business Registers, which disputed the compatibility of this provision with the right to privacy. Maíra Martini, corrupt money flows expert at Transparency International, said: “Access to beneficial ownership data is