MLD5 beneficial ownership transparency (WM v Luxembourg Business Registers)
In her latest article, Rowena Wisniewska Sethi talks about MLD5 beneficial ownership transparency (WM v Luxembourg Business Registers), including:
What are the practical implications of this case?
What was the background?
What did the court decide?
Case details
The European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) gave a preliminary ruling that the amendment by the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (EU) 2018/843 (MLD5) to the Fourth Money Laundering Directive (EU) 2015/849 (MLD4), to include a provision that Member States must ensure that 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, was invalid. The European Court of Justice ruled that the amendment constituted a serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and the protection of personal data enshrined respectively in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (the Charter). The European Court of Justice ruled, however, that press and civil society organisations connected with the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorist financing have a legitimate interest in accessing such information. Written by Rowena Wisniewska Sethi, barrister, 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square