ECJ Rules Public Access To Beneficial Ownership Information Invalid

Public access to information on the beneficial owners of companies and certain other entities ("In-Scope Entities") in Luxembourg (and other EU member states) will be greatly restricted after a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice ("ECJ").

Background

Consistent with the position across the EU, since 2019, access to information on the beneficial owners of In-Scope Entities formed in Luxembourg has been available on an unrestricted basis to the public in a central register of beneficial ownership.

Pursuant to the EU's fourth anti-money laundering directive (as amended) ("4MLD")¹, each EU member state is required to put in place a central register of beneficial ownership ("Ownership Register") with the aim of increasing the transparency of ownership of In-Scope Entities.