No Longer Public Access To UBO Data Without Legitimate Interest

On 22 November 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the "CJEU") struck down the provision of the 5th AML Directive 2018/843 ("AML V") which provided that EU Member States must ensure that information on the beneficial ownership of companies within their territories is accessible in all cases to any member of the general public.

In the three Benelux countries, the invalidated provision served as a legal basis to allow the public at large to access personal data of ultimate beneficial owners ("UBOs") contained in the UBO register. Such general accessibility (i.e. in all cases to any member of the general public) has been considered by the CJEU to constitute a serious interference with the fundamental rights to privacy and the protection of personal data.