As the compromise text was adopted, the ultimate owners of
companies will have to be listed in central registers in EU
countries, open both to the authorities and to people with a
"legitimate interest", such as journalists, under a
Parliament/Council deal endorsed by the Economic and Monetary
Affairs and Civil Liberties committees on 27/01/2015. The new
anti-money laundering directive aims to help to fight money
laundering, tax crimes and terrorist financing. New rules to make
it easier to trace transfers of funds were also approved.
The fourth anti-money laundering directive (AMLD) will for the
first time oblige EU member states to keep central registers of
information on the ultimate "beneficial" owners of
corporate and other legal entities, as well as trusts. (A
"beneficial" owner actually owns or controls a company
and its activities and ultimately authorizes transactions, whether
such ownership is exercised directly or by a proxy). These central
registers
