It is reminded that the Luxembourg law dated 13 January 2019 establishing a register of beneficial owners, as amended, provides in accordance with the 5th AML Directive that some personal data of the beneficial owners of the companies that are registered with the Luxembourg trade and company register shall be accessible to the general public through the register of beneficial owners (“RBE”) website. That law also provides that a beneficial owner may request Luxembourg Business Registers (“LBR”), the administrator of the register of beneficial owners, to restrict access to such information in certain cases.
The judgment of the CJEU was rendered on a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal d’Arrondissement de Luxembourg (Luxembourg District Court) in the context of a dispute between companies, beneficial owners and the LBR where the LBR denied the possibility to limit the access of the general public to information concerning them.
The CJEU held that this access constitutes an interference with the rights guaranteed in articles 7 (right to the respect of private and family life) and 8 (right to the protection of personal data) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and is not limited to what is strictly necessary and proportionate to the objective pursued.
As a result, on 22 November 2022, the Luxembourg Ministry of Justice, in consultation with the LBR, has decided to temporarily suspend public access to the RBE via the internet portal of the LBR.
For further information on what these developments could imply for your company, please feel free to contact us: