The looming loss of public access to the register of beneficial owners could set back the fight against corruption, organized crime and tax evasion by 30 years, campaign group Transparency International warns.
The register was set up as a core piece of European Union (EU) money laundering legislation, making it a requirement that ownership of all companies should be publicly available.
Transparency is intended to help prevent money laundering, the breaking up of sanctions and tax evasion by companies.
Transparency International (TI) Ireland chief executive John Devitt says it is vital that access to the register here is maintained, at least for those already registered to use it, including media and civil society organisations, pending action the European Commission to strengthen pending legislation.
The registry isn’t just important for fighting potential crime, he said.
“Any investor, tenant or customer of a company has the right to know who owns the company they are dealing with,” he said.
That Irish Independent reported on Tuesday that public access to Europe’s business registers, including here, has been called into question by a ruling by the EU’s Court of Justice that the provision that the information is in all cases accessible to all members of the public is invalid.
In its judgment of November 22, the EU Court of Justice invalidated a provision of the European Money Laundering Directive that ensures public access to so-called beneficial ownership information.
In its binding, non-appealable decision, the court found that unrestricted public access to beneficial property “constitutes a serious interference with fundamental rights to privacy and the protection of personal data.”
The Court said it made the decision in the light of Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which enshrine the right to privacy.
The verdict related to proceedings against Luxembourg.
Authorities in Luxembourg and the Netherlands have therefore already started restricting access to information there.
The Enterprises Department, which is responsible for Ireland’s RBO, said it was considering the ruling and whether it would have any impact on its operations, but could not say whether access would be maintained here.
TI’s John Devitt said he did not believe the impending loss would extend to Ireland’s longer-established access to Companies Registration Office information in relation to company directorships.
