Written by Last Updated on January 10, 2023
The Registrar would like to bring to the attention of the general public that the Court of Justice of the European Union in its ruling delivered on 22nd November, 2022 stated that :-
Article 1(15)(c) of Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU, is invalid in so far as it amended point (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 30(5) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC, in such a way that point (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 30(5), as thus amended, provides that Member States must ensure that information on the beneficial ownership of companies and of other legal entities incorporated within their territory is accessible in all cases to any member of the general public.
As the judgement has the effect of invalidating the relevant part of the mentioned Directive, the Malta Business Registry is limiting access to the register of beneficial owners to competent authorities and subject persons only.
Subject Persons need to register with the MBR’s portal in order to gain access to the register of beneficial owners. For the other subject persons that are already registered users, kindly Apply for Beneficial Owner Access under the Profile tab and accept the terms of use. The request would then be processed by the MBR.
For any queries or further clarification on this matter, kindly contact info.mbr@mbr.mt.