Luxembourg RBE: Access to information on the beneficial ownership of companies to the general public suspended further to CJEU decision

The law of 13 January 2019 (the "RBE Law") has established a register of beneficial owners in Luxembourg (the “RBE”), as part of the implementation of some provisions of the Directives 2015/849/EU (“AMLD IV”) and 2018/843/EU (“AMLD V”).

Art 1(15)(c) of AMLD V amending Art 30 (5) of AMLD IV provides that each Member State 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.

Until now, in accordance with the RBE Law, several information on the beneficial owners of companies, including the name, the date and place of birth, nationality, country of residence and interest held was available to the public on the RBE website.

The RBE Law provides however that a registered entity or a beneficial owner may request the Luxembourg Business Register (“LBR”), on a case-by-case basis and under exceptional circumstances, to limit access to the information to national authorities.