ECJ dom mot eierskapsregistre og TIs engasjement
EU-domstolen ugyldiggjorde en eksisterende regel mot hvitvasking av penger 22. november, og begrenset dermed bruken av eierskapsregistre, som er et viktig verktøy mot økonomisk hemmelighold.
Transparency International er bekymret over dette tilbakeslaget mot åpenhet i reelt eierskap og vedtok følgende resolusjon på sitt internasjonale årsmøte 25-27 november:
TITLE: Defending the general public’s, civil society organisations’ and journalists’ legitimate interest to access beneficial ownership information
PROPONENT(S): TI FRANCE, TI AUSTRIA, TI CANADA, TI ESTONIA, TI IRELAND, TI ITALY, TI PORTUGAL, TI SLOVENIA and TI SPAIN. TEXT OF THE RESOLUTION
We TI movement members:
- Declare our firm commitment to defending the general public’s, civil society organisations’ and journalists’ legitimate interest in accessing beneficial owners’ and persons with significant control information as part of their recognized role in preventing and fighting corruption and money laundering.
- Call the European legislator to protect and guarantee the right of access to information and the principle of transparency as essential dimensions of democratic life and the rule of law in the European Union.
BACKGROUND: In a decision published on November 22nd, 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated a provision of the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive that guaranteed public access to information on companies’ real owners.
This decision reverses one of the most significant financial transparency measures of the last two decades and sets the fight against cross-border corruption back in years. Public access to national beneficial ownership (BO) registers is critical to effectively fight against money laundering and tax havens where money from tax evasion, corruption and organised crime is hidden.
Without open BO registers, the OpenLux survey that made it possible in February 2021 to document the reality of assets hidden in Luxembourg would never have seen the light of day. Through this survey, investigative journalists were able to observe that 45% of companies registered in Luxembourg had no real economic activity, even though they accounted for 85% of the total assets held by Luxembourg companies.
Without open BO registers, the ability of national Financial Intelligence Units and law enforcement authorities to detect and investigate tax evasion and avoidance, money laundering and corruption will be greatly hindered. While these national authorities benefit from privileged access to their national registers, due to the slowness of international cooperation, they are entirely dependent on public consultation procedures to access data from foreign BO registers. Without open BO registers, Transparency International France would have never been able to document and gather sufficient evidence to file a complaint against Russian oligarchs suspected of laundering money from corruption through the acquisition of luxury real estate in France.
Such an unexpected decision sets back years of Transparency International's fight against cross-border corruption and requires an immediate response from the movement. As already initiated in the aftermath of the CJEU decision, such a response must take the form of coordinated advocacy on the basis of a solid, serious and rigorous proposal to mitigate the upcoming consequences of the decision and ensure that future European legislation recognises and guarantees at least press and civil society organisations' legitimate interest in accessing BO data.
Se også
Pressemeldingen fra ECJ med en kort oppsummering:
TI publiserte denne bloggen umiddelbart etter domsavsigelsen:
TI intervenerte også under behandlingen av saken i EU-domstolen se: