Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag has blurted out about a bill to limit access to the UBO register. The register is currently publicly accessible. The European Court of Justice ruled that this must come to an end. The proposal can be viewed on Internetconsultation.nl.
'UBO' is an abbreviation for Ultimate Beneficials Owners. The UBO register is a European database that lists who owns a foundation or company, and who has control or an interest in the organization in question. The purpose of the register is to prevent and detect criminal activities, such as money laundering, financing of terrorist groups and other forms of fraud.
Part of the data in the UBO register -think first and last names, dates of birth, nationality and the size of the UBO's economic interest- is public to Dutch and European authorities. The idea is that free access to this data will act as a deterrent to criminals.
The European Court of Justice ruled in November 2022 that the public accessibility of the UBO register violates a number of fundamental human rights, namely the right to privacy and protection of personal data.
Following the ruling, Minister Kaag ruled that the Chamber of Commerce could not provide information from the UBO register for the time being. The minister promised to write a bill to restrict access to the register.
A draft proposal of the law is now available on Internetconsultation.nl. The essence of the bill is that UBO registers will be available in the near future only to "specifically designated parties. The bill does not change the obligation of parties to register information about UBOs, or the obligation for parties to consult the UBO Register.
According to the European Court of Justice, there are three categories that have access to the UBO register: (1) competent authorities such as investigative agencies, (2) institutions dealing with the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act (Wwtf) such as banks, and (3) the general public. These three categories are explicitly defined in the bill.
"For the proper functioning of the registry, it is important that the first two categories have access to information from the registry," Minister Kaag stressed after the Court's ruling. Access for the general public is limited in the bill to individuals and entities "who can demonstrate a legitimate interest.
Anyone wishing to express their views on the bill can do so at Internetconsultation.nl until June 28.
