Further to the judgement of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU), on 20th November 2022, the Department of Registrar of Companies, of Cyprus has proceeded with announcing that as of November 23rd the general public will no longer have access to the Register of Beneficial Owners.

The recent abovementioned judgement of the CJEU constitutes that the Article 1, point 15(c) of the EU Directive 2018/843, which initially provided access to the information of beneficial owners of legal entities, is invalid as it contradicts the right of respect for private life and the right of protection of personal data.

Due to the latest update, the information of beneficial owners will only be provided to the obliged entities, through a simple procedure of submitting a declaration confirming that the sole need of the information is to be used to perform due diligence on client.

It is very important for all stakeholders to note that the recent judgement does not negate the obligation for companies and partnerships to submit (and update) the required information for their Beneficial owners.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.