After the professionals of the financial centre, journalists will be next to regain access to the RBO, as soon as the technical details have been worked out by the Press Council. Photo: Christophe Lemaire/Maison Moderne

After the professionals of the financial centre, journalists will be next to regain access to the RBO, as soon as the technical details have been worked out by the Press Council. Photo: Christophe Lemaire/Maison Moderne

The Luxembourg Business Registers (LBR) has signed an agreement with the Press Council to restore access to the Register of Beneficial Owners (RBO) for professional journalists. Technical details still need to be worked out, but the institution plans to accept applications from 2 January 2023.

The RBO is reopening, , little by little. The LBR, which runs it, has just signed an agreement on Tuesday 20 December with the Press Council to restore access for journalists.

It had been suspended for all users on 22 November, just after by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) declared it invalid.

The court ruled that making information on the beneficial owners of companies public was an interference with privacy rights that was “neither limited to what is strictly necessary nor proportionate to the aim pursued”.

In cooperation with the ministry of justice and the State Information Technology Centre, the LBR took a few weeks to adapt it.

From 2 January 2023

Access to the LBR was initially restored on 16 December the 2004 law on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. They can apply to the LBR via the procedure explained in . In addition to having a Luxtrust certificate, several documents must be completed and signed.

Second step: reopening to journalists. The Press Council will manage access for professionals, though not everything is up and running yet.

In an email to the editorial offices, the institution specifies that journalists holding a press card will have to send their applications to the secretariat of the Press Council, which will only accept them from 2 January 2023 onwards. “Detailed information on these applications will be sent to you in due course,” it explains, pointing to technical issues that still need to be resolved.

New openings in sight and a recasting of the law

The ministry of justice is still studying, together with the LBR, how to restore access to the RBO for other actors “with a legitimate interest and a link to the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing”.

In parallel, it is preparing amendments to the law defining the RBO to bring it fully in line with the CJEU ruling.

National authorities will continue to have access to the RBO via a dedicated intranet portal.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.

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