CJEU Judgement – Public Access to BO Information

The MBR has published a notice with regards to the access to the register of beneficial ownerships and the changes taking place as a result of the CJEU decision taken on 22.11.2022. The Court of Justice ruled that the provisions in Directive (EU) 2015/849 which granted public access to Registers of Beneficial Owners to legal entities are invalid.
The MBR notice states that only competent authorities and subject persons are to be allowed access to the Register of Beneficial Owners – access by the general public has been suspended.
Subject persons are to note that their access is conditional on registration with the MBR through its portal and a favourable outcome to their request to access the Register of Beneficial Owners.
As the judgement has the effect of invalidating the relevant part of the mentioned Directive, the Malta Business Registry is limiting access to the register of beneficial owners to competent authorities and subject persons only.
Subject Persons need to register with the MBR’s portal in order to gain access to the register of beneficial owners. For the other subject persons that are already registered users, kindly Apply for Beneficial Access under the Profile tab and accept the terms of use. The request would then be processed by the MBR.