Beneficial ownership registers introduce issues of transparency and privacy

LONDON - Oct. 5, 2021 - PRLog -- Beneficial ownership registers were introduced in the European Union (EU) under the 4th and 5th Anti Money Laundering Directive, with the ultimate goal of promoting increased transparency in the financial markets. Nevertheless, public access to the beneficial ownership information of companies and other legal arrangements, such as trusts, raises significant issues in relation to each individual's fundamental right to privacy, and consequently many EU member states are still struggling to strike the right balance between transparency and privacy.

As a result, the implementation of beneficial ownership registers has been delayed in many EU member states and different legislative choices have been made in the various jurisdictions. Since beneficial ownership registers do not only apply to entities incorporated or administered in an EU jurisdiction, but may also extend to foreign entities with some business connection to that jurisdiction, it is essential to master these differences.

Beneficial Ownership Registers: The STEP Handbook for Advisers, edited by Paolo Panico and co-published with STEP, the world's leading organisation for private wealth professionals, provides an in-depth analysis of the beneficial ownership registers legislation in a number of EU jurisdictions as well as in the UK, which pioneered it with the creation of its own 'PSC Register'. It also looks at similar initiatives being experienced in some leading international financial centres as well as in the US.

It includes coverage of:

• The functioning of beneficial ownership registers in selected EU jurisdictions;
• The differences between the beneficial ownership registers for companies and those for trusts, which are maintained in many EU member states;
• Practical comparisons on the possibility for individual beneficial owners to apply for their personal information to be withheld from public access;
• The ways of complaint in case such an application is not accepted; and
• Special cases such as the treatment of an EU company controlled by a trust or a foundation.

"Dr Panico and his colleagues present a masterful survey of this difficult subject. The discussion of its history and purposes introduces detailed accounts of its application in several EU countries, the United Kingdom and the United States. The publication will be much welcomed by practitioners dealing with the affairs of international clients."

- Milton Grundy, Gray's Inn Tax Chambers, London

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Publication information:

Consulting editor(s): Paolo Panico

Publication date: Aug 2021

Format: Hardback

Pages: 368

Price: £175.00

ISBN: 9781787424142

For more information about this book

https://www.globelawandbusiness.com/books/beneficial-ownership-registers-the-step-handbook-for-advisers

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