Miguel Afonso Caetano"Revised EU law now dictates that anyone who can demonstrate a “legitimate interest” in a company’s ownership, including journalists, should be able to get the data they need. But with each member state enforcing its own set of often opaque rules, the reality is an arduous slog. In many countries, reporters must justify their interest on a case-by-case basis, battling different application portals, obscure bureaucratic inboxes, nationality requirements, and burdensome demands for justification, such as Ireland requiring evidence of criminal proceedings against the requested company, or the Czech Republic demanding a judicial order.
In theory, this mess should soon be cleaned up. By July, the European Commission is requiring EU member states to adopt a common set of standards that clarify what exactly counts as “legitimate interest,” and to grant journalists, civil society organizations, and other groups generalized access that doesn’t require repeated permission-seeking.
But with just months to go, the Commission has yet to even issue the guidance for how the new system is supposed to work.
“Until the European Commission issues a standard template on how legitimate interest access should work in practice, the implementation deadline will likely be delayed,” said Hugh Jorgensen, Programme Lead on Corrupt Money Flows at Transparency International, an international watchdog group that has long advocated for greater corporate transparency. "
How Europe’s Retreat From Corporate Transparency is Shielding the Corrupt
For investigative journalists, beneficial ownership data is a proven weapon against crime and corruption. But with public registries closed across the continent — and a key reform deadline likely to be missed — Europe is helping bad actors evade accountability.
Ana Gomes
El Club De Los Físicos Muertos
OCCRP