The French government, in a release, on 29 July 2024, announced that it will restrict public access to the beneficial ownership register to only individuals with a legitimate interest. This change went into force on 31 July, 2024.

This follows after the Court of Justice of the European Union, on 22 November 2022, invalidated the provision that information relating to the beneficial owners of companies must be accessible in all cases to any member of the general public, considering that this opening constituted a serious interference with the rights to privacy and the protection of personal data guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

The 6th European Anti-Money Laundering Directive, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 19 June 2024, provided the necessary clarifications regarding the modalities for overhauling access to beneficial owner data. In line with this directive, France has developed a system for filtering access to persons who can demonstrate a legitimate interest in consulting this data.

Under the new rules, access to the register without restrictions will only be granted to competent authorities and entities required to perform due diligence, such as financial entities. Companies will be able, by creating user accounts, to continue to access the data of beneficial owners necessary for the proper execution of their duties of diligence and customer verification responsibilities.

Parties requesting access to the register must submit a request with supporting documentation that demonstrates their legitimate interest.