On 22 November 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union effectively ruled that public access to the beneficial owner registers of the EU member states (as per the relevant provisions of the 5th EU Anti-money-laundering Directive) is illegal.
In light of this judgement, several EU member states have started blocking public access to their beneficial owner registers, with many others expected to follow suit.
As regards Cyprus, with effect as of 23 November 2022, the Cyprus Companies Registrar has suspended public access on the beneficial owner register. The obligation of companies and other affected entities to submit and update the register, with relevant details of the beneficial owners, remains unaffected.
