Court case C-09-604682-KG ZA 20-1232 – Court Ruling (Netherlands, 2021)

Court Ruling
DPA RbDenHaag18 March 2021Netherlands
final
Court Ruling

General GDPR enforcement action

This case relates to broader data protection obligations, not specifically to cookie or consent banner compliance. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.

A Dutch court reviewed rules about sharing information on company owners to prevent money laundering. The case focused on whether details about these owners should be public. This decision matters because it affects how much privacy company owners can expect.

What happened

The court examined the requirement for public access to information about company owners under anti-money laundering rules.

Who was affected

Company owners whose details are listed in public registers as part of anti-money laundering efforts.

What the authority found

The court discussed the balance between transparency for anti-money laundering and privacy for company owners, as required by EU directives.

Why this matters

This case highlights the tension between transparency and privacy in financial regulations. Business owners should be aware that their ownership details might be publicly accessible to combat financial crimes.

Decision AuthorityRb. Den Haag
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

= Article 30 Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing (AMLD4) obliged Member States to include information about the ultimate beneficial owners (hereinafter: 'UBOs') of companies and other legal entities in a central (trade) register, a company register or a public register. Information about UBOs should in all cases be accessible to the competent authorities, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the obliged entities in the context of their customer due diligence. In addition, all persons or organizations that could demonstrate a legitimate interest had access to the name, month and year of birth, nationality and state of residence of the UBO, as well as to the nature and scope of the economic interest held by the UBO. On July 9, 2018 Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 30, 2018 amending AMLD4 entered into force (AMLD5). The amended article 30 paragraph 5 stipulates that information about UBOs must be publicly accessible. In all cases, competent authorities, the FIU, the obliged entities in the context of their customer due diligence and every member of the public must be able to consult the UBO information. This includes at least the name, month and year of birth, state of residence, nationality and the nature and size of the economic interest held by the UBO. AMLD5 also states that protection of publicly accessible UBO information can be requested, this on the understanding that this exception cannot be invoked against the competent authorities, the FIU, credit institutions, financial institutions and obliged entities that are public officials. It has been added that a request for foreclosure should be decided on a case-by-case basis, based on a detailed assessment of the exceptional nature of the circumstances. AMLD4 and AMLD5 have been implemented in the Netherlands by amending

Outcome

Court Ruling

A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.

Related Cases (0)

No other cases found for Court case C-09-604682-KG ZA 20-1232 in NL

This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.

Details

Ruling Date

18 March 2021

Authority

DPA RbDenHaag

About this data

Data: GDPRhub (noyb.eu)
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Cite as: Cookie Fines. Court case C-09-604682-KG ZA 20-1232 - Netherlands (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

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