Federal Minister of Finance – Court Ruling (Austria, 2025)
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Austria implemented a [https://www.bmf.gv.at/services/wiereg/wiereg-register.html public register of beneficial owners (WiEReG)] in order to comply with [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024L1640 EU anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules]. The register contains personal data of natural persons who ultimately own or control legal entities, including sensitive information such as name, date of birth, nationality, residence, and the type and extent of their economic interest. These data are collected from multiple sources, including the company register, association register, foundation and fund register, tax authorities, Statistics Austria, other state registers, and direct reporting by the legal entities themselves. The register originally allowed public access to this information for anyone. The data subject in this case was a beneficial owner of a private foundation and a member of its foundation board. He requested that the Federal Minister of Finance, acting as the register authority and controller, restrict public access to his data in the register or block it entirely. He argued that making his personal data publicly accessible violated his constitutional rights to privacy and data protection and breached GDPR rules, especially because he was not notified of access and could not control who viewed his data. The Federal Minister of Finance rejected the request on 3 August 2022, stating that the data subject’s status as a beneficial owner was already evident from other public registers, particularly the company register, so there was no reason to block access. The data subject appealed to the Federal Administrative Court, which dismissed the appeal on 5 October 2022. The court held that the data subject was registered in the beneficial ownership register due to his company holdings, and that his residence was already blocked from view in the register. However, the court also emphasized that this did not change the o
National Law Articles
Austria implemented a [https://www.bmf.gv.at/services/wiereg/wiereg-register.html public register of beneficial owners (WiEReG)] in order to comply with [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024L1640 EU anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules]. The register contains personal data of natural persons who ultimately own or control legal entities, including sensitive information such as name, date of birth, nationality, residence, and the type and extent of their economic interest. These data are collected from multiple sources, including the company register, association register, foundation and fund register, tax authorities, Statistics Austria, other state registers, and direct reporting by the legal entities themselves. The register originally allowed public access to this information for anyone. The data subject in this case was a beneficial owner of a private foundation and a member of its foundation board. He requested that the Federal Minister of Finance, acting as the register authority and controller, restrict public access to his data in the register or block it entirely. He argued that making his personal data publicly accessible violated his constitutional rights to privacy and data protection and breached GDPR rules, especially because he was not notified of access and could not control who viewed his data. The Federal Minister of Finance rejected the request on 3 August 2022, stating that the data subject’s status as a beneficial owner was already evident from other public registers, particularly the company register, so there was no reason to block access. The data subject appealed to the Federal Administrative Court, which dismissed the appeal on 5 October 2022. The court held that the data subject was registered in the beneficial ownership register due to his company holdings, and that his residence was already blocked from view in the register. However, the court also emphasized that this did not change the o
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (0)
No other cases found for Federal Minister of Finance in AT
This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.
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About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Federal Minister of Finance - Austria (2025). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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