Introduction for amendment of the Cyprus Legislation on the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering to be in line with the current decision of the CJEU, the Cyprus Association of International Business Companies addressed a communication to the relevant Ministries on Tuesday.[/B]
As the legal advisers of the association L. PAPAFILIPPOU & Co. ICBE, the CJEU today issued a judgment in Cases C-37/20 and C-601/20[1] WM and SOVIM SA concerning the Fifth EU Directive on the Prevention of Money Laundering, which was transposed into Cyprus law by the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering Law of 2007 as amended.
Specifically, according to CIBA's legal advisors, the CJEU decision provides that public access, i.e. the general public, to the information of Beneficial Owners of Companies and other Legal Entities established in the territory of each Member State of the European Union, infringes the fundamental right to respect for the private life of every such person, which is enshrined in Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and at the same time constitutes an interference with Article 8 of the Charter concerning the protection of personal data.
Also, as stated, it ruled, in a definitive manner, that the provision of the so-called Fifth Directive of the European Union on Prevention of Money Laundering giving the aforementioned public access is legally invalid, even if its purpose is to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
To that end, it adds, "the CJEU has noted that the principle of transparency cannot be regarded, per se, as an objective of general interest capable of justifying such interference with the above-mentioned rights. The CJEU also confirmed the lack of appropriateness, necessity and proportionality of the measure of public access to the information in question in relation to the above purpose."
It is noted that CIBA had timely informed on the basis of the legal arguments developed by the Association's Legal Advisers of the above possibility to the House of Representatives, both in writing on 17 February 2021 and during the debate before the Parliamentary Finance Committee regarding the European DAC6 Directive.
"In the context of upholding the principle of Legality and the Rule of Law, and always with Transparency, CIBA immediately calls upon the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice and Public Order of the Republic of Cyprus, as Head of the relevant Advisory Authority, to proceed with a relevant recommendation to amend the Cyprus Legislation in order to be in line with the above current CJEU Decision, while inviting the House of Representatives to convene an extraordinary meeting on this very serious issue with the presence of all Stakeholders and the relevant State Bodies, including the Department of the Registrar of Companies and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission", the statement said.
Πηγή: CNA
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