Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 March 2025
291. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if journalists have access to beneficial ownership records held by the companies registration office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13205/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra292. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of applications for information on the beneficial ownership of a company or industrial and provident society for each year for which data is available, by non-State bodies or individuals; the number of applications accepted and rejected, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13207/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 291 and 292 together.
The Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies (RBO) was set up under the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 110 of 2019) and contains information regarding the beneficial ownership of entities registered under the Companies Act 2014; and societies, registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1893-2021. There are currently three levels of access to the RBO: unrestricted, restricted and legitimate interest.
Access to such beneficial ownership information is available on an unrestricted basis to competent authorities (including a member of An Garda Síochána, an officer of the Minister for Justice and Equality, a member or member of staff of the Property Services Regulatory Authority, the Law Society of Ireland, the General Council of the Bar of Ireland and designated accountancy bodies).
Restricted access is currently available to designated persons who are required to identify and verify customers and beneficial ownership prior to forming a business relationship or carrying out an occasional transaction (including credit institutions, financial institutions, auditors, external accountants’ property service providers, casinos). Designated persons may access certain personal information about beneficial owners (name, nationality and country of residence of each beneficial owner of the entity) and a statement of the interest held, or the control exercised by each beneficial owner. A designated person must complete a Declaration Form indicating the basis on which they qualify as a designated person to search the register. The RBO then creates an account which the designated person can use to search the register.
Restricted access was previously also available to the general public. In November 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled, in Joined Cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, that a provision of the EU anti-money-laundering directive, under which information on the beneficial ownership of corporate and other legal entities, held in central registers, must be provided to the general public, was invalid.
To ensure compliance with the CJEU judgement, the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S.I. No. 308 of 2023) amended the 2019 Regulations to provide that restricted access may be provided to persons who can demonstrate a "legitimate interest". In summary, a person must justify access to the RBO by demonstrating that the requester is engaged in the prevention, detection or investigation of money laundering and/or terrorist financing offences. In addition, the person must demonstrate that the entity which is the subject of the access request is connected with persons convicted (whether in the State or elsewhere) of an offence consisting of money laundering or terrorist financing, or that the entity holds assets in a high-risk third country. Journalists may apply to the RBO for restricted access on this basis.
The table below provides the number of beneficial ownership reports provided by the RBO to persons with restricted access:
|
Year |
No. of beneficial ownership reports |
|
2019 |
2,213 |
|
2020 |
13,009 |
|
2021 |
59,322 |
|
2022 |
151,641 |
|
2023 |
130,596 |
|
2024 |
156,252* |
*Provisional figures.
The RBO received only one request by a person with a legitimate interest in 2024 and this was refused as the person did not meet the criteria provided for in the Regulations.
