Carri Ginter and Aleksandr Šapovalov on beneficial ownership of companies

Carri Ginter and alumnus Aleksandr Šapovalov have written an article in Äripäev on CJEU judgement regarding beneficial ownership of companies. 

It is safe to say that beneficial ownership registers are essential. The CJEU also accepts this fact. The Court recognises that access to this information must be guaranteed to citizens’ associations and journalists whose activities support the fight against money laundering. The CJEU did not find a justification for why in the fight against money laundering, “everyone’s right to curiosity” must be guaranteed.

What is, however, curious is what happens next. The Minister of Finance has already announced that Estonia is not changing its legislation. This is despite a recent judgement by the Supreme Court, which explicitly found a violation of fundamental rights and said that the said provision should be “figuratively speaking, considered to be extinct from the Estonian legal order since its adoption”.

The article in Estonian is available here: https://www.aripaev.ee/arvamused/2022/12/08/carri-ginter-ja-aleksandr-sapovalov-tegelike-kasusaajate-avaldamisest-seis-on-segane-kuid-tark-ei-torma?fbclid=IwAR233kAVVoLN4_5HOw10QLVqWvqBDXNto89mvvNhcHJB4rr1Og9-fICcw1k