Beneficial ownership under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive

Article 30 of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (Directive 2015/849/EU) (MLD4) requires all Member States to hold central registers on company beneficial ownership information from 26 June 2017.

Member States can opt to make their register public, or at a minimum ensure law enforcement, obliged entities and others with a 'legitimate interest' have appropriate access to the information. Whilst the UK has met its 2013 G8 commitment to establish a publicly accessible central register of information on beneficial ownership (