Following the European Court of Justice’s ruling, Dutch legislation in relation to access to the UBO register has to be amended. The UBO register indicates who the Ultimate Beneficial Owner of a company is. The information from this register is used, among other things, to tackle organised crime administratively. In June, it was possible to react to the bill via an internet consultation. In this consultation, both the RIEC Limburg and the EURIEC drew attention to the position of boards in this bill.
The proposed legislative amendment does not provide for administrative bodies to access the UBO register. For Dutch municipalities, this is obviously undesirable for their own investigations under Bibob (Public Administration Probity Screening Act) legislation. Foreign administrative bodies also have a role in preventing and tackling organised undermining crime. They too can prevent money laundering by issuing licences or awarding tenders or not. To be able to stand together against organised crime, it is also necessary to give them access to the register (possibly after demonstrating a legitimate interest).
