Workshop on BO registers as Competent Authorities in Brussels

The EU AML/CFT Global Facility is in the process of exploring the current approach to Beneficial Ownership Registers and exploring solutions and potential ways forward that can also be shared in the context of our technical assistance activities to partners jurisdictions. In particular, we are exploring the possibility of Beneficial Ownership Registers evolving into Competent Authorities.

In this context, the Global Facility organised a working group of experts who deal with these issues first-hand. The purpose of the event was to delve deeper into the topic, discuss challenges and lessons learnt and put forward an approach for more effective national and cross border beneficial ownership disclosure frameworks.
The session involved only a small number of participants from Beneficial Ownership Registers and FIUs, creating an opportunity to meet, network and exchange ideas with colleagues on a very topical matter.

In their words:
Alfred Zammit, Deputy Director at the Financial Intelligence Unit of Malta, reflects on the activity:

“It was a pleasure for me to be able to contribute to the interesting discussions that we had in Brussels, and to share Malta’s experiences and best practices on the topic of beneficial ownership,” he stated after the workshop.

“It was also interesting and useful to hear about the experiences, practices and challenges faced by our international colleagues from FIUs and BO registries, possible solutions, and above all, the different approaches implemented on the ground. There’s always so much to learn from each other. Bringing together several representatives from EU member states to have thought-provoking discussions on this topic in a frank and informal setting was a commendable initiative, and a great way to launch this project.”

“I hope we can continue to assist you with this project, and we look forward to its outcome. I have no doubt that the international AML/CFT community will find the guidance and assistance that will come out of this project incredibly useful to strengthen their framework when it comes to BO.”