Insurance Europe has published its response to a consultation conducted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on beneficial ownership, which is where property is owned under another name.

Official registers are the best way to record beneficial ownership as they allow for a structured and comprehensive approach (ie the centralisation of all legal persons’ data) and guarantee adequate, accurate and up-to-date information.

In several EU member states the procedure for consulting registers has been made more effective, but further improvements are needed. In addition, further improvements are needed to the interconnection of registers at EU level. In fact, even though interconnection is the best solution for dealing with the beneficial ownership of foreign legal entities, its implementation is still far from being completed.

A different approach would be less effective, as it would not allow the same quality and reliability of information. For instance, the provision of beneficial ownership information by regulated persons would be dependent on the information-handling procedures of each regulated person. This, as well as the multiplication of sources of information, could lead to a loss of efficiency.