European court decides on public access to shareholder information

By Kyriaki Stinga and Adonis Zachariou On September 3, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its judgement in Case C-798/24, Jautiva , addressing the compatibility of unrestricted public access to shareholder information with European Union company law and data protection rules. The CJEU held that EU Directive (EU) 2017/1132 relating to certain aspects of company law does not require the disclosure of information relating to all shareholders, including minority shareholders. It also held that Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) precludes national legislation making personal data relating to shareholders of public limited liability companies available to the general public where access is not subject to any conditions, such as the demonstration of a legitimate interest.

The judgement follows the principles established in the 2022 judgement in Joined Cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, Luxembourg Business Registers (LBR), while considering them in the context of registered shareholders rather than beneficial owners. The background The case arose in Latvia, where 17 minority shareholders of a public limited liability company challenged legislation requiring information concerning shareholders to be made publicly available online. For natural persons, the information included identification and contact details, together with the class, number and nominal value of the shares held and the corresponding voting rights. The information was accessible to unidentified users and could be downloaded in bulk. Latvia relied on three principal objectives to justify the disclosure regime: ensuring a transparent business environment and protecting third parties, preventing money laundering and terrorist and proliferation financing, and facilitating compliance with national,…