Referral C-684/24 (Across Fiduciaria e a., 17 Oct 2024)

(1) Is Article 31(4) of Directive (EU) 2015/849, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/843, permitting access to information about the beneficial ownership of a trust or similar legal arrangement, compatible with the rules laid down in the Charter (Article 7 ‘Respect for private and family life’ and Article 8 ‘Protection of personal data’) and with the European Convention on Human Rights (‘the ECHR’) (Article 8), in so far as it permits access in all cases for any natural or legal person ‘that can demonstrate a legitimate interest’, without specifying and delimiting the very concept of ‘legitimate interest’, leaving the definition of this concept fully to the discretion of the Member States and thus creating a risk of an excessively broad definition of the subjective scope of the right of access, which could potentially undermine the fundamental rights of the individual concerned?
(2) Are the safeguards provided for in Article 31(7a) of Directive (EU) 2015/849, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/843 – concerning the right to an administrative review of an exemption decision (in exceptional circumstances laid down in national law) in relation to the access referred to in paragraph 4 (access permitted, in all cases, to information on the ownership of a trust or similar legal arrangement), having regard to the protections afforded by Article 47 (right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial) of the Charter and Article 6 of the ECHR – compatible with Articles 6 to 7 of decreto del Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze dell’11 marzo 2022, n. 55 (Decree No 55 of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of 11 March 2022), in so far as they confer on a non-judicial administrative body in the form of the local chamber of commerce the power to issue a decision with irreversible effect in relation to the disclosure of the data, and provide for a judicial remedy of which the beneficial owner may avail only at a later stage?