The information in the Register of Beneficial Owners must remain accessible to journalists and civil societies, the Nationalist Party said on Saturday.
In a statement, the party said it considered the decision of the Malta Business Registry (MBR) to close access to the information held in the Register of Beneficial Owners as manifestly disproportionate and hasty
The PN said it recognises that the European Court of Justice had ruled that information about the effective beneficiaries of companies should not be accessible to everyone. However, the same court also recognised and emphasised that the information should be accessible to those who have a legitimate interest, including journalists and civil society.
The opposition said that that from October 2020 the information about companies that were deleted from the company register was no longer accessible online from the Malta Business Registry under the pretext that there was a need to clean up the company register from those companies that are no longer active. This occurred at the expense of the right to information that journalists, civil society and the public in general should enjoy.
"The decision of the Malta Business Registry means that journalists and civil society will be deprived of an essential tool in the search for the truth and the disclosure of abuses with the aim of strengthening democracy and good governance in our country,” the statement read
In this regard the Nationalist Party is urging the Minister for the Economy Silvio Schembri to give a clear directive to the Malta Business Registry and act as a Government Agency by giving free, full and open access to journalists and civil society to the information that is kept in the Register of Effective Beneficiaries.
It is also urging “without delay” the Minister for Justice Jonathan Attard and the Schembri to present a bill in parliament so that the Maltese law reflects what was decided by the European Court of Justice.
The statement issued was signed by PN spokesperson for Justice Karol Aquilina and PN spokesperson for the Economy Ivan J. Bartolo