Until now, in order to increase transparency and combat fraud, information on beneficial ownership has been made public.

In a judgment delivered in 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that access to the BSR by the general public is contrary to Articles 7 (respect for private and family life) and 8 (protection of personal data) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

The conditions for access to the EBR therefore needed to be changed in order to maintain a balance between privacy and transparency of economic life. That's what the european anti-money laundering directive 2024/1640 of 31 may 2024.

That directive has just been transposed into French law by the law of 30 april 2025 laying down various provisions for adapting to European Union law in the economic, financial, environmental, energy, transport, health and movement of persons (DDADUE5).

What changes?

Since the July 31, 2024, only persons evidence of a legitimate interest and a list of authorized entities may have access to all the information contained in the EBR. The DDADUE5 law specifies this list.

Who can access the EBR?

• persons: they may, after having justified their legitimate interest, access the information of the beneficial owners of their potential co-contractors;
• the competent authorities and professionals subject to anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing obligations ;
• journalists, researchers and civil business stakeholders committed to financial transparency;
• the Agence française anticorruption;
• authorized officials of the Directorate-General for the Treasury and customs officials (when implementing European regulations imposing restrictive measures);
• the EPPO;
• the European Anti-Fraud Office;
• the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the European Union Agency for Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters (Eurojust) (when providing operational support to national authorities);
• the European Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Authority;
• the authorities of the Member States of the European Union equivalent to the national authorities;
• the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life;
• the National Sanctions Commission;
• agents of the State services responsible for the protection of the economic, industrial and scientific interests of the Nation;
• control officers of the labor inspectorate and control officers of social security bodies;
• the Court of Auditors and the regional and territorial chambers of auditors.

How to access the RBE?

The INPI provides you with a request form for access to beneficial ownership data for persons with a legitimate interest.

This form, accompanied by documents justifying that legitimate interest, should be addressed to theINPI or to the competent clerk.

The court will have 12 days to rule. This provision will apply to applications submitted on or after November 10, 2026.

For the requests currently made, the silence kept by the administration for 2 months is acceptance.

When granting a right of access to beneficial ownership information, the INPI or the Registrar shall issue to the person whose legitimate interest has been recognized a access certificate valid for a period of 3 years.

What information can be found in the EBR?

As a reminder, the information on beneficial owners that can be consulted in the Register of Beneficial Owners is as follows:

• name and usage name;
• pseudonym;
• first names;
• month and year of birth;
• country of residence;
• nationality.

Finally, it is also possible to know the nature and extent of the beneficial ownership interests in the business (or entity).

Possibility of regularization for companies automatically deregistered from the RCS

The decree of 24 April 2026 states that after regularizing its situation, a company automatically canceled from the RCS: titleContent (due to incomplete or non-compliant beneficial ownership information) may request the Registrar to annul the cancelation.

The clerk has 15 days from that request to respond.

In the event of refusal or failure to reply, the company may appeal to the President of the Court within 15 days.