At the end of July, France will experience a clear decline in terms of financial transparency, with the closure to the public of its register of beneficial owners of companies (RBE). The information was confirmed at World by the General Directorate of the Treasury (DGT), which depends on the Ministry of Finance.
This register opened in April 2021 allowed any citizen to easily know the identity of the owners of French companies – via the official Data.inpi.fr platform, or one of the many rebroadcasters specializing in legal information, such as Pappers, Doctrine or Societe.ninja. Long demanded by civil society organizations, the RBE was considered a major step forward in terms of financial transparency and the fight against fraud and money laundering. In the absence of information on the beneficial owners, criminal figures or those under sanctions can in fact easily – and legally – hide behind nominees or shell companies acting as managers or shareholders.
Some company beneficiaries criticized the public register for excessively invading their privacy by revealing their date of birth and the list of their assets. But over the past three years, it has become a reflex for many economic players. “The beneficiary is key data to identify who is behind a company, extremely useful and consulted by our users”testifies Pierre Fruchard, the creator of Pappers. “In an increasingly complex world, it is important to know who you are dealing withadds Hugo Ruggieri, the legal and public affairs director of Doctrine. If, for example, a baker wants to verify that his wheat does not come from Russian interests, this will now unfortunately be very complex. »
An inevitable decision
The RBE is also widely used by the media investigating corruption and financial crime. In July 2022, the weekly The Obs had used it to reveal that around sixty personalities involved in corruption cases or targeted by international sanctions had invested massively in French real estate. The same register had allowed the investigative media Disclosed to question the links of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, then minister of energy transition, with the oil company Perenco – forcing her to issue a decree to step aside from decisions on this company. The world uses it regularly to unmask conflicts of interest among politicians, follow the trail of esoteric sectarian movements or possible “ill-gotten gains”.
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