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In a decision that could have major implications for corporate transparency in the EU and around the world, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Tuesday that unfettered public access to beneficial ownership information is not compatible with the bloc’s “fundamental rights.”

In a 22-page ruling, the Luxembourg-based court, the bloc’s supreme court in matters of EU law, concluded that provisions contained in the EU’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive that require EU nations to establish public registers showing the true owners of companies domiciled in their jurisdictions are not compatible with the rights to respect for private life and the protection of personal data.

Public beneficial ownership registers amount to a “considerably more serious interference” with these fundamental rights than centralized ownership registers accessible only to national authorities, “without that increased interference being capable of being offset by any benefits” in terms of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, the court ruled.