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3 NEWS 1.12.2022 HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c has been noti- fied that on 30 November 2022, HSBC Europe B.V. (HEBV) transferred its di- rect shareholding in the Bank to HSBC Continental Europe (HBCE). As a result of this transaction, HBCE holds a direct shareholding of 70.0295% in the Bank equivalent to 252,320,580 voting rights. Regulatory approval for this transaction has been obtained. As had been announced by the bank in December 2021, the transaction oc- curred in the context of a corporate restructuring by the HSBC Group to comply with the obligation under Ar- ticle 21(b) of Directive (EU) 2019/878 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2019 amend- ing Directive 2013/36/EU as regards exempted entities, financial holding companies, mixed financial holding companies, remuneration, supervisory measures and powers and capital con- servation measures (CRD V) for non- EU headquartered banking groups like the HSBC Group to have an intermedi- ate parent undertaking (EU IPU) in the EU by 30 December 2023. In this regard, HBCE, HSBC's princi- pal French subsidiary and hub for con- tinental Europe has been designated by the HSBC Group as its EU IPU. As a result, as one of HSBC's relevant subsidiaries, the Bank has become owned by the HSBC Group through HBCE as the EU IPU. e transaction will not involve any change in the day-to-day business of the bank and its subsidiaries. Ultimate control of the HSBC Malta Group will not change and will remain vested in HSBC Holdings plc. Tigne Mall plc, whose 12.8% share- holding is held by HSBC Life As- surance (Malta), which is equal to 7,227,000 voting rights. Effectively, following this transaction, HSBC Con- tinental Europe indirectly holds an 8.9734% interest in the company. Simon Vaughan Johnson, HSBC Mal- ta CEO said: "is transaction, in es- sence, simply means that the HSBC Malta Group's direct shareholding was transferred from HEBV to HBCE to align with EU regulatory require- ments. Ultimate control of the HSBC Malta Group will not change and will remain vested in HSBC Holdings plc. erefore, this transaction does not change the day-to-day business of the HSBC Malta Group, or the way we in- teract with or serve our customers." Johnson said safe growth, and HSBC's customers and people were the three strategic pillars of the bank's strategy. "I am delighted that the multi-million euro capital investment project that I announced at our AGM in April is now well underway. is exciting pro- ject is the largest of its kind in Europe and will create a modern, fit for pur- pose business environment for all who work in or visit our premises at 80 Mill Street Qormi. Furthermore, this land- mark project will facilitate a number of carbon net zero initiatives that are ful- ly aligned with out published targets. "We continue to be fully focused on executing our Safe Growth strategy which is delivering tangible results and I'm confident that with the strong sup- port of our HBCE colleagues our fu- ture-focused strategy will position the HSBC Malta Group well for long term success." FROM PAGE 1 e ECJ said access to the BO register for companies whose ultimate benefi- cial owners were hidden by trusts or nominees, was an interference that was "neither limited to what is strictly nec- essary nor proportionate to the objec- tive pursued." Until last week, Malta operated a BO registry that gives access to undis- closed UBOs at the rate of €5 for each company. e 2019 anti-secrecy regulations were enacted by EU countries in recent years as a direct response to the finan- cial improprieties disclosed by the Pan- ama Papers, the Pandora Papers, and other similar leaks of financial data. e case in question at the ECJ con- cerned the Luxembourgish business register, which like other registries can restrict access to such information in cases when UBOs request it not to be public. In two cases, a company and its beneficial owner had unsuccessfully requested LBR to restrict the general public's access to information concern- ing them. e ECJ ruled that the general pub- lic's access to information on beneficial ownership constituted a serious inter- ference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the pro- tection of personal data. "Indeed, the information disclosed enables a poten- tially unlimited number of persons to find out about the material and finan- cial situation of a beneficial owner," the ECJ said. "Furthermore, the potential conse- quences for the data subjects resulting from possible abuse of their personal data are exacerbated by the fact that, once those data have been made avail- able to the general public, they can not only be freely consulted, but also re- tained and disseminated." e rules are intended at preventing money laundering and terrorist financ- ing by creating, by means of increased transparency, an environment less like- ly to be used for those purposes. But the ECJ now believes that inter- ference is disproportionate, while not resulting in any benefits in terms of combating money laundering and ter- rorist financing. Under current regu- lations, the court claimed, disclosing such information allows a potential- ly endless number of people to learn about a beneficial owner's material and financial status. Tax equity and transparency activists argue that "beneficial ownership" may be a tool for the wealthy, but also crim- inals and tax cheats to disguise owner- ship of entities they use to hide their wealth from authorities. "By requiring corporations and off- shore entities to publicly disclose who truly owns them, public beneficial ownership laws are designed to pre- vent their owners from escaping the rule of law, which can mean preventing billionaires from evading tax as well as preventing sanctioned oligarchs, or- ganized crime and human traffickers from laundering money and financing illegal activity," said the London-based Tax Justice Network advocacy group. Tax Justice Network also said the rul- ing occurred in the midst of EU delib- erations about strengthening measures to fight dirty money entering the EU from Russia. "With public access to registers across the EU now revoked, dirty money will likely surge back into the EU," the organisation warned. Roland Papp, senior policy officer of Transparency International EU, thinks European lawmaking and executive bodies can counter the Court's deci- sion by "guaranteeing access in the current 6th EU Anti-Money Launder- ing Directive," which should also in- clude "precise provisions that reconcile public access with privacy and security concerns." HSBC Malta direct shareholding transferred to HSBC Continental Europe MBR limits access to the register of beneficial owners

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