1) EU Court of Justice: beneficial ownership registers and trusts

On 21 May 2026, the EU Court of Justice (joined cases C-684/24 and C-685/24) ruled on the compatibility with EU law of the Italian regulatory framework concerning the beneficial ownership register, with particular reference to the information obligations incumbent on fiduciary companies (società fiduciarie) in relation to fiduciary mandates (mandati fiduciari).

The dispute concerned, in particular, the possibility of classifying Italian-law fiduciary mandates as legal arrangements similar to trusts within the meaning of the European anti-money laundering legislation, with consequent application of the obligations to communicate beneficial ownership information to the relevant register.

The Court clarified that EU law does not preclude a national legislation: (i) that classifies such fiduciary mandates among legal arrangements similar to trusts, where they present characteristics capable of giving rise to a separation between the person who administers or manages assets and the person in whose interest those activities are carried out; (ii) that permits access to beneficial ownership information on a trust or similar legal arrangement by private parties, in cases where knowledge of the beneficial ownership is necessary to pursue or defend an interest corresponding to a legally protected position, subject to certain conditions; (iii) that confers on a non-judicial administrative body the power to grant a derogation from access to beneficial ownership information. By contrast, in the Court’s view, EU legislation does not provide that the beneficial owner concerned may benefit, in the event that such derogation is not granted, from provisional legal protection.

To access the decision, click here.

2) Italian Supreme Court: non-executive directors of supervised intermediaries are liable for failures in supervisory controls

By Order No. 13317/2026, published on 8 May 2026, the Italian Supreme Court again ruled on the supervisory duties incumbent on directors without operational delegations within supervised intermediaries, confirming the lawfulness of a sanction imposed by Bank of Italy against a former member of the board of directors.

The Italian Supreme Court reaffirmed that the absence of management delegations does not exempt directors from the obligation to exercise effective control over the conduct of delegated bodies and over the performance of the company. In particular, the duty of supervision cannot be reduced to a mere “passive waiting posture” (“prestazione di attesa”), but requires a concrete activity of monitoring, acquisition of information and verification of the adequacy of the organizational, administrative and control structures. In the case at issue, the Court held that the conduct of the directors conflicted with the obligation incumbent on them to foster genuine internal dialogue within the corporate organization (which had instead been found to be deficient) on the substantive aspects of adequacy, prudence and freedom from operational risks.

To access the decision, click here.