Recent case law has brought about a temporary suspension of penalties for failure to enter information into the register of beneficial owners.
The Act on the Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (Act No. 37/2021 Coll.) anticipates a number of sanctions that may be imposed on legal entities for failing to register information about their beneficial owners. These include, in particular, a fine of up to CZK 500,000 or a ban on the exercise of voting rights by the beneficial owner or a ban on the payment of profits to the beneficial owner (who is not entered in the UBO register). The imposition of a fine is preceded by so-called irregularity proceedings, and the registering person will first be invited in a formal notice to remedy the situation.
At the same time, it is true that some of the data entered in the UBO register is publicly accessible to anyone (i.e., in particular, the first and last name of the beneficial owner, their year of birth, country of residence and nationality).
In 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in one case that the disclosure of personal data to third parties constitutes an interference with the fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, but the Czech lawmaker failed to respond to these conclusions.
However, in its Resolution of 25 August 2025, ref. no. 27 Cdo 1368/2024, the Czech Supreme Court has now concurred with the above-mentioned decision of the Court of Justice and confirmed that the relevant provisions of the Act on the Registration of Beneficial Owners which give the general public access to registered data are contrary to EU law. As a result, the state cannot enforce the obligation to register data on beneficial owners by imposing sanctions.
Therefore, as long as the UBO register remains publicly accessible to everyone, it will not be possible to impose sanctions on registrants for failing to register data on their beneficial owners. Similarly, sanctions relating to the unregistered beneficial owner themselves (including the ban on exercising voting rights) will not apply, as confirmed by the Supreme Court in its subsequent Resolution of 26 August 2025, ref. no. 27 Cdo 1548/2024.
It is merely a matter of time until the relevant changes will be adopted in order to make the data in the UBO register inaccessible to the general public.
Even in light of the conclusions described above, the absence of registered data may pose an obstacle in business transactions, typically when dealing with banks. Legal entities with an interest in keeping their UBO data secret are therefore well advised to request that the registered data be made inaccessible, rather than not providing any data on their beneficial owners in the first place.
Source:
Act on the Registration of Beneficial Owners (37/2021 Coll.)
Judgment of the Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) of 22 November 2022. WM and Sovim SA v Luxembourg Business Registers.
Supreme Court Resolution of 25 August 2025, ref. no. 27 Cdo 1368/2024
Resolution of the Supreme Court of 26 August 2025, ref. no. 27 Cdo 1548/2024