Register of beneficial owners: who can consult it today

In brief: in October 2026 the register of beneficial owners exists, but consultation by third parties remains suspended pending the decision of the Consiglio di Stato (Council of State). Even when it reopens, it will not be open to everyone: according to Legislative Decree 122/2026, only authorities, accredited anti-money laundering obliged entities and those who demonstrate a legitimate interest to the Chamber of Commerce will be able to consult it. In the meantime, anyone holding an office or a significant shareholding in a company can still be traced through the public data of the Registro Imprese.

What is the register of beneficial owners?

It is a dedicated section of the Registro delle imprese (Business Register), provided for by art. 21 of Legislative Decree 231/2007 (the anti-money laundering law) and governed by Ministerial Decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance no. 55 of 11 March 2022. Companies with legal personality, such as SRL and SPA, must communicate electronically who their beneficial owners are: the natural persons who, at the end of the chain, really own or control the company. The criteria for identifying them (ownership above 25%, control, administration) are explained in the guide to the beneficial owner.

The difference from an ordinary chamber of commerce report is that in the register the beneficial owner is declared by the company itself, not inferred by the reader. For this reason the register can contain information that does not emerge from the chamber of commerce data alone: for example, who is behind a shareholding held in the name of a trust company. Precisely these fiduciary mandates were at the centre of the litigation that blocked the register (see below).

Who can consult it according to the law in force

Since 23 July 2026, access has been governed by Legislative Decree no. 122 of 10 June 2026 (Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 156 of 8 July 2026), which introduced articles 21-bis to 21-septies into Legislative Decree 231/2007. On paper, the admitted subjects are three groups:

• Public authorities (art. 21-bis): among others the Ministry of Economy and Finance, UIF, Guardia di Finanza (financial police), DIA, the judicial authority, tax agencies. They access directly and without notice to the data subject.
• Anti-money laundering obliged entities (art. 21-ter), such as banks and professionals: only for the customer due diligence of their own clients, after accreditation with the Chamber of Commerce, which is valid for two years, and payment of the registry fees.
• Those with a legitimate interest in preventing and combating money laundering (art. 21-quater): the law lists precise categories, including journalists, Third Sector bodies, researchers and also persons who document the existence of an actual commercial or financial negotiation in progress with the company. These subjects see only the name and surname of the beneficial owner, month and year of birth, country of residence, citizenship and the reason why the person is beneficial owner.

For those who fall within the last group, a reasoned and documented application to the Chamber of Commerce is required (art. 21-quinquies). The Chamber decides within twelve working days, extendable; if it does not reply, access is deemed refused. If the application is accepted, a certificate is issued allowing access for three years, with a new check of the requirement every eighteen months. The Chamber may also exclude access to the data of a beneficial owner in exceptional circumstances, for example a disproportionate risk of fraud, extortion or violence (art. 21-sexies).

In practice: a company that is negotiating with another company could fall within the subjects with a legitimate interest, but it must document the negotiation and justify the request for anti-money laundering purposes. Not even on paper does free access for everyone exist any longer.

Can it be consulted today? The status in October 2026

No, as far as we have been able to verify. The latest official notice we found, published by the Chamber of Commerce of Cuneo on 4 August 2026, states that the register remains suspended until the decision of the Consiglio di Stato, even after the entry into force of Legislative Decree 122/2026. According to the same notice, access to the data by third parties on any basis, the obligation to communicate and to confirm periodically, the sanctions and the spot checks are suspended. The portal continues to receive communications, which however remain optional. The same notice indicates May 2027 as the first hearing before the Consiglio di Stato.

As of the update date of this page (19 October 2026) we have not found any official measure declaring the consultation reopened or setting a reopening date. We cannot, however, exclude developments subsequent to those verified: before relying on the register, check the notices of your Chamber of Commerce.

How it came about: the milestones from 2022 to 2026

• 22 November 2022: the Court of Justice of the European Union (joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20) declares invalid the provision of the anti-money laundering directive that made information on beneficial owners accessible in all cases to any member of the public, for being disproportionate to the rights to privacy and the protection of personal data.
• April 2024: the TAR Lazio (Regional Administrative Court of Lazio) rejects the appeals of trust companies against the register.
• 17 May 2024: the Consiglio di Stato, as an interim measure, suspends the effectiveness of those rulings. Consultation, accreditations and sanctions are halted.
• 15 October 2024: with orders no. 8245 and 8248 the Consiglio di Stato suspends the proceedings and refers the question to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
• 9 January 2026: Legislative Decree no. 210 of 31 December 2025 enters into force, eliminating access for the general public and reserving it for private parties with a legally relevant and differentiated interest.
• 21 May 2026: the Court of Justice (joined cases C-684/24 and C-685/24) holds the regime compatible with EU law, including the equating of fiduciary mandates with institutions akin to the trust, but requires that the beneficial owner be able to obtain provisional legal protection when an exemption from access is denied.
• 23 July 2026: Legislative Decree 122/2026 enters into force, rewriting the access rules described above.

What to do if you cannot consult it

If you need to understand who controls a customer, a supplier or a partner, the register today is not a viable route, and tomorrow it will be one only with a reasoned application. There are three concrete alternatives:

• The chamber of commerce report: members, shareholdings and offices appear in the Registro Imprese, which is public. From these data you apply the three-level criterion yourself, repeating the search on each intermediate company if ownership passes through other companies. Costs and steps are in the guide beneficial owner of an SRL: free or paid.
• Asking the counterparty: in an important negotiation you can ask the company directly to state its ownership structure in writing. It is not an independent check, but a declaration that you can compare with the public data.
• A service that reconstructs the data for you, starting from the same public chamber of commerce sources, such as the one described below.

If instead you need to know something about a specific person you have already identified, and not about the company, the route is different: see beneficial owner or Verifica Persona.

Official register and Veryfy reconstruction: they are not the same thing

Veryfy does not consult the register of beneficial owners and has no privileged access to that section. The Beneficial owner product reconstructs, from the public chamber of commerce data of the Registro Imprese, the persons holding an office or a significant shareholding in the company searched, with source and date. It is a reconstruction from the Registro Imprese, not the data declared by the company to the register of beneficial owners.

The concrete limit is precisely the one for which the register exists: if a shareholding is held in the name of a trust company, the chamber of commerce data show the trust company, not the person behind it. The reconstruction also concerns only persons with an office or a significant shareholding, in line with the Code of conduct for commercial information (see the privacy notice for sources and the rights of the data subject). It is not a legal opinion on the ownership structure.