After WM and Sovim: recalibrating beneficial ownership transparency in EU anti-money laundering law—the Czech register as a test case

Abstract This article examines the Czech beneficial ownership register after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judgment in WM and Sovim, which invalidated mandatory unrestricted public access to beneficial ownership information. It argues that the Czech access model changed materially after public access was disabled on 17 December 2025, but remains transitional pending full transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/1640. The article separates the continued anti-money-laundering function of the register from its access regime and places the Czech development in comparative European Union context.