08/11/2016 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 8 November, the European finance ministers agreed to start exchanging information on the beneficial owners of shell companies, with effect from 1 January 2018. The public register of these beneficial owners is still a whole different debate, against the backdrop of the proposed changes to the anti-money laundering directive. The Presidency does not know whether it will manage to reach agreement by the end of the year, as there are still issues with various provisions aiming to reinforce the fight against terrorism in this directive. EUROPE will return to this. (EL)