Open access to directors' names, but not their home addresses

The recent debate about the government proposals to restrict access to the personal information of company directors has been one-sided, so it is useful to re-examine the arguments carefully to see which elements, if any, of the proposals are justified, taking into account press freedom, access to information and privacy.

Firstly, I do not believe press freedom is directly relevant here as there is no proposed restriction on the press that does not apply to the public. Public access to information, however, is important for an open society, including journalistic investigations, and should be restricted only with good justification.

Many years ago, the Law Reform Commission reports on privacy highlighted the need for the government to revisit public access to government registries, such as the Transport Department registry of vehicle ownership and the Land Registry, to ensure that public access is consistent with the purpose of each registry and balances public access to information with privacy concerns.

In this light, a government review of public access to the Companies Registry should be welcomed.

The key information under discussion is director names, and their identity card numbers and residential addresses.

There is general agreement that director names must remain public to ensure that the public can identify who is responsible for a company. We allow company directors to obtain the benefits of reduced tax and liability through using a company, so identifying directors is essential to hold them accountable.