Belgian legislation underwent a significant development on June 1, 2023, with the publication of the Law of May 4, 2023, in the Belgian Official Gazette. This law introduces a Central Register of Management Prohibitions, aimed at combating fraud and other undesirable behavior by preventing the appointment of individuals with criminal or civil management prohibitions as directors of a company.

The Central Register serves as a tool to refuse the appointment of individuals with management prohibitions, with the register being accessible to specific government bodies and citizens. The register is designed to comply with Directive 2019/1151 and enables the FOD Justice to respond to inquiries about management prohibitions from other EU member states.

An accompanying application called ‘JustBan’ was launched on October 20, 2023, on the digital portal Just-on-web. This application allows citizens and European citizens to consult the Central Register of Management Prohibitions and check whether a person or company has a management prohibition. The launch of JustBan stems from the need for more control and communication, as fraudulent entrepreneurs often continue to victimize despite existing management prohibitions.

In the first phase of implementation, active Belgian criminal management prohibitions will be published on Just-on-web, including details such as start and end dates, the name of the concerned individual or company name, business number, and legal form. In a later phase, planned for 2024, civil management prohibitions will also be added. This database will be accessible to various bodies, including police, public prosecutor's office, notaries, and the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE), via API integration.

The Central Register of Management Prohibitions and JustBan together aim to provide increased protection to citizens and businesses by enabling more efficient control of unscrupulous entrepreneurs at both national and international levels.