This webinar will explore how a Know Your Business Customer ‘KYBC’ provision is essential to encourage greater transparency and accountability online to the benefit of European businesses and consumers and should be a cornerstone of the new Digital Services Act.

Too often, EU consumers are exposed to websites selling fake and illegal products and services online – while legitimate businesses struggle to compete in an online environment where fraud remains rife and consumer trust compromised.

Even when illegality is uncovered, the identity of the companies involved often cannot be established because they hide their true identity by providing fake company names, addresses and contact details when signing up for essential web services such as domain name, hosting, payment and advertising services. Many of these services providers don’t check.

As a result, despite general information requirements set down by Article 5 of the E-Commerce Directive, illicit operators continue to carry out their activities, on an industrial scale, in complete anonymity.

This is where the Know Your Business Customer ‘KYBC’ obligation comes in. The webinar will  explore how the introduction of a ‘Know Your Business Customer’ provision would address this and how it should be crafted broadly, to be effective, technology neutral and future proof, so that the Digital Services Act can enjoy the longevity of its predecessor, the 2000 E-Commerce Directive.