(24)To ensure that all persons interacting with companies or branches are protected and that fraudulent or other abusive behaviour is prevented, it is important that competent authorities in Member States are able to verify whether the person to be appointed as a director is not prohibited from performing the duties of a director. To that end, competent authorities should also know whether the given person is recorded in any of the registers relevant for disqualification of directors in other Member States by means of the system of interconnection of business registers. The registers, the authorities or persons or bodies mandated under national law to deal with any aspect of online procedures should not store such personal data longer than is necessary to assess the eligibility of the person to be appointed as a director. However, such entities might need to store such information for a longer period of time for the purpose of a possible review of a negative decision. In any case, the retention period should not exceed the period laid down in national rules for retention of any personal data related to the formation of a company or the registration of a branch or related filing of documents and information.