Overseas Terroritories agree beneficial ownership registers

Baroness Sugg has welcomed the statements of 8 Overseas Territories that they will establish publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership of companies.  Anguilla, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat, the Pitcairn Islands and St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha and the Turks and Caicos Islands have followed the Crown Dependencies in making good progress towards putting registers in place.  Gibraltar has already established a register.

The Government will now make an order under SAMLA reflecting the commitments, and thinks the end of 2023 is a reasonable deadline to set – although it recognises this will be challenging.  It also hopes the BVI will follow suit in making its own commitment.