Registrar fines companies not revealing owners
(CNS) The Registrar of Companies (RoC) has begun fining companies registered here that have failed to submit accurate information on their ultimate beneficiaries (beneficial owners) and ignored warning letters to do so, according to the Ministry of Financial Services. As of 1 February, the RoC had levied 19 administrative fines of $5,000 against companies for noncompliance with Cayman’s beneficial ownership regime, and if they fail to pay they will be removed from the companies register.
Head of Compliance Paul Inniss noted that the companies had all been warned about their obligations to reveal the ultimate owners to the authorities here and comply with the law.
“There are consequences to not maintaining current BO details with RoC, and these consequences are in line with Financial Action Task Force standards to fight money laundering, terrorist financing, and the financing of weapons of mass destruction,” Inniss said. “By enforcing our local legal requirement for companies to maintain current BO details with the RoC, Cayman can provide better information to international tax and law enforcement agencies for their investigations.”
He added, “The Cayman Islands also receives information from international agencies for our own investigations, so we understand how valuable this information can be in fighting financial crime locally and globally.”
The release from the ministry also noted that trust or company service providers (TCSPs) can also be fined in relation to beneficial ownership noncompliance if they do not fulfill their legal responsibilities to file restriction notices that curb companies’ abilities to conduct certain business activities if they have not provided the ownership information.
As of 1 February, the RoC had issued warning letters to 18 TCSPs that had not filed restriction notices. The TCSP letters direct the companies to file BO information with their TCSP by a stated deadline, in compliance with the Companies Act (2021 Revision). Failure to comply with the warnings can result in companies being liable for the administrative fines.
As the competent authority for BO in the Cayman Islands, the RoC has the legal power to enforce BO compliance. The RoC sits within General Registry, and the General Registry is under the remit of the Ministry of Financial Services.
Dr Dax Basdeo, the ministry’s chief officer, said that enforcing international standards is part of maintaining an effective regime. “Cayman is committed to doing its part to fight global criminal activity, and having an effective BO regime is a core component of this commitment,” he added.
Category: Business, Financial Services
There are 2 sides to every story. I have it on good authority that some TCSPs were having troubles filing the required data, had reached out for assistance and are yet to have a response from the ROC. Improve your platforms and the level of your customer service please. Make it easier for TCSPs to comply.
We’re familiar with the ambitions of detecting and intercepting Proceeds of Crime, Money Laundering,Government Corruption, illicit trafficking of narcotics, guns, people, conflict minerals, even anti-Terrorism Financing missions, but when did “financing of weapons of mass destruction” get added to the existential Cayman Islands finance AML threat list? Good grief. Have there ever been credible instances of that having ever happened? If so, please tell us that TCSP is no longer around!!
An international credit and commerce bank rings a bell.
just need to look at all of the proliferation financing that was done in the BVI relatively recently to fund North Korean WMD.
https://www.wisconsinproject.org/dcb-finance-limited/
18 non-compliant TCSPs…wtf!?! Close them!
Hopefully we will get a goverment with a spine that will tell the EU and UK to go pounce sand, and get rid of this DANGEROUS and IDIOTIC public registry.
Your words would be more effective if you were brandishing a machete like General Noriega when you say them.
Stupid islander
Bet every one of them is defunct.
The current regime is ruining business. The EU is BS.
What a joke. These companies has millions in Our banks!
Yes.. millions in potentially dirty money that could have been generated from human trafficking, child pornography, drug trafficking, etc. I mean, why should we care, right? Moron!!!