Tag: beneficial ownership
Cayman moves toward more beneficial owner access
(CNS) The Cayman Islands Government is moving towards expanding who can access beneficial ownership information about financial entities registered here, beyond law enforcement agencies. Cabinet is expected to consider the Beneficial Ownership (Legitimate Interest Access) Regulations, 2024 shortly, which poses the question of what legitimate interest is and who has it.
Ebanks tackles beneficial ownership during trip to Asia
(CNS): Financial Services Minister André Ebanks led a Cayman Islands delegation to Singapore last month to open the Cayman Islands Government’s new Asia Office. While there, he held a series of meetings, including with the European Commission and Financial Action Task Force for talks on beneficial ownership.
Premier and OT minister in beneficial ownership talks
(CNS): Governor Jane Owen confirmed in a social media post that she and Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly are in the UK for various meetings, including one with the overseas territories minister, David Rutley. The premier appears to have been in London to discuss the matter of beneficial ownership with Rutley following recent comments by Deputy Foreign […]
Bills passed to improve BO disclosure regime
(CNS): Financial Services Minister André Ebanks has steered several bills through parliament, including a stand-alone Beneficial Transparency Ownership Act to improve the current regime on how information relating to who benefits from financial entities registered here is shared and to stay ahead of changing standards and rules. Explaining the law during last week’s special parliamentary […]
BO access won’t be public yet under new bill
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has rolled out another piece of legislation to enhance its anti-money laundering regime. However, the Beneficial Ownership Transparency Bill only improves access for law enforcement and relevant agencies, not the public. While the bill has provisions to allow public access in future, officials said that will not happen before Cayman […]
Financial crime talking shop emerges from JMC
(CNS): Later this year, the British Virgin Islands will host the inaugural annual meeting between the United Kingdom and its overseas territories to discuss tackling illicit finance. This new “ministerial-level annual dialogue” emerged from this year’s UKOT Joint Ministerial Council meeting, held in London last week, and aims to defend financial systems against illicit actors, […]
EU court ruling may scupper public BO registers
(CNS): A recent ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) may have implications here in the Cayman Islands as the authorities prepare legislation to pave the way for public beneficial ownership registers for offshore entities. The court found that the idea of a public beneficial ownership register to prevent money laundering constitutes a serious interference […]
BO law under review ahead of public register
(CNS): The public is being invited to comment on the government’s proposals to reshape the Cayman Islands’ beneficial ownership legislation into a single law to make it more effective in fighting crime and to pave the way to meet the forthcoming changes to the regime, which is expected to lift the lid on who really […]
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 […]
UK drafts public BO order but happy with status quo
(CNS): The UK government has now drafted an order-in-council regarding the introduction of public registers of beneficial ownership in the overseas territories. But foreign office minister Wendy Morton said in a written statement to the UK parliament recently that, given the commitments made by all the UK Overseas Territories, there is no need to enact […]
UK confirms OTs have till 2023 to make BOs public
(CNS): Before the end of this year Britain’s overseas territories minister will be issuing an order-in-council in line with the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act passed in the UK parliament in 2018, but the territories still have until 2023 to make their beneficial ownership registers public. In a written statement issued on Thursday, Baroness Sugg […]
