Registers Of Beneficial Ownership

An uncertain future for publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership

In December 2023, the governments of the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man, and the British Overseas Territories (OTs) of the Virgin Islands (BVI) and Cayman Islands, rowed back on their previous commitments to establish publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership (PARBOs) of companies. They have undertaken to allow access to beneficial ownership information by public authorities for the purposes of controlling money laundering and terrorist financing, and by others with a 'legitimate interest' in the information. However, they no longer plan to allow unrestricted access by members of the general public.