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Crown Dependencies reconsider public registers of beneficial ownership

- in light of EU Court of Justice privacy ruling in November 2022
Following the November 2022 ruling of the European Union Court of Justice to strike down the European Union (EU) mandate for public registers of beneficial ownership of all companies, the governments of Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey have jointly announced they are delaying the implementation of legislation to implement full public access to registers of company beneficial ownership. Photo: guernseypress.com
The European Union Court of Justice on November 22, 2022, struck down the European Union (EU) mandate for public registers of beneficial ownership of all companies. Photo: www.huwmerriman.org.uk
The European Union Court of Justice on November 22, 2022, struck down the European Union (EU) mandate for public registers of beneficial ownership of all companies. Photo: www.huwmerriman.org.uk
Demonstrators in Road Town in Decision March 2018 on May 24, 2018. The march was to reject the implementation of Public Registers in the VI. Photo: VINO
Demonstrators in Road Town in Decision March 2018 on May 24, 2018. The march was to reject the implementation of Public Registers in the VI. Photo: VINO
ST PETER PORT, Guernsey- Following the November 2022 ruling of the European Union Court of Justice to strike down the European Union (EU) mandate for public registers of beneficial ownership of all companies, the governments of Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey have jointly announced they are delaying the implementation of legislation to implement full public access to registers of company beneficial ownership.

In 2019, the Crown Dependencies committed to implementing the public registers by 2023, following the UK government’s creation of a publicly accessible register of persons with significant control.

At a similar time, the European Union adopted the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), requiring EU Member States to open their company beneficial ownership registers to the general public.

Privacy rights & personal data protection

This measure of 5AMLD was undermined in November 2022 by the EU Court of Justice ruling that registers containing the personal details of the owners of a company and accessible to the general public is an infringement of fundamental rights of privacy and personal data protection.

Several EU Member States, including Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta, have already taken action to limit access to their registers only to professionals.

The Crown Dependencies' governments are now taking legal advice on their course of action, a process that they expect to complete early in 2023.

The [British] Virgin Islands has said in the past it has no issues with making beneficial ownership registers public once it becomes a global standard.

BOSS System

The Virgin Islands was quick to launch a new innovative technology platform called BOSSS (Beneficial Ownership Secure Search System) to share VI company information and beneficial ownership data with UK law enforcement within 24 hours.

BOSS is being pushed as the alternative to public registers as it meets all international standards as defined by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and provides the appropriate balance between privacy and transparency; however, it remains to be seen if the UK and EU will recognise the system and discontinue trying to enforce the harmful policy of public registers.

Nevertheless, the VI in 2020 had said it would make ownership registers public in 2023, provided this was a global standard by then.

15 Responses to “Crown Dependencies reconsider public registers of beneficial ownership”

  • okay (06/01/2023, 17:22) Like (18) Dislike (3) Reply
    Fahie was correct again.
    • @okay (06/01/2023, 18:42) Like (20) Dislike (2) Reply
      You are so right. I remember the staus quo especially those in the financial services was telling him he had no choice but to comply. He made the conditions to do so known as long before the court ruling he maintained it was wrong. They still went for an Order in Council to force his hand. These people do not stop but he was right on point with his position. If he had given in our financial services would have been no more and it would not have been until long after we would have realized that had we fought for what is right we would have won.
  • Remember (06/01/2023, 17:23) Like (11) Dislike (1) Reply
    Do not forget that the UK have another order in Council on this matter to implement. So we are fighting two order in Council .
  • Crown dependencies (06/01/2023, 18:28) Like (13) Dislike (5) Reply
    They are white we are black
    • @Crown dependencies (06/01/2023, 21:54) Like (4) Dislike (2) Reply
      You are so correct. They are treated differently from the Caribbean black OTs. It is a racist colonial thing and it will never change.
    • Lius (07/01/2023, 15:39) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      Some of us are black but they are not all white.
      And it makes no difference unless you are a racist.
  • look at this (06/01/2023, 18:38) Like (11) Dislike (1) Reply
    I did not know this story was coming out and earlier today I stated on another story the following: Let us allow Cindy to redeem herself and do the future generations justice by asking the Governor and have it made public what did he write in his document to the UK to get the Parliament in UK and the Privy Council to issue the Order in Council. Also ask him the same thing about the financial services with public registry where he has another pending order in council to force down our throats. Those two pieces of information and everything related to them needs to be made public. I am sure that in both it will reveal that the facts were massaged to fit their devious purpose. The people of the BVI need to know what was in those documents sent by the Governor so that they can have a fair and transparent opportunity to defend themselves. In a time of when the Governor and UK is calling for transparency, they have acted under a cloud of secrecy and deceit. This information must be known & known now. They should have no reason to keep this information private while they are using it to act publicly. Premier and Cindy do this for us please. We are waiting.
    • To look at this (06/01/2023, 21:07) Like (6) Dislike (1) Reply
      Never thought about these points you made. The Governor definitely needs to make these documents public. Let him practice what he seem to be preaching.
  • here we go again (06/01/2023, 18:55) Like (13) Dislike (3) Reply
    Another high-handed action by the Governor and the UK on this matter with the financial services. It must always be their way or no way and if you resist then they go over your head and dictate for you using order in council. When will we wake up and realize it is time to come out of Egypt. Everyone else is awake and standing up for what is right against them other than us in the BVI.
  • @ LOOK AT THIS (06/01/2023, 20:42) Like (0) Dislike (1) Reply
    SINCE U KNOW ALL THAT , WHY THE WAIT , JUST DO YO SELF , INSTEAD OF USING THE GIRL AS AN EXCUSE , FOR YOU ALL HYPOCRISY
  • Jurisdiction (07/01/2023, 05:04) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    of the European Union Court of Justice does NOT include the United Kingdom and all its dependencies and colonies. Remember Brexit? The UK left the EU forever in December 2020.
  • Misleading .. (07/01/2023, 08:38) Like (1) Dislike (1) Reply
    Situation dictates the out come. The BVI situation is very different, hence the need for this order.
  • jack (07/01/2023, 10:11) Like (12) Dislike (2) Reply
    We need our independence bottom line
    • to Jack (07/01/2023, 11:03) Like (5) Dislike (1) Reply
      I fully agree. This is too much dictatorship in what is suppose to be a democracy.


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