Overseas Territories beneficial ownership registers are no longer fit for purpose

Section 51 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA) set a public-register test for Overseas Territory beneficial ownership. The BVI, Cayman and Turks and Caicos run gated legitimate-interest access instead. What should change.

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Charles Pycraft · November 2026 · London

Cover card: Overseas Territories beneficial ownership registers. Navy ground with five small gold island mounds, each under a register card; three cards open, two behind a small gate. Labelled SAMLA 2018 section 51, small CP mark. By Charles Pycraft

This article is part of Offshore: the enabler chain. It sits in pillar 1: How money moves, and who enables it, after Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man: London's inner web. Start with the series overview if you are new to the work.

Opinion. Updated on 14 November 2026.

The short version

Section 51 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 set the test. It required the Secretary of State to give each British Overseas Territory government all reasonable assistance to establish "a publicly accessible register of the beneficial ownership of companies", meaning one that, in the Secretary of State's opinion, gives information broadly equivalent to the UK's own register of people with significant control. It also required the Secretary of State to prepare, by 31 December 2020, a draft Order in Council requiring any Territory without such a register to introduce one.

That draft was prepared and published on 14 December 2020, with an explanatory note. The UK government then decided it was "not necessary to make the Order", because every inhabited Territory had committed to a public register, and said it would keep the question under review. It expected the registers by the end of 2023.

As at 14 November 2026, three Territories run public registers: Gibraltar, Montserrat and St Helena. The largest company centres, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, together with the Turks and Caicos Islands, run "legitimate interest" access instead. Bermuda and Anguilla have passed laws for the same model. Anguilla has a statutory application route. Bermuda's Registrar has yet to publish application instructions. As at 14 November 2026, this piece found no record of a section 51 Order having been made or laid. The next Joint Ministerial Council is due to begin on 23 November 2026. In this piece's argued reading, the gated routes fall short of the public access envisaged by the UK's own 2020 draft Order, and are no longer fit for that purpose.

A register that anyone can check serves everyone who deals honestly with a company. When ownership can be hidden, the cost of that doubt lands on the people who cannot see.

Section 51: from a statutory test to a political commitment

On 22 November 2022 the Court of Justice of the European Union, in joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, invalidated the EU directive's requirement for general public access to company beneficial-ownership information, finding a disproportionate interference with privacy and data protection rights. The judgment's direct effect was within EU law. London's inner web covers its effect on the Crown Dependencies.

At the Joint Ministerial Council in November 2024, the UK recorded a new set of promises. Gibraltar and Montserrat already had public registers; St Helena and the Falkland Islands committed to introduce them by April 2025. Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands committed to legislate for legitimate-interest registers by April 2025 and to implement them by June 2025 or earlier.

In a written answer of 15 July 2025, the UK expected legitimate-interest registers to allow "a wide range of legitimate users" and "proactive investigations". In the written statement of 13 January 2026 after the November 2025 Council, it "reiterated its ultimate expectation of fully public registers". On 3 March 2026 the then Minister for the Overseas Territories named the British Virgin Islands among Territories whose progress was not "quick or comprehensive enough", and said the UK reserved "the right to consider all options" if progress was not made. A written answer of 1 September 2026, from his successor, repeated that the UK's expectation "remains" fully public registers.

BVI beneficial ownership register: access with a notice

The BVI is the largest of the company Territories. Its Financial Services Commission's Q2 2026 bulletin shows 354,015 BVI business companies on the register at 30 June 2026.

The Government of the Virgin Islands announced on 1 April 2026 that its legitimate-interest system was operational on the VIRRGIN platform, for applicants who can show an anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing or counter-proliferation financing purpose. Its published policy has five features that matter here:

On launch day, Transparency International UK warned that notice could expose applicants and give subjects time to move assets. In April 2026 the BVI's junior minister for financial services was reported as saying she believed the UK had "accepted that legitimate interest access is the way to go".

The BVI government points to separate, rapid access for UK law enforcement under the Exchange of Notes. That route is for competent authorities.

Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos: legitimate-interest access, pay per file

Cayman's General Registry recorded 123,530 companies and 43,056 partnerships at the end of 2025, as reported on 27 February 2026. Its legitimate-interest regulations took effect on 28 February 2025. The April 2026 instructions cover journalists, bona fide academic researchers, qualifying civil-society organisations and actual or prospective business counterparties. All must show a purpose connected with tackling money laundering, its predicate offences or terrorist financing. Searches can be made only on the name of a legal person, not of an individual. Unconnected companies need separate applications. Fees are CI$75 (about US$91) for one legal person, up from CI$30 before March 2026, CI$100 for connected legal persons, or CI$250 for multiple applications within a year.

Cayman has built a process, and the CI$250 annual option helps frequent users. Transparency International UK reported months-long waits for journalists in Cayman. In its review of the Territories, it also reported refusals for insufficient evidence of suspicion and disclosures limited to the position at the time of request. In March 2026 Cayman's Premier was reported as saying the Territory would keep its legitimate-interest register "for the foreseeable future".

The Turks and Caicos Islands' Beneficial Ownership (Amendment) Regulations 2025, made on 30 June 2025, follow a similar model. Each application costs US$250. Companies can share one application if they are alleged to be involved together in money laundering, its predicate offences or terrorist financing. The Commission must send its decision within seven working days of making it; the regulations set no deadline for making the decision itself.

Bermuda, Anguilla, and the Territories that chose public registers

Bermuda's Beneficial Ownership Amendment Act 2026 received assent on 14 September 2026, and the Beneficial Ownership Regulations 2026 took effect on 25 September 2026. The Registrar's guidance lists journalists, civil society, academics, likely transaction counterparties and others who can show an interest connected with preventing money laundering, terrorist or proliferation financing. Standard disclosure covers four fields. Qualifying journalists, civil-society organisations and researchers may also receive certain historical and ownership-structure information. As at 14 November 2026 the "How to apply" section of that page read "Coming soon".

Anguilla's Commercial Registry and Beneficial Ownership Registration System (Amendment) Act 2026 received assent on 22 May 2026 and replaced public access in law with legitimate-interest access. The amendment regulations provide for applications to the Financial Services Commission and require a decision within 12 business days of a completed application. This piece found no published form or submission instructions.

Gibraltar had prepared to move to legitimate-interest access, then reversed course: Legal Notice 220 of 2026, dated 14 July 2026, keeps "a member of the public" among those who may inspect the register for Gibraltar companies and legal entities, while excluding express trusts from public access. Montserrat and St Helena also run public registers. UK ministers cited a summer 2026 target for the Falkland Islands. This piece found no confirmation of a public beneficial-ownership launch by 14 November 2026.

Why this reading says "no longer fit for purpose"

The 2020 draft Order sets out the UK's proposed standard under section 51. Article 4 would allow any member of the public to access the information, subject to specified safeguards, and cap percentage thresholds for significant control at 25 per cent. The gated routes differ in several ways:

UK and Territory leaders have agreed to widen access while respecting constitutional privacy protections. Some outside applicants can now request records. In this piece's reading, case-by-case access still falls short of the public access envisaged by the draft Order. Section 51(7) leaves the assessment of broad equivalence to the Secretary of State.

What should change

  1. Set a dated backstop, then use the Order. Publish a deadline, for example 30 June 2027, for Territory registers that meet the section 51 test. If the deadline is missed, the Foreign Secretary should submit an updated draft with a compliance date. His Majesty in Council would make the Order. The government would then lay it before Parliament. It lapses unless each House passes a resolution in its favour within 28 days from making, calculated under section 51(5). Owners for drafting, making and approval respectively: the Foreign Secretary and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), His Majesty in Council, and both Houses of Parliament.
  2. Agree a minimum standard for legitimate-interest access in the meantime. Agree with the Territories to remove routine notice for eligible applicants, recognise an issued claim or court appointment where it establishes a need for the records, allow person and company searches, set decision deadlines and provide historical records where lawful. Owners: Territory governments, legislatures and registry authorities, with the FCDO.
  3. Make public-interest access affordable. An annual pass, or no fee, for journalists and civil society, and one application for a whole ownership chain. Owners: Territory governments and the bodies that set registry fees.
  4. Publish the queue. Quarterly figures for applications, grants, refusals, objections, exemptions and average decision times. Owners: the Territory registrars or commissions that handle applications.
  5. Report to Parliament every year. Add a Territory-by-Territory scorecard against the section 51 test to the yearly written statement already promised under the 2025 Anti-Corruption Strategy, open to scrutiny by the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee (formerly Business and Trade). Owners: the FCDO and the Home Office, which should prepare the scorecard.

Verdict

Three Territories have delivered public access. The gated routes bring notice in the BVI, searches by legal-person name in Cayman, fees across all three operating systems and no decision deadline in the Turks and Caicos regulations. In this piece's argued reading, those routes fall short of the public access envisaged by the 2020 draft Order and are no longer fit for that purpose.

About this piece

Public sources only, as linked. It makes no allegation about any person, company, registered agent, registrar or Territory government. Holding a company in an Overseas Territory is lawful. Opinion is marked as argued reading. This piece is for general information and is not legal advice.

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