Cayman Developing Beneficial Ownership Proposals
The Cayman Government has proposed that services providers should be allowed to keep their own databases of beneficial ownership information, which would be accessible to the Government for international law enforcement purposes.
According to local news service Cayman Compass, quoting Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton, the proposal means the Government would not actually collect beneficial ownership information but would rely on the private sector for access.
Essentially, the proposal would give the Government access to databases kept by every service provider, without requiring their approval, and would remove the need for a single, centralized database.
The announcement comes after calls from the United Kingdom that its Offshore Territories include beneficial ownership information on public central registers. It was previously indicated at the recent Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council that “similarly effective systems” are a permissible alternative.
